Posted by Dennis Shiao on Fri, May 18, 2012 @ 12:07 PM
Introduction
Looking to move your meetings and events online? You may be asking yourself, "Where do I start?" A good first step is to grasp the terminology and then to understand the available solutions.
Live Webcast
We're hosting a live webcast on Tuesday, May 22, 2012 featuring our client and partner, Cisco.
In the Webcast, Adrena Vaquilar, Sr. Manager at Cisco, will compare online meetings and online events. She'll tell you about the differences and guide you on which solution to use (and when).
Join Us For the Webcast
For more information on the webcast (and to register), visit:
http://INXPOLIVE.com
About Adrena
Adrena Vaquilar is a Sr. Manager who has been with Cisco WebEx for over 9 years. Her expertise in collaboration and virtual events has enabled her to build and manage Cisco’s Event Collaboration Services team which includes; Cisco WebEx Video streaming and Virtual Conferencing Services.
She is responsible for engaging with strategic clients to identify, develop and implement transformational business solutions that incorporate collaboration technologies from the Cisco WebEx portfolio. Some of her most recent virtual event projects include Cisco Senior Leadership Conference, Cisco Global Sales Summit, and Cisco Internal Strategic Pilot project.
Posted by Matt Goodwin on Thu, May 17, 2012 @ 12:02 PM
Introduction
Welcome to the digital event hot topic. People bat around crazy monetization strategies in the digital event business, but what is the proper technique? Is there a magic formula? Am I alone?
The answer is simple. No, there is no magic formula – and you are not alone. However, success relates directly to a well-thought-out strategy within your organization and with your platform account executive. Your approach begins well before the event kick-off call with your SaaS (Software as a Service) provider or event manager.
How to Get Started
Let’s go crazy! What you consider a foolish strategy in one industry is a powerful strategy in another. Whether you are a first-time event producer or a seasoned virtual veteran, this post will benefit your strategy roadmap.
The following are three simple steps to get started with monetizing your digital events:
- Step 1: Define Your Market, Audience, and Event Content
- Step 2: Select a Provider and Learn
- Step 3: Configure Your Packages
Over the next few sections, we will explore how you should get started on the road to monetization success.
Step 1: Define Your Market, Audience, and Event Content
As cliché as it may be, you will not experience monetization bliss without the market and audience. How will you convince your potential sponsors that their dollars will reach and generate enough leads to justify buying into your program?
For first-timers, this is tricky because you have no experiential data to prove success. You can easily overcome this barrier by developing tightly concentrated content. Niche markets help virtual events thrive, so prepare niche content that serves a specific purpose. Be aware of your event date as well. Certain times of the year may work better than others.
Typical event registration ranges from 1,000–5,000 people. This is not written by a marketing guru, but trends speak for themselves. Of your registration numbers, expect 40-60% to actually show for the live event.
It is silly to think you will captivate the world, but never rule out the possibility.
Step 2: Select a Provider and Learn
You have the market, audience, and content strategy developed so now what? It is time to pick the right provider and learn everything they have to offer. You cannot select any provider. One is needed that will fulfill your requirements and functionality, which leads us to the RFI (Request for Information). You can gather the majority of research online for the pre-selection process. Then submit the RFI to the companies of your choice.
However, you may yield better search results by scheduling an hour long conversation with the companies of your choice. Often times, the RFI process can be bypassed. Conversations can lead to discoveries that your RFI may limit. It’s your preference, so explore the possibilities!
This process will open more doors to monetization than you may have initially imagined. Knowing the features, functions, bells, and whistles of your future platform will help the sponsorship team develop the most crucial aspect – package configuration.
Step 3: Configure Your Packages
We have finally reached the area you are waiting for – package configuration. Your organizational brand has value. Do not limit the sponsorships to the event platform features and functions. Create value inside and outside of the digital event. You can add banners, ads, booths, featured presentations, sponsored presentations, lead capturing, registration logos, event-based email logos, and more, but adding value from your brand may help differentiate the platinum sponsorship from the bronze sponsorship.
