Brand-building has become more challenging in the age of increased remote working. But if you get creative, you can effectively promote your brand during a virtual event.
There are various strategies to consider. Here are a handful of the most promising and impactful tactics for turning virtual events to your advantage.
1. Send swag bags to participants.
Swag bags are great promotional items for traditional events. They remain relevant in a virtual setting as well, because freebies are always welcome and branded products are proven to make a difference in brand recognition.
While you can shove a few random branded items into a box and ship it out to meeting attendees, it pays to put a little more thought into this process. As Ashley from SnackNation explains, building swag bags for any business event can be done with a creative and clever approach.
Whether you want to emphasize the sustainability of your business by packing in eco-friendly items, or go all-out on the practical front with goodies that are actually useful now that everyone is working from home, the options are almost endless.
It is worth remembering that the planning and distribution of swag bags for virtual events will take time. So, it is necessary to start well in advance rather than leaving it to the last minute, as the likelihood of disruption will increase if you procrastinate.
2. Use virtual backgrounds to your advantage.
Virtual event-hosting platforms like Zoom offer a variety of impressive features to participants, including the ability to set a customizable background that will sit in place of whatever is physically behind you in the room during the call.
This is not just a great way to cover up any domestic clutter or dated décor details; virtual backgrounds can also be exploited to promote your brand during a virtual event in a fun and engaging way.
Setting up a background that is based around a static image with your branding in tow, whether in the form of a logo, a product photo or any other form of messaging that makes sense, is always a possibility.
If you want to go one step further, you could take advantage of the fact that virtual backgrounds can be sourced from full motion video files. This means you have the potential to edit together a clip to play while you are in the event which could be informative, eye-catching, funny or anything in between. The main point is to leverage these technological tools to boost brand awareness in whatever way you can.
3. Run a giveaway to incentivize involvement.
Sending out swag bags may be appropriate for smaller virtual events. However, they could be too costly and complex for get-togethers that will have hundreds or even thousands of people involved at the same time.
You can still incentivize participation and promote your brand through freebies in this context; you just have to refocus your efforts on providing competition-style giveaways, meaning that there will only be a few lucky winners to provide with gifts.
The prizes you provide should be focused on the event itself, as well as being associated with your brand. If you are hosting a virtual product launch, this could be the perfect opportunity to get your latest offering into the hands of clients and customers, for example.
Codifying the giveaway through a quiz, prize draw or other competition is also a way of making it feel more significant, rather than just an obvious and somewhat arbitrary marketing strategy.
4. Invite interesting speakers to attend.
Finally, one of the best ways to sell your brand and increase interest in your business at a virtual event is to have the right guest speakers signed up and committed to appear.
It helps if the speakers you select are of interest to those in your industry or target audience. Also, it is useful if they have some experience of participating in virtual events in the past, as there is a learning curve to excelling in this scenario.
Promote your brand during a virtual event.
Ultimately you can be as creative and daring as you feel comfortable with in a virtual meeting to promote your brand. This is a brave new era for marketing and those who are not afraid to take risks will reap the biggest rewards. Need a strategic partner? Firespring can help you hit the high notes with your next campaign.
Guest Author: Richard Fendler
Goal-oriented manager with proven leadership abilities. Expert in increasing productivity and growth marketing through content. Committed to streamlining procedures while optimizing employee talent. Most importantly, dog lover. Head of SEO and Content Marketing at SnackNation.