Events are short-lived. But as anyone who’s planned an event knows, these one-time occurrences require huge investments of both time and resources.
Your organization’s efforts should have a bigger payoff. How? By incorporating video into your event planning.
When you leverage the engagement powers of video before, during, and after the event, you stretch its impact. Now your audience is influenced far beyond the confines of start and end times. In fact, according to research cited by Forbes on the power of visual marketing, 82% of internet traffic will be due to video by the end of 2023.
Here we discuss three opportunities to increase your event’s audience engagement through video.
Before the Event: Build Anticipation
Successful event attendance will depend on how effectively you inspire and entice your potential audience.
Static images and print invitations can’t stir emotion quite like video can. The right pre-event video marketing can drum up excitement and effectively recreate the energy of the in-person experience with music, participant interviews, and graphics.
In addition to imparting energy, you can help draw more eyes to your promotion with video. According to Search Engine Journal, YouTube is the second most popular search engine for users after Google, with TikTok quickly emerging as a similar tool. Other social media sites like Instagram favor video Reels in their algorithms. Video is king, and without it, your pre-event promotion likely won’t earn the attention it deserves.
Here are some important ways to make the most of pre-event video marketing:
- Keep it short and sweet. Share the information they need—the who, what, when, where, and why—in a punchy format that’s memorable.
- Utilize last year’s event. B-roll footage from previous years’ events can give people an idea of what to expect. Photos can work too if you didn’t get video coverage. And our team loves collaborating on how pre-existing media can creatively be used! View an example.
- Interview event participants. Lacking video (or photos) from previous years? You can use interviews with conference speakers, event organizers, or previous attendees just as effectively. Our team can help set up efficient production days prior to the event to make it convenient for those you’d like to appear on-camera.
- Use the video on multiple platforms. In email, on your website, and in social media posts, your video can be formatted to different lengths to suit each platform and reach audiences multiple times. View an example.
During the Event: Create a Compelling Experience
Video isn’t just a before-and-after project. It’s also a tool you can use to capture attendees’ attention during the event.
Think of the contrast. Your esteemed guest speaker is coming onto the stage shortly. You have the choice between a written introduction, read-aloud, or a video played on a large screen. Which can more readily give your audience goosebumps?
Whether you are paying tribute to an award winner, introducing a featured guest speaker, or telling your organization’s story, short clips that stir your audience can make these experiences more dynamic.
Here are more ideas for how videos can enhance your event as it’s happening:
- Introductions
Build excitement for event guests with dynamic video announcements for speakers or award winners. - Organization biography
Tell your story consistently across various parts of the event with one biographical video. - Presentations
Video presentations signal to the audience that they should be quiet and help them absorb information more coherently than a slide show. - End-of-year review or thank you
Make your employees, donors, volunteers, or fundraisers feel more deeply acknowledged with a moment of thanks that can live on far past the event.
After the Event: Make the Feeling Last
Hiring a videographer to document the event has a payoff that can last months and even years.
In your follow-up communication, thanking attendees with a video that reminds them how much fun they had or the purpose of the event adds punch to your message.
For your social media followers, helping them experience or relive the event through the footage makes the impact of the event even longer (and instantly shareable).
And for those you’ve acknowledged during the event, the thank you can live on in video format. The same goes for presentations, which can continue to educate on YouTube or your website. View an example.
Altogether, video helps deepen your relationship with event attendees. Plus, you create resources that help you market future conferences, seminars, parties, or other gatherings with authentic footage that belongs to you.
Ready to Bring Video to Your Event Planning? We Can Help.
Details are our thing. At Post Script Productions, we take on all the video planning—coordination, script writing, interviewing, even hair and makeup—so you can focus on the other parts of your event. We deliver polished film that generates excitement and enthusiasm with your audience.
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