Because you’ve already selected your platform, work with your account executives. They are the number one resource for understanding the platform, its benefits, and its features. The best thing about working with the account executive is their ability to bring internal resources where their knowledge may lack. Use this to your strategy’s benefit.
If you want to read more on package development, please check out a related blog posting that I authored.
Conclusion
There is no right or wrong way to monetize your digital presence. Start with these three steps to ensure that you are on the path to success. Find what works best for your organization. Then constantly evolve the sponsorship prospectus as you receive sponsor feedback and provider platform enhancements.
If you would like more information, please feel free to contact me to get started today!
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Posted by Dennis Shiao on Wed, May 09, 2012 @ 05:02 PM
Introduction
Recently, we announced our selection as a featured partner in Jive’s next generation platform launch. In my (slightly biased) mind, this was not one a small step forward. Rather, it was a giant leap with regard to digital event platforms.
I’ve been arguing for some time the days of the monolithic digital events platform are numbered. Today, digital events currently reside at a URL beginning with “name.<platform>.com.” Tomorrow, URL’s become less meaningful as we interact with components of a digital event platform (whether we realize it or not).
Ladies and gentlemen, tomorrow has arrived. We’ve created a Jive !App that resides in the Jive !Apps Market. Users of Jive communities can download the INXPO !App and experience all of the features of functions of our platform, including webcasts, chat, social wall, social games and more.
Let’s consider the reasons this development is important.
Technology Distribution
Technology adoption and usage grows the more places you make it available. Think about Twitter and Facebook. While a lot of activity happens on Twitter.com and Facebook.com, their buttons are embedded across the web; Twitter has desktop and AIR clients you can use; and their experience extends to mobile devices in the form of apps.
Digital event technology stands to benefit in the same way. The closer you can come to providing “Like” or “Tweet” buttons, the more usage you drive – and the more audience it exposes to your underlying service, whether that’s a social network or a digital event.
Our belief in this trend has led us not only into the Jive !Apps Market, but also to support mobile experiences via HTML5 support and via mobile apps, for iOS and Android.
When In Rome…
When in Rome, do as Romans do, right? When a user is actively participating in a Jive community, taking them outside of that community wouldn’t be, well, Roman. Our Jive !App is completely embedded within Jive, which means that the user experience stays completely in tact, with Jive users interacting with our platform directly inside their community.
A Gift: Audience Generation
Want a pre-existing audience to your digital event? How about your pre-existing Jive community? Embed an upcoming digital event or webcast – and when the live date arrives, your audience is there, waiting for you.
Sure, you may need to remind them to attend, but for those already in the community on the particular day (and time), they simply need to click “Attend” to enter the live event or webcast. Isn’t that great?
A Framework for Engagement
Jive communities also provide a pre-existing framework and model for engagement. When you embed digital events (and all of the events’ related features) inside that community, you allow deeper engagement to occur.
Our app publishes activity streams back into Jive. So in the Jive “newsfeed” (also called “What Matters”), users’ digital event activities appear for their friends and followers to see. This sort of "organic promotion" incents other users to perform similar activities within the digital event.
Digital Events & Jive Communities
Adding digital events to your online communities can help those communities thrive. Digital events add a real-time component, during which community members exchange ideas, answer questions and collaborate - all in real-time.
Digital events can serve as a great "launch vehicle" for kicking off your online community. Schedule events, make announcements and build that critical mass of users. Real-time engagements are a perfect complement to the interactions that occur asynchronously within a community.
Conclusion
Digital event technologies are hereby growing beyond the convention four walls of “the platform.” They’re moving closer and will be soon coming to a theater near you. Are you ready? Contact us today for more information on our Jive !App or our mobile solutions.
Additionally, visit our Jive Partnership page or read about our mobile webcasting solution.
Posted by Dennis Shiao on Mon, May 07, 2012 @ 01:12 PM
The following is a post by Jenn Gibson, Sales Engineer (and Webcasting Guru) at INXPO. This post was adapted from a presentation Jenn gave to clients and partners in our online environment, "vBIZ." We provide instructional presentations (to clients and partners) every Friday at 12PM ET.
