The last year saw one of the worst pandemics in modern history affecting businesses across the world. Events as one of the key marketing channels, too, were affected. Fortunately, several companies made a switch to virtual events within a short time. The trend of virtual events is set to continue in 2021. According to a Bizzabo studyOpens a new window , about 93% of event marketers plan to include virtual events in their events strategy this year.
Once your virtual event is over, the next step is to convert the leads into customers to ensure returns on your event organizing investments. While you can close the hot leads, the remaining ones need nurture. However, lead nurturing after a virtual event may be trickier than in-person events due to the challenges such as limited engagement and networking opportunities. Hence, you may not always be able to segment your leads as hot, warm, and cold.
Check out some of the post virtual event engagement ideas to nurture the leads you generated in your virtual event.
Learn more: With a 360% Increase Since 2019, Virtual Events Become Massively Popular: Intrado Digital Media
1. Use Technology To Improve Tracking and Nurturing
The first step to an effective lead segmentation prior to nurture starts from selecting the right platform much before the event . Fortunately, several event platforms available in the market today, such as GoToWebinar and BigMarker, provide the hosts with analytics features through which they can track participant activities. These activities include event registration, sessions attended, spaces visited, and resources downloaded. Such data can help you identify your attendee needs and interests. In turn, you can use this data to create better segmentation for your follow-ups and lead nurturing strategies.
Once the event is over, ensure that you have marketing automation tools to support your lead-nurturing activities, as it cannot be done manually. While selecting a tool, take a holistic approach. Select tools that can automate most of your tasks, from your communication to segmentation and workflows to lead qualification. This saves time and resources, and you can focus on developing better relationships with leads and customers.
2. Create a Post-Event Resource Repository
Once an event is over, attendees would want to explore a few post-event resources and content. Hence, create a knowledge base where they can access all these resources. This resource repository could be in the form of a micro-website. While an event page gives the participants a plethora of knowledge about the event itself, a post-event website provides the highlights and resources they can access after the event.
The website can include key event recordings, an image gallery, statistics, virtual presentations, testimonials, and downloadable content. Content and resources can also include flyers of the various product and service offerings from participating companies. These types of content can provide a more in-depth look into some of the technologies, products, and services briefly touched upon during the event. The micro-website can also have a blog that can be updated during and after the event. In summary, post-event content should add value to the participants besides what you offered during the event.
The post-event website can help the guests who were present and those who missed it to gain valuable information related to the event. To ensure that the website is available to the participants immediately after the event, you need to start creating it and adding content before and during the event. You can track your website visitors by collecting their data.
Brittany Klokkenga, content marketing manager, Sendoso
“The top content types that work best to nurture leads after an event are eBook: It should have the top takeaways from the event. It will be a bonus if you have partners and speakers contribute to the eBook. Send an eBook as a follow up to all registrants; On-demand webinar: Send it to all the registrants that didn’t attend the live event; Virtual booth box: This is a mix of swag from event sponsors. Send it to high-value prospects who attended the event to add an in-person layer to virtual events.â€
– Brittany KlokkengaOpens a new window , content marketing manager, SendosoOpens a new window
3. Send Out Post-Event Emails
Regular communication is key to nurturing leads. This involves emails, among other forms of communication. Emails have traditionally been one of the best methods for marketing and lead nurturing. According to the 2020 State of Email, Fall Edition reportOpens a new window by Litmus, email is one of the most powerful marketing channels for 77% of marketers. Hence, utilize post-event emails to engage and nurture your leads.
The best email to send out after an event is a “Thank You†message. This email acts as a powerful foundation for your future nurturing messages. In the email, you can use a video to capture the key highlights of the event. You can also add a link to your post-event web page, where participants can access more information and resources. You can also include a survey to obtain feedback and opinion about the event. Further, provide a link to your social media accounts so that people can follow you there. A “Thank You†email should be sent out within 24-48 hours of the event so that it remains fresh in the guests’ minds.
