We’re going to see ongoing disruption to trade shows and conferences. This makes it more vital than ever to make sure that you activate the influencers in your own organization and engage with external influencers online. If you don’t do that, you will be severely limiting opportunities for engagement and damaging your visibility in front of customers.
When physical industry events resume, there will be much more expectation that presentations and other content will be made available online. Ninety percent of media and analysts said they want more online access to briefings and presentations from physical events. Marketers risk missing out on valuable opportunities if they don’t understand this shift.
The latest report from Platform Communications, The New World of Tech Communications, confirmed that quality content is more important than ever. Engaging content starts with making sure you really know what your audiences really care about. To stand out, content needs to be useful and insightful and focused on the issues that matter. This isn’t new, but it’s more important than ever to ensure content is relevant and engaging.
The report further states that virtual events can be a massive, missed opportunity. Almost three quarters of media & analysts (71%) agreed that virtual events have tended to be more useful than (pre-COVID-19) physical events. However, half of the respondents (49%) said it could be difficult to get the input they need. This suggests that a lot of virtual events are not delivering a real return on investment. They need to be about far more than putting a presentation online and hoping for the best. It’s actually pretty easy to fix by creating the right interaction before, during, and after. This begins by making sure that events are truly tailored to the audience and also typically involves ensuring there’s an opportunity for live Q&A and there’s relevant follow- up.
Highlighting the key findings of the report:
a] The virtual events designed to fill the gap left by major events have been well received, but there is significant room for improvement, with half of the respondents (49%) saying it can be difficult to get the input they need.
b] Three-fifths (59%) of the survey’s respondents said they had received less news than the same time last year. Worryingly, almost half (48%) said that the quality of news has decreased.
c] COVID-19 related industry commentary was the top type of content received by a significant majority (79%). However, less than a quarter (24%) said they want more. This reflects a feeling that not all content has been useful.
d] Three-fifths (59%) of the survey’s respondents said they had received less news than the same time last year and almost half (48%) said that the quality of news has decreased
e] In the future, when events return, they must be more digital. Around three quarters (72%) of respondents said that they would cover more from events (when they resume) if the content was available online