Introduction
If you’re like most people, being on webcam for a presentation or a meeting is enough to make you want to call in sick. First, there’s the struggle of trying to make the video resemble what you actually look like.
Then, the hassle of remembering you’re on camera and making sure not to do anything ridiculous for everyone to see. It’s a lot to keep in mind, in addition to actually giving a presentation or participating in a meeting.
However, setting up a webcam to produce a quality video output isn’t as hard as you might think. If you spend a little time getting it just right once, you’ll know what you need to do every time to recreate the perfect results.
Let’s take a look at the most common webcasting mistakes and see how they can be easily corrected.
1) Bad Lighting
Bad lighting can ruin an otherwise great presentation. Your attendees want to see your face while you are presenting; it’s the closest they can get to actually being in the room with you. If you’re sitting in front of a bright light, you’ll be too dark. If you have a bright light shining in front of you, you’ll be washed out.
Quick Fix for: Bad Lighting
Getting the lighting right is simple if you follow these steps:
- Choose a room where you can control the lighting by adding lamps, turning on/off overhead lighting or opening/closing window blinds.
- Do not sit directly in front of a light source or position a light source directly behind you.
- Don’t rely on the webcam software to fix the lighting. Open/close shutters on outside windows, use additional lamps to create more indirect lighting or turn on/off overhead lighting until your image looks correct on screen.
- Have something white in the foreground such as a white shirt or just something else prominent in the frame. Webcams white balance to the lightest thing in the field of view so if there is something true white in the frame, it will balance to that making you look more natural.
2) Improper Webcast Positioning
You always want to appear to be looking directly at the camera (which translates to looking directly at your audience) so avoid the common mistakes of being zoomed in too close, not being zoomed in close enough and not being centered in the frame (or having the top/bottom of your head cut off).
Quick Fix for: Improper Webcam Positioning
Position your webcam so that the camera is eye level. To do this it may mean setting your computer or camera tripod up on something to elevate it and/or moving your chair to a higher or lower position.
Then, square yourself so you are in the center of the frame with your head and tops of shoulders visible in the camera view. Remember, you should take up the majority of the frame, not your background.
3) Creating Distractions During the Presentation
Your audience should be focused on you and your content, which is impossible if there are constant interruptions to the presentation from cell phones, noisy dogs, kids playing or doors opening and closing.
You also have to take into account the silent distractions from having too many things going on behind you. These include people walking around, too many pictures on the wall or busy backdrops.
Quick Fix: Creating Distractions During the Presentation
When selecting your location, choose a place that is private and can be closed off from other people (or pets) wandering into the room. When positioning the camera, choose a location that has a solid, single color backdrop with no more than one or two pictures on the wall. This will allow attendees to focus on you rather than trying to discern what’s in the pictures behind you.
4) Forgetting You're On Camera
During meetings or webcasts where you aren’t the only speaker, speakers often start checking email, try to take a quick phone call or start talking to someone in their office. This sends a message to the audience that you are not interested in the meeting/webcast. Also, it means that you’re unprepared when the conversation is turned back to you.
Quick Fix for: Forgetting You're on Camera
Set yourself up for success before the webcast even begins. Take the following steps to make sure you stay focused on the meeting or webcast:
- Turn off your email client.
- Turn off your cell phone.
- Put your office phone on Do Not Disturb.
- Block your calendar so others know you are indisposed.
- Close and lock the door to the room you’re in. If the door doesn’t lock, put a note on the door indicating you should not be disturbed.
- Keep an eye on your camera feed so you know how attendees are seeing you at all times.
Conclusion
Following these easy steps will help insure that every time you’re on camera you are able to project a quality image. Remember, if the audience isn’t distracted by these common mistakes, they’ll be focused on you and your content which will yield more successful webcasts.
For More Information
For more information on our Webcasting product, check out our XPOCAST product page.
