536. How to run a digital event šŖ
Five big things to know about digital event marketing
Hellooo š So happy to have you here. Iām Kevan. I have spent 15+ years as a head of marketing for some cool tech startups. Now Iāve co-founded a brand storytelling business called Bonfire. We do coaching, advisory, and content. If you identify with creativity and marketing, weād love for you to join us.
5 must-haves for a successful digital event
I am not a digital event marketer, but I play one on my substack. š
If youāre looking for expert event advice, please hit up an event expert like Ashley Jenkins or Spenser Gegan. Iāve had the privilege of learning from great event folks like them over the years, and Iām happy to share some of the most important lessons they taught me for how to run successful digital events. If youāve got some marketing events on your fall calendar, feel free to use these five tips as a checklist of sorts for making sure youāre setting you and your team up for a good time.
1. Know your goal ā beyond just āget a bunch of people thereā
The inspiration for writing about digital events this week came from a particularly unavoidable banner on my Slack admin settings advertising Salesforceās annual event, Dreamforce. The banner screamed, āWe need more MQLs.ā The goal of Dreamforce for Dreamforceās marketing team is, I can only assume, MQLs.
The goal you set for your event will dictate so many other parts of how you go about promoting your event, hosting your event, programming the event, and following up post-event. Goals are everything.
Getting a lot of people to an event is a table stakes goal. Beyond the obvious, there are actually many different ways to host successful events, depending on what you want out of them:
MQLs
Assorted other pipeline-related goals (SQL, pipeline dollars, meetings)
Impressions on event-related content
Event NPS
And the list goes on.
If you were hosting an event with a pipeline-related goal, you might run a webinar for prospects or host a dinner for decision makers.
If you were having an event for impressions, you might get a super cool speaker on a super cool topic and host it on a super cool platform.
The goal dictates the event type and so much more. Spend lots of time being very clear about your goals before you begin planning your event.
2. Donāt just default to a Zoom
If you are strapped for time and wearing way too many hats and just want something in your marketing life to be easy, then I totally understand going with Zoom as your digital meeting platform.
And to be fair, Zoom works great! Iāve held many a successful event on Zoom with zero problems.
But if you have an extra minute or two to shop around, and if you think that surprise and delight and beautiful UX might be a difference-maker for your attendees, then I have a few options for you to check out:
1 - Gatheround
If youāre into highly engaging, super fun, very anti-Zoom vibes for your meeting, Gatheround is a great option. Itās built for engagement, which means lots of options for breakout rooms and audience interaction. Hereās an example:
2 - Goldcast
This one is for the super professional folks who want to run a multi-speaker, even multi-day digital event and to make it look easy. Mailchimp just ran a two-day event for marketers and used Goldcast. Check it out.
3 - Zoom, but different
You can, of course, just host a bunch of people on your Zoom call. But thereās also a whole ānother section of Zoom specifically for events. Itās got stuff like webinar setup, production studios, expo space, and more. Itās still a Zoom but it feels like strangely like no Zoom youāve ever been on before (āwho moved my emoji reactionsā).
Along with these three picks, hereās a Top Five list from People Managing People:
Goldcast ā Best virtual event platform for B2B marketers
Hubilo ā Best virtual event platform for event marketing
SpotMe ā Best virtual event platform for accessibility and inclusion
Accelevents ā Best virtual event platform for enterprise organizations
BigMarker ā Best virtual event platform for design customization
3. Spend time knowing who came
Oftentimes after an event, I will breathe a big sigh of relief that itās over and then move on to other things. There are always other things.
But running a successful event is only half of it. Once the event ends, more work begins!
Letās start with knowing who came. Hereās a short instruction guide of what to do:
Create a spreadsheet
Add the names and emails for all the people who registered for your event
Mark all the people who actually showed up
If you did any sort of āopt in to hear from usā call to action during the event, feel free to mark this as well
Then populate your list with whatever information you have about these names and emails. For instance:
Which ones are your customers?
Which ones are part of your audience ā newsletter subscribers, prospects, previous event attendees?
Where do they work?
Where do they live?
Armed with this list of information on your audience, you can then move on to step #4. ā¦
4. Afterward, follow up, then follow up some more
Send everyone an event recap to everyone who attended.
Send a āsorry we missed youā to everyone who registered but couldnāt attend.
But donāt stop there!
You now have a mini-audience of people who care about you and the parties you throw. This is the perfect chance to stay in touch with them so that they can show up to the next party (neƩ webinar) and the next and the next. Here are some ideas of the types of follow up you can continue to do:
Ask them if theyād like to opt in to your newsletter
Send them your event calendar for the coming months
Send them a personal invite when the next event comes around
Send them relevant content based on the topic of the event they registered for. Did you talk about AI? (Probably.) Next time you have some AI content, send it to them.
And of course, always be sure to include an unsubscribe.
5. Repurpose the content if you can
Notice: Three out of the five tricks for successful events include what to do after the event. The post-event activities are what make event ROI especially compelling.
Since you have an hour or more of really good video content, you have a lot to work with. You can:
Put a full replay of the event on your site for anyone to watch, or you can put it on your site and āgateā the content, thereby continuing to drive leads (this type of replay content is also really great to email to your audience in case they want to check it out)
You can put replays of the event on a social platform like YouTube
You can cut clips of your event and put them all over social like TikTok, LinkedIn, Instagram and more. You can do this, and you can give the clips to your event speakers and have them share, too.
I used to be really intimidated by the clip creation process, but did you know how easy it is to do this these days? Here are two really great options:
Descript ā an all-in-one video editor that is as easy as editing a Google Doc (which is much more my speed typically)
Opus ā an AI tool that watches your video, finds the most compelling clips, chops them up, and even adds captions onto the videos
Over to you
What are your favorite digital event tips and tricks? What tools do you love? What goals do you have?
About this newsletter ā¦
Hi, Iām Kevan, a marketing exec based in Boise, Idaho, who specializes in startup marketing and brand-building. I previously built brands at Oyster, Buffer, and Vox. Now I am cofounder at Bonfire, a brand storytelling company.
Each week on this substack, I share playbooks, case studies, stories, and links from inside the startup marketing world. Not yet subscribed? No worries. You can check out the archive, or sign up below:
Thank you for being here! šāāļø
Iām lucky to count folks from great brands like these (and many more) as part of this newsletter community.
