If you are looking to increase brand awareness, you are likely considering marketing strategies like social media takeovers and Youtube channels, among others. But one marketing channel that is sure to make sense is a hybrid event. A hybrid event will do more than simply increase your brand awareness, as it will also offer lead retrieval, improved thought leadership, and improved ROI. If you’re interested in improving brand awareness and contributing to other marketing campaigns, then consider a hybrid event.
Hybrid events incorporate elements of both in-person and online events. Hybrid events are the perfect type of event because they allow for people to attend an event in-person in the traditional sense, and to also attend online when busy schedules or locations don’t allow for it. Virtual attendees can tune in from around the globe, providing a range of event strategy options to consider and more event ROI. Now, especially with many around the world working from home, hybrid events are crucial and need to be considered when hosting any kind of event and when considering brand marketing. Hybrid events not only provide numerous avenues for generating ROI and for increasing organic growth, but they also can directly contribute to marketing campaigns. For a brand awareness campaign, a hybrid event can be used as a way of showing an industry that you are serious about its continued survival and improvement.
Online participants see value in this and want to support a company of this sort; they might also look to a business that is in the market of improving an industry for guidance and support. Whether you use the hybrid event as the main jumping-off point for promoting your brand, or your brand acts in the background, hybrid events are powerful for brand awareness. As you promote the event, then your name becomes associated with the event’s successes, and more participants will begin to recognize that you are a brand that can be trusted and should be looked to when they need help. The more often that your name is shared, online and in-person, the more likely you will have a positive following.
With hybrid events, it can be hard to get a footing as a major brand in your industry. Therefore, you might need to capitalize on a few strategies in order to improve your chances of your brand getting noticed and respected. Here are five things to consider when hosting your hybrid event:
If you are just starting out, then you should look to a strong sponsor to help you along the way. A sponsor can take the brunt of the financial burden, especially if you are looking to host a high-quality event, and host a sponsored session within your virtual event space. You can piggy-back off of a good sponsor who is willing to put their trust in small companies, kind of like an advisor or mentor. Buyers of that sponsor will begin to see that the business relationship is valued and therefore appreciate doing business with you. When seeking a sponsor, be sure that you can rely on them when you need things. You don’t want to be left high and dry getting something as simple as assets. You’ll also want to communicate clearly and frequently with your sponsor so that they know exactly what it is that you are looking for and so that each brand is prepared for the hybrid event when it comes time.
Especially if you are a smaller brand, hosting multi-week sessions will elongate the marketability of the event. You’ll be able to spend more time using the same or similar resources, resources that are repurposed as the event evolves and branching off into more ways to market your brand. You can start to host event communities after each week so that excited participants can stay connected and reach out to fellow participants, businesses, and sponsors. Multi-week sessions also show that you are committed to the event. It also allows for greater accessibility, as participants from all over are able to attend, even if they were busy during the previous weeks’ events. Since a virtual event platform will utilize augmented reality to show off the virtual component of the hybrid event, you can use the platform in a variety of ways and improve the event experience. Allow remote attendees to check in to the web platform at odd hours to reconnect with the event content or for exclusive content for a target audience.
While it could be beneficial to simply host the hybrid event, it also makes sense that you would use the event as an unveiling. If you want to be taken seriously in your industry, then you need to show that you are contributing to the industry. One way to do this is by introducing an idea, prototype, or service that would make waves in the industry. If you haven’t thought about doing an unveiling, then you may be surprised to learn that there are a lot of small things that can make bigger impacts later on. If you want to announce that your company is joining a certain organization, then that is also a good reason to do an unveiling. You might also want to offer your support for a competitor brand, which shows that you two are aligned in the goals of the industry. Try to think of something splashy that will get both hybrid audiences interested and thinking about your brand even long after the event has ended.
Sometimes giving something, whether it is a free drop of knowledge, a free service offering, or a product, goes a long way in brand awareness. By offering something of value to presenters and virtual audience members, you are trying to create a memorable experience for them, and in turn, they could seek your brand because of that incentive. Whatever you decide to do, be sure that the incentive aligns with your brand, the marketing goals of the event, and of the presenter or target audience to whom you are giving the incentive. This will improve audience engagement and set the precedent for future events. Try to tap into aspects of both the virtual component and the physical event. Use these incentives as part of your event marketing campaign to encourage a wider audience and a more diversified virtual experience.
An event platform is bigger and more powerful than a streaming platform. A smart event platform like Accelevents will have integrated marketing tools, CRM integrations, social media synchronization, hosting features, ticketing, registration, analytics and so much more. If you are trying to run a successful hybrid event, then having an event platform will help you do this. Event platforms can be white-labeled themselves, so you can continue to focus on promoting your own brand rather than the brand of the platform. Including this type of technology in your hybrid event planning will allow you to have a bigger reach in terms of marketing, better lead retrieval tools, and ease of use for your participants. You can streamline both the in-person and virtual elements of the hybrid event as well, so you don’t have to use multiple tools in order for the event to run successfully. Look for an event platform that allows you to fully customize event branding and create useful marketing channels like a branded event website. --A hybrid event is a great way of promoting your brand and increasing brand awareness. Consider these six tips for increasing the likelihood of brand awareness. Event professionals will also want to work with a powerful and scalable event management platform so that the hybrid event runs smoothly.