About The Author
Jenn Gibson has been with INXPO for over five years, which has allowed her to be an active participant in growing awareness around virtual events, webcasting and shifts in technology. She has held many positions within INXPO, including Associate Producer, Event Director and Webcasting Department Manager; currently, she is a Sales Engineer, where her primary duties are working with new clients to understand their goals and match them with the appropriate solution for their event. Her primary focus over the course of her career has been in webcasting, working with the leading providers in the industry as well as assisting in the development and enhancement of INXPO’s webcasting product, XPOCAST. Follow her on Twitter @JennLGibson.
Posted by Dennis Shiao on Wed, May 02, 2012 @ 12:04 PM
Image via the Cisco Virtual Environments blog.
Introduction
Recently, Cisco held its annual Partner Summit, along with the concurrently run Virtual Partner Summit. The Virtual Partner Summit is hosted on the INXPO digital events platform. Cisco's Dannette Veale (@dveale) published an insightful blog posting about how the Partner Summit team utilized gamification (specifically, Badges) to achieve the event engagement they desired. The badging system is a feature that we launched in a recent release.
Tiered Badges
Interestingly, Dannette didn't simply create a set of badges and say "here, have at it." She designed a simple (yet effective) tiering system:
"Unlocking badges accumulated points for the attendees with the higher tier badges earning more points. Once an attendee had accumulated 250 points they were eligible for an iPad prize drawing. To start attendees off we awarded the “Welcome to VPS” badge which awarded 50 points upon first login. We then aligned badges to our goals so there were badges for watching different types of sessions for at least 15 minutes, submitting evaluations, and asking questions."
Dannette's tiering system plays into the status mechanic, whereby users are "motivated by trying to reach a higher level or status," to gain more recognition, privilege or benefit (as documented by Gamification.org).
"I was pleasantly surprised by the number of comments about going after the maximum points available as a matter of pride." -- Dannette Veale
Results
Gamification works! Results that Dannette published:
- Average duration for a 30 minute executive chat was approximately 20 mins
- Average duration for a 2 hour general session was approximately 90 mins
- 600+ questions asked during the 3 day event
- 30% average evaluation submission rate (this is up considerably from 2011)
- Higher attendance rates for our non-general session content
Related Content
- Dannette's gamification blog posting.
- A tour of Cisco's Virtual Partner Summit.
- Prior post: How Gamification Can Enable Digital Event Success
Interested in gamification of digital events - or want more info on our Badge feature? Shoot me an email.
Posted by Dennis Shiao on Tue, May 01, 2012 @ 01:01 PM
The following is a guest post by Michelle Bruno of Bruno Group Signature Events. I'm an avid reader of Michelle's Fork in the Road blog, which always manages to spur thoughts and ideas about the meetings and events industry. Follow Michelle on Twitter: @michellebruno.
Introduction
Monetizing a.k.a. earning revenue (and hopefully a profit) from a digital event begins long before the event. Monetization is a goal -- albeit a critical one -- that requires a strategy. It is not simply a utilization of inventory, such as banner ads, marquee messages and digital briefcases. As with any business model, monetization involves the assessment and fulfillment of the buyers’ needs.
The Types of Buyers
Essentially there are three types of buyers associated with a digital event:
- Attendees (even if they don’t pay to view the event, they are a critical component in the monetization formula)
- Sponsors
- Exhibitors (if there is a “trade show” feature).
In broad terms, each group has different objectives for the return on digital participation.
Attendees need content.
Attendees are looking for:
- A frictionless way to remotely experience content
- Affirmation that their attendance is a worthwhile use of their time (certification in some cases)
- Connections with other participants
- Recognition for their contributions (acknowledgement in Q & A sessions, responses to questions to exhibitors)
- Some level of transformation (the impetus for doing something differently as the result of attending).
Sponsors need data.
Sponsors seek:
- Brand awareness
- A reinforcement of messaging
- Business intelligence on attendee demographics, behaviors and preferences (a sweet spot for digital platforms)
- In some cases, actual engagement with attendees (banner click throughs or game play).
Exhibitors need leads.
