How the Best Marketers in the World Level Up Their Events & Webinars

Exceptional events and webinars are a non-negotiable part of any effective marketing strategy. Done right, they consistently hold their weight as one of the best ways to connect with and convert today’s always-on(line) audience.

Locking in the ideal combo of engaging speakers and segments is essential to create incredible content. But to take your events to the next level – and really set them apart from the endless noise online – it’s important to think about the bigger picture and focus on how to really get your message across.

Here are some key questions to consider: 

• Is your brand being shown in the best light possible?
• Can you scale your reach globally – and do so effectively?
• Are you able to easily collaborate with stakeholders cross-functionally?
• Does your tech have the service, support, and data to make your events even more valuable in the long run? 

Building conversations around your products, showcasing your brand, and connecting with your community can all be accomplished through intentional, deliberately planned webinars. To stay ahead of the competition, you need to be constantly evolving your strategy and hone in the details that will set you apart from the rest – or be left behind.

Read on for our four expert tips that the best marketers in the world use to ensure their events and webinars shine their brightest.

1) Create or amplify a unified, foundational brand story.

Just a few years ago, many of us were scrambling to find virtual event tech that would work “for now.” But these days, we’ve had the time and experience to understand that we need to show up as our best-brand-selves to connect with our audiences – and one of the most impactful ways to do so is by ensuring that your event supports your unified brand story.

When your brand tells a consistent, compelling story across multiple marketing channels, your audience develops an emotional affinity to your brand and (ideally) starts to associate or identify with your brand promise. This type of effective storytelling is what creates lifelong brand loyalty.

A unified brand story is especially important when connecting with a global audience, as your brand must translate across languages and timezones. Using a webinar and events platform that allows you to fully customize the look and feel of your event – down to every pixel and picture – is paramount. It’s no secret that people respond positively to visually appealing images and music. That means that creative decisions like use of color, fonts, imagery, and music can elicit a positive emotional response from your audience, reinforcing your brand story, building trust and creating brand loyalty.

2) Commit to global scalability through webinars.

Hosting webinars and virtual events allows marketers to expand their audience to geographies that would otherwise be out of reach for in-person events, bringing in more attendees than ever before. But outside of audience reach, being able to speak to a global audience is key. That’s why the best marketers host their events on a platform that offers dozens of languages: no matter where a brand’s biggest fans live, they’ll be able to hear their message and participate enthusiastically.

In addition to broadcasting in multiple languages, providing on-demand or pre-recorded content is important when considering audiences in different timezones. On-demand content allows audiences to watch at a time that’s convenient for them. It also means that a broadcast recorded live in London can be streamed “simulive” (that is, a pre-recorded event that’s broadcast live) and shown locally at the same time in Los Angeles or Australia. Simulive content is a valuable feature, as it allows your audience to experience the live event and for your speakers to keep their normal sleep schedule.

3) Collaborate seamlessly across teams.

Ensure operational efficiency by having all members of your marketing team learn and use one platform to host their webinars. By using one platform for all of your events – from the largest annual event to the smallest recurring webinar – your team will be able to create a consistent pre-event workflow.  

Another benefit to using a single event and webinar platform is the ability to create consistent webinar or event templates. Using templates improves collaboration across teams in several ways. First, the use of templates ensures a consistent brand story across all of your marketing group’s events because, once designed, it’s simple to make slight customizations per event. Second, the standardized use of templates allows your marketing team to quickly spin up a webinar or event. 

Finally, using one platform for all of the marketing team’s events and webinars also means that the data will be consistent from event to event. This platform cohesion eliminates the need to rationalize data between platforms and your team will be able to compare apples to apples every time.

4) Capitalize on the webinar platform’s support and services.

A platform’s a platform; and features are features. The ability to grow a global, virtual events program with your event and webinar platform is the key to efficiency and scale.  Your team should be asking: can your event tech provider support your largest marquee events with white glove support while also providing tech that is simple enough for your team to manage high-frequency, recurring webinars on their own? 

Being able to plan and run both the largest marquee events and high-frequency webinars on one platform will allow your team to scale your virtual events program. First, your team can standardize operations by learning to leverage one platform for all sizes and types of virtual events. Second, a platform that offers white glove support for your most important events is critical to ensuring that you (and your speakers) look their best on the virtual stage. Third, by self-producing smaller events, with always on support to back you up, your team will be empowered to deliver high-frequency events more efficiently. Other services that marketing teams find useful include creative services (think custom graphics packages, overlays, and custom event templates). 

Today, your audience is online all day. Meaningfully engaging with your audience requires effective marketing strategies, including virtual events and webinars. To level up your events strategy, your events and webinar platform should support your brand story and make it easier for your team to deliver captivating events that inform, dazzle, and persuade.