Back in the late 1960s, the television show Star Trek had a lot of technology that was futuristic. It was all so exciting and made us think of all the possibilities. One of the pieces of technology that they employed every week was that of the main screen on the Starship Enterprise. It could be used as a windshield, so the crew could see where they were going, but if Captain Kirk wanted to have a conversation with, say, a Klingon, he would tell a member of the crew to put them on the main screen and they would communicate with both audio and video. They would have virtual conferences with virtually everyone in the galaxy, and beyond.
In today’s technology driven world, more and more people are finding ways to utilize the technology available to employ virtual conference software in an effort to bring people together in ways we only dreamed about doing in 1966. Many large companies, as well as small businesses, are using an online event platform to attract prospects to their business. These kinds of virtual conference platforms are an incredibly effective way to connect with people who are searching for what it is you have to offer.
The key to having a successful event will depend on your online event platform and whether or not you are doing these three things: adequate promotion, properly setting up an effective landing page, and recording the event for future use.
1. Conduct three weeks of promotion prior to the event.
It is always best to get the word out early so that people can make time in their schedule to attend the event on the day you are actually doing it live. There is a great deal of excitement that goes along with having a live event take place from all over the world. We have never lived in a time like this where people can literally come together from any place on the planet that has access to an internet connection.
You don’t want to give too much time and you don’t want to make anyone feel rushed. Starting two weeks out lets the buzz get going in your industry. Help people find you and then help them sign up by making it as easy as possible to register.
2. Get a landing page where prospects can easily sign up.
If you have ever tried to sign up for a webinar online and you had to jump through a bunch of hoops, chances are you decided you weren’t that interested after all. You want people engaged in your online event platform but you want the signup duties to be simple and straight forward. There was a survey conducted by the Demand Gen Report in 2013 that found 30% to 40% of people who made it to a webinar landing page went ahead and signed up. That means that more than half of the people didn’t signup. The easier you make the signup steps the better.
3. Record the event for playback at a later date.
Make sure that you record the event for playback at a later time. According to a recent poll, 94% of webinar presenters record their presentations or conversations in order to play back on their websites or other online event platform software. This gives people who have registered the opportunity to watch the event at a later time or even rewatch it if they need more time with the material. This is essential because not everyone can be present all the time. Allowing them to watch on their own time means you are getting people who are making a special point to hear and see what you have to say.
We are not even close to being able to fly into other galaxies to explore many strange new worlds, but we are at a point where our technology will enable us to put people up on the main screen to conference into a meeting. We can also bring new customers to our businesses by allowing them to see who we are and what we do by watching it all on a computer screen.