Exhibitors want:
- Qualified leads for the sales funnel
- One-to-one opportunities to engage attendees (live chat)
- Ways to deliver sales materials to prospects
- Data on attendees who visit their booths
- Tools for placing leads directly into their CRM systems.
Conclusion
If the needs of all three buyer groups are met, monetization can result. But, fulfillment of these needs requires a keen understanding of, for example, the type of content that attendees will respond to, the metrics that sponsors require and the profile of attendees that are ready to buy.
Whatever discussions, research, data mining, social media analysis, crystal ball consultations or Gypsy medium divinations event organizers use to arrive at this information should be completed long before any discussion of banner ad revenue.
Upcoming Webcast on Digital Event Monetization
On May 8, 2012, we'll be hosting a Live Webcast on digital event monetization, featuring speakers from American Marketing Association (AMA) and BNP Media. Click the button below for more information.
About the Author
Michelle Bruno is a writer, blogger, and meeting professional. She develops content and content strategies at Bruno Group Signature Events. She currently writes about social media, technology and face-to-face meetings at the “Fork in the Road” blog (forkintheroadblog.com) and for TSNN.com. She is a writer for IAEE’s (International Association for Exhibitions and Events) publication Newslines and is the co-producer of the EastVirtual Event Workshop on virtual and hybrid events.
Posted by Dennis Shiao on Thu, Apr 26, 2012 @ 01:01 PM
Read more about our Webcasting solution, XPOCAST.
Introduction
In our online environment called INXPOLIVE, we’ve been averaging two live webcasts per month. We call those webcasts “Thought Leaders LIVE” and feature experts on digital events, hybrid events, online marketing and more.
As one of the marketers responsible for these webcasts, I’ve been spending lots of quality time with speakers and webcasting engineers. I’ve worked with numerous webcasting engineers over the years and while I’m biased, I have to say that INXPO’s webcasters are among the best.
Let’s consider the attributes of a rock star Webcasting Engineer.
1) Patience
A Webcasting Engineer needs lots of this. There are a litany of things that fall on their laps, for which they have absolutely no control over. The speaker’s location may lose power. The speaker’s computer may suddenly “seize.” The connection to a physical venue may drop, causing the live video stream to go dark. Speakers may fail to submit their deliverables on time. While it’s fine for Webcasting Engineers to be firm, they must exude patience at the same time.
2) Platform and Technology Knowledge
Rock Star Webcasting Engineers have an in-depth knowledge of their webcasting platform, along with deep experience and know-how on related technologies (e.g. streaming, audio, video, etc.) When training presenters, you can easily separate the rock star engineers from the backup singers. In addition, when technical issues arise with presenters, engineers will face the challenge of remotely troubleshooting the situation. They’ll need to ask the presenter to perform a series of steps, to see if that fixes the problem. Here’s another area where the rock stars shine.
3) Understands “Show Business”
Sure, Webcasting Engineers push slides and adjust audio. Rock stars, however, think beyond that. They know the ins and outs of “show business,” as much as someone on the set of ESPN Sportscenter or NBC’s Today Show. They’ll coach presenters on lighting, appearance and speaker tactics. They’re experienced enough to know what works and what doesn’t. And they realize that presenting online has its own set of unique challenges.
4) Cool Under Pressure
Read more about our Webcasting solution, XPOCAST.
As mentioned in the “Patience” attribute, not all webcasts are flawless. There are plenty of things outside the control of the Webcasting Engineer. The thing is, though, s/he who panics is lost. Rock stars remain cool under pressure. Being cool allows you to think clearly and find the best possible solution (under the circumstances).
5) Emphathy
To provide great customer service, one needs to have empathy for the “customer.” With a Webcasting Engineer, the “customer” includes presenters. Rock stars place themselves in the shoes of the presenter, whereas backup singers put up a “us vs. them” fence. Rock stars know that when a presenter can’t see the slides, that there must be a simple reason why. When you combine patience, strong technical knowledge and empathy, you get very happy and satisfied presenters.