Do not limit your emails to people who attended your virtual event. It is good to send emails to the people who missed attending the event, mentioning how much you missed them. Similar to the “Thank You†email, you can add a link to your post-event web page so that they can gain an understanding of what they missed. You can also share any relevant content with them. These resources will motivate them to attend the next event.
Learn more: 5 Solid Event Marketing Strategies in 2021 To Deliver Successful Campaigns
4. Send Post-Event Offers and Surveys
Offers are a great way to nurture leads who have participated in the event but have not yet shown the purchase intent in your products or services. Provide your event guests with premium offers and discounts for your products or services. You can offer free demonstrations, gift cards, or even a VIP invitation to another event.
Another way to nurture your event leads is to conduct surveys. To start with, you can ask for feedback about your event. Ask their opinion about the different sessions, speakers, content, the event platform, and other vital aspects of the event. Through surveys, you will know what worked and what did not work for your guests, and what changes or improvements you need to make for your future events. You will also know which part they liked the most.
You can further calculate the net promoter score (NPS) to measure the likelihood of recommending your event to others. Use the feedback from the survey to plan your next event. If their comments are acknowledged and concerns addressed, people are more likely to come back for a future event.
Further, ask specific questions in your surveys, including their company size, goals, and challenges. These kinds of questions are a great way of collecting data from your participants and qualifying them. To ensure that more people participate in your post-event survey, you can offer them incentives.
Klokkenga shares an example of using surveys to nurture leads.
“We created polls, followed with an e-gift with those who were engaged during the event i.e., we sent a charity choice to people who voted on a poll because obviously they were engaged enough to vote during the event, and they chose which option they wanted to be followed up with. The poll was created to help drive follow up by knowing what participants cared most about and took away from the event.â€
5. Engage Your Leads on Social Media
Social media is an effective way to nurture your leads post an event. According to a, We Are Social studyOpens a new window , more than 3.8 billion users were using social media in January 2020. Given that more people will continue to stay active on social media, it is where you can actively engage your event participants through regular updates. You can post important videos and images from your event on social media. Further, you can continue to create polls and contests and give out prizes in the form of an offer. To ensure maximum engagement, announce your contests both on social media and emails.
As user-generated content adds more value to your brand, you can use creative ways to inspire attendees. You can ask them to share a few moments they liked the most or a few of their discoveries during the virtual event.
For example, according to Klokkenga, “Do live stories and have different team members or speakers post about the event from their homes or their WFH setups enjoying the event. Designate a hashtag for the event and follow up with people who post as the event is underway.â€
6. Create an Online Community
Many people attend events for networking. Hence, you can create an online community where attendees can continue their event conversations to nurture leads. You can make these communities on a social media platform or the event platform. For example, you can create a separate page on platforms such as Facebook for event-related conversations.
Event and page moderators can facilitate discussions by starting threads during or immediately after the event. Encourage guests to participate in these discussions during and after the event. Once the discussions gain momentum, they may remain active for a long time after the event. To keep the discussions and the community active, ensure that you update and add new information and discussions.
Online communities are a great way to gather valuable insights into your event attendees’ interests through the conversations they have, questions they ask, and challenges they discuss. These insights not only help in creating future events but also segmenting your leads in a better way for your campaigns and offerings.
Learn more: Q&A: An Event Marketing Manager’s Tale of Hosting Virtual Events And (How To Maximize Those Event Dollars)
Taking It Forward
More events have gone online in the last few months due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting social restrictions and will continue to do so. As virtual events pose their own set of challenges, you may need to alter your approach to nurturing leads. Hence, use the tips discussed above to create your lead-nurturing strategies. Simultaneously, leverage your lead engagement data through the event attendance and interactions to score and nurture them effectively. Further, use data from your lead nurturing initiatives to identify what works so that you can tweak your strategies and activities accordingly.
Do you have any other post virtual event engagement and nurturing ideas? Do share with us on FacebookOpens a new window , TwitterOpens a new window , and LinkedInOpens a new window .