Conclusion
So that’s what, in my mind, makes a Rock Star Webcasting Engineer. As your organization deploys your webcasting schedule for the year, assess whether your service provider holds similar attributes. And as you make hires for your own team, consider these attributes in your candidates. That is, of course, if you agree with me!
Posted by Dennis Shiao on Wed, Apr 25, 2012 @ 01:05 PM
Pictured: The INXPO App on the iPhone.
Introduction
The world has gone mobile. Has your digital event platform followed? I sure hope so. In my own household, we have two laptop computers (for work) and four mobile devices. Not surprisingly, we find ourselves using our mobile devices more than we do our laptops. And that’s in the home! Once we leave the house, of course, it’s all mobile, all the time (except when driving).
As you consider technology vendors for your digital and hybrid events, be sure to assess their readiness and support for mobile experiences. Your attendees will expect it (no, demand it), which means that if you don’t provide mobile, you’ll be left behind. Let’s consider what makes mobile so critical.
Becoming a Primary Computing Device
Many of us use a desktop or a laptop as our primary computing device. Designers and developers, especially, require the full keyboard and multiple monitors. In the C-suite, however, we’re seeing more and more executives turn to tablets as the primary computing device. Want an EVP, CMO or CEO to attend your digital event? Then you better have it work (and work well) on tablet devices and smartphones.
Anywhere Access
Remember the days when you couldn’t staff your digital booth because you were out of the office? Guess what? With mobile, you can access your digital event from anywhere. With your 3G/4G-enabled tablet, you can now staff your booth from any location that has wireless coverage (e.g. Starbucks, the gym, a hotel, the commuter train, etc.).
Today’s Students are Tomorrow’s Leaders
Talk to a student today and they’re apt to label a computer as “uncool.” Instead, they text and Facebook from smartphones. These digital natives will become tomorrow’s leaders. So if you’re hosting a digital career fair to recruit this generation, be sure it’s fully enabled on mobile. Else, they won’t even attend!
Access from Face-to-face Events
If you’re using a technology platform to enable a digital extension to your event, it needs to be mobile-enabled as well. Mobile will extend your reach even further, including to the attendees of the face-to-face event! I’ve attended a few events at which the keynote session was oversubscribed. The venue provided spillover rooms, in which attendees could view the keynote on a large monitor. With mobile access, the “spillover” could occur on each attendee’s tablet device.
We Believe. In Mobile.
We put a big investment in our mobile capabilities in 2011. The initial feedback from our clients and partners has been enthusiastic and we’re pushing ahead to continually enhance the mobile experience. With our 10.5 Release coming out this Friday (04/27), we’re excited to announce a number of new features.
Local Language Selection
Did you know that our language support extends to the mobile experience? We’ve enhanced your profile menu to allow users to conveniently select the language of choice for the event.
Presentation Tracks
We’ve extended our Presentation Tracks capability to mobile, allowing you to create session tracks, just like you would for desktop users. Now, mobile users can conveniently browse the tracks you’ve created for your sessions and navigate to the sessions of most interest.
Surveys
Mobile users can now participate in your event surveys. They’re easy to find and they’re easy to submit. So don’t be shy, survey that audience of your’s.
Announcements
Announcements are a great way to “push” important information to attendees. Whether it’s an upcoming presentation or a brief message from a sponsor, know mobile users can view these announcements as well.
Conclusion
As you plan your next digital or hybrid event, be sure to consider your mobile strategy. You strategy should include how you’d like to engage with mobile attendees and what feature set you’ll provide to them. When your strategy moves towards implementation, be sure that your technology providers have the capabilities to deliver on your strategy.
Posted by Dennis Shiao on Tue, Apr 24, 2012 @ 02:50 PM
The following is a guest post from Scott Lum of Microsoft. Scott is our featured Thought Leader in our upcoming Thought Leaders LIVE Webcast, "Using Digital Events as a Hub for a Content Marketing Program."
Introduction
Virtual and Hybrid events can be much more than a digital extension of your in-person event program. The field of content marketing has been evolving quickly for both large and small businesses. Companies have always used content of various types in their marketing efforts but new digital, social and mobile channels have made organizing and communicating the content much easier. Instead of treating content marketing efforts as siloed experiences, marketers need to integrate their efforts to tell a story that resonates with their customers.
There are several advantages of using digital events (virtual/hybrid events, webcasts, live chats, etc.) as a centralized point for content marketing:
Natural Integration Point
Digital events are a natural integration point for traditional and new marketing channels. When developing a virtual and hybrid events we already leverage many types of rich content and marketing channels:
- Traditional marketing - e-mail, newsletters, whitepapers, case studies, etc.
- Social media - blogs, micro-blogs, online communities, etc.
- Digital - streaming & on-demand video, websites, banner ads, etc.
- Mobile – streaming video, apps, location-based services, etc.
- Partner integration – leverage your existing vendor/partner ecosystem.
Regular Cadence
A regular cadence of digital events is a good source of fresh content for building and nurturing a community. One of the challenges of keeping your community active and engaged is providing valuable content on a frequent enough basis to keep them coming back to your site or social account. Developing a spectrum of low-cost to high-quality digital events can help you increase your frequency and provide value to your audience.
Fish where the fish are
Digital event content can be distributed in places where your audience naturally congregates – that could be your company’s website, social media site, or 3rd party sites. Live streamed events and on-demand content can be syndicated through a number of channels with calls-to-action back to your assets.
Nurture your existing customer community
Content marketing is not just finding and converting new prospects. Rich, customer-focused content is a great way to build advocates, thought leadership and build lasting relationships. Digital events can add real-time engagement with your company’s subject matter experts and provide a proactive way to build customer satisfaction.
Build a 365 environment
Digital events are a great starting point to build a year-round ecosystem for customers to find out about your products, get support, find knowledge base information, engage with your community, etc. Look for ways to mash-up many of your other content marketing efforts to intersect with your dynamic digital event efforts to create a vibrant customer engagement environment.
Conclusion
Content marketing can be an important touch point for marketers to engage with their audience by providing information customers value in a number dynamic ways. Look at ways to leverage your digital event program to bring your content to life and drive traffic to your sites. But what if you could take that engagement to the next level and use your digital events to power your content marketing strategy? What would you create?
Good resource for learning about content marketing: Content Marketing Institute
Learn More
I'm presenting a Live Webcast on Content Marketing with INXPO on Thursday, 04/26 at 12PM ET. I hope to see you there.
Posted by Dennis Shiao on Mon, Apr 23, 2012 @ 12:13 PM
Last week, the NFL announced its 2012 schedule. This week, they hold their Annual Draft. Do you see a pattern? There's something happening all year round. Look to the NFL (and what they do) to bring success to your virtual events.
Introduction
News flash: The National Football League (NFL) is an event planning organization. And they happen to be among the best in the universe. The NFL runs a year-long series of events, from mini-events, to large scale events to mega events (e.g. The Super Bowl).
Recently, the release of the NFL’s 2012 schedule coincided with 3-hour, prime time specials on both ESPN and NFL Network. Wow. Unlike any other major sport, the NFL is top of mind (in their fans’ minds) 365 days a year, 24x7.
While I’m not suggesting that your virtual event become a year-round, round-the-clock sort of thing, I do think the NFL can teach you some things. Instead of your annual virtual event being a “one and done” experience, steal some ideas from the NFL to extend your event’s livelihood. Let’s take a further look.
The Ecosystem
While the NFL is the arbiter of its brand, it relies on an ecosystem of partners to extend and reinforce that brand. The ecosystem includes:
- Individual teams
- Broadcast partners
- The Press
- Related content providers
- Merchandise retailers
The point here is that the NFL can’t do it alone. Where would it be without CBS, FOX and ESPN? Similarly, consider your virtual event. Your ecosystem includes:
- Exhibitors and sponsors
- Speakers and presenters
- Content providers
- Service providers
Be sure to fully leverage your own ecosystem in areas like monetization, audience generation, buzz building and media coverage.
Owned Media
The NFL, over the past several years, concluded that it needed to beef up its owned media, to complement its ecosystem. Have you visited NFL.com recently? It has as much original content as its ecosystem partners (e.g. ESPN.com, SI.com, SportingNews.com, etc.), written by a growing team of writers.
And of course, there’s NFL Network, which launched in 2003 and is carried on cable and satellite TV systems. With its talented team of analysts, I often find myself tuning in to NFL Network before and after games, when I’d formerly watch ESPN.
As a virtual event planner, you need to consider owned media, too. This could take the form of an event web site, a related blog and social media channels. If you run an annual, mid/large scale virtual event, realize that you’re now in the publishing business. Devise an Editorial calendar and start banging out content. Start by linking to and commenting on existing articles, then consider developing content of your own.
Generate Online Chatter
Is there any other sports league where the release of the season schedule is an event in and of itself? That’s the genius of the NFL. For an organization where most of the action takes place on the field, the NFL finds ways to create action (and generate related commentary and discussion) off the field.
The release of the 2012 schedule is an example of using its ecosystem (e.g. ESPN) and its owned media (e.g. NFL Network) to create an event (“2012 Schedule Prime Time Special!”). The prime time specials were the “main event” and it generated a wealth of discussion and commentary online, in the form of social networks, blogs and web coverage.
Think of similar ways to create news about your event that results in online chatter.
Select and Announce Speakers
Speaking of which, how about generating buzz around the selection of speakers for your virtual event? Madden NFL (from EA Sports), a key partner in the NFL’s ecosystem, runs an online tournament to select the player to appear on the game’s cover.
This not only puts the power in the hands of its fans, but generates buzz and chatter about the upcoming season’s game. Why not do the same for your virtual event? Allow your attendees to vote for the speakers they’d like to see and build some buzz at the same time. You could generate additional registrations, while creating a loyal attendee base at the same time (which will help your attendance rate).
Create an Off-Season Schedule
If your virtual event makes up your season, consider how you engage with your audience during the remaining 11+ months of the year. The NFL loves to generate online chatter, but it also knows that it needs to connect directly with fans via off-season events. Consider the following “mini events,” which occur after The Super Bowl:
- NFL Combine
- NFL Draft
- Training Camp
- Pre-season Games
Fans are invited to attend each of these events and all build up quite nicely to opening day. Like I said, with the NFL, it’s a year-round schedule that doesn’t have an end. Consider ways in which your virtual event can be complemented with off-season events. Speaking of which..
Re-broadcast (i.e. re-purpose) key content
Ever notice how NFL Network re-broadcasts a selected game from the prior week’s action? They don’t re-broadcast the entire game, mind you. They edit out the “between play” action, where players stand up, walk back to the huddle, etc. If you missed the game, this makes it quite convenient to view the action you missed.
In virtual events, you can provide access to all sessions for on-demand viewing, but why not take it a step further? Create abridged versions of the sessions (e.g. the top 10 slides from the presentation), then schedule a mini event during which the presenters appear (online) to engage with the audience.
Further Monetize Your Audience
The NFL has numerous ways to monetize its audience, in the form of ticket sales, merchandise sales and corporate sponsorships. There’s also TV commercials, the content of which has nothing to do with football.
According to Wikipedia, NBC generated $75MM in advertising sales for the Super Bowl XLVI broadcast (2012). The NFL benefited in the form of broadcast rights paid by NBC. Consider ways in which you can leverage your ecosystem to generate additional revenue from your audience. Hint: it could be in the form of unrelated content!
Conclusion: This takes work.
I can hear you already: you’ll tell me that your organization has nowhere near the resources to pull any of this off. And I’ll agree, somewhat. All of this takes work, which involves resources. You must first analyze how much you’re willing to invest (dollars, head count, etc.) and whether the anticipated ROI is there.
The NFL decided it was. It now employs writers, analysts, broadcast engineers (and more) – but, it continues to wisely tap into its ecosystem to widen its reach. Leverage your ecosystem to make this year’s Super Bowl your best ever.
Originally published at "It's All Virtual." You can read the original post there.