If 2020 were a Netflix series, we’d place our money on most reaching for the “skip intro” button. With COVID-19 continuing to affect people worldwide, the response to the pandemic has upended all of our norms, including the way we interact and engage.
Having lived in this new, ever-changing norm for the better (or worse?) part of a year now, we’ve all seen things take a sharp digital turn as people turn even more to digital means to seek connection and engaging interaction.
Working with lifestyle partners to build connections with audiences, digital events and engagements have become part of our norm. Together with our strong and supportive network of clients and industry partners who share our passion in pushing the envelope to create meaningful engagement, we’ve learnt and grown through various digital activations.
Paired with some thorough planning, these virtual events can be pretty fun and engaging. You might even find yourself reaching wider audiences than in-flesh activations.
Coming off from the recent virtual launch press conference of Viu Originals “The Bridge Season 2”, we’ve compiled some thought nuggets to consider when charting out your next successful virtual event.
#1 Know Your Tech
You certainly don’t need to be a tech wizard, but it is advised you have some basic know-hows on streaming platforms and video tools in order to select the most suitable platform for your project.
In the case of The Bridge Season 2’s launch event, we leveraged on two main tools, Zoom and YouTube Live. Zoom was ideal to broadcast the launch event itself. Meanwhile, the latter effectively connected the brand, cast and the director to the media. This allowed for interaction between the guests (mostly media journalists and editors) and members of The Bridge Season 2 cast and production teams.
#2 Combine pre-recorded content with live streaming interactivity
Having any type of content pre-recorded allows brands to edit, and produce high-quality content. Not to mention helps minimise hiccups like connectivity issues making for smooth, high-quality viewing experiences.
To maintain a healthy mix of quality content and interactivity, a combination of pre-recorded and live stream content is a great format to consider. Try pre-recording keynotes, speeches, emcee introductions and even panel/discussion sessions. Then pair this with live-streamed segments like audience Q&A’s.
#3 Dedicate chat moderators
Have you spoken to a customer service chatbot before? So you would know how frustrating it can be to have your questions go unattended. Consider dedicating a person (or more) to actively interact with guests on chat at your virtual event.
At the Viu The Bridge 2 press conference, we captured, organised and fed all media questions through to the cast and production team. This allowed us to address even more questions than we typically could in the usual on-ground experience of passing around microphones.
#4 Engage a passionate emcee
At the centre of a kickass in-person event is often an awesome master of ceremonies or emcee. Especially since “vibes” are more challenging to achieve in a remote and digitally held event, an engaging emcee is all the more crucial to grasp the continued attention of your guests.
Dialing in from their own homes, your guests’ tendency to get distracted is a real consideration as kids, furry friends, countless deliveries, Netflix and even their comfortable beds vye for their attention. An experienced emcee (with a fit with your brand!) is a fantastic ally to keep your guests connected and fully engaged throughout your event.
#5 Consider interactive features and games
On the point of keeping guests engaged, consider encouraging participation throughout your event by deploying interactive features and plugins like polls and chat box games to run trivia and quizzes.
Break the ice with your online audience and get them warmed up (pun intended) for your event by kicking off the session with an interactive poll or Q&A right off the bat. We’ve found this effective in reducing awkwardness, promoting audience participation and retention. All in all, making for an overall positive experience.
#6 Don’t skip out on data
When evaluating an on ground event, more often than not, the only data you have is the number of people who showed up making it challenging to determine how successful the event was, and the attendees sentiments towards their experience.
A virtual event leaves you with a multitude of data points such as frequency and timing of engagement, how long viewers stayed with you, when they might’ve dropped off. You are also able to actively solicit feedback via chat and poll. Once the digital event is done, review these behavioural data points and allow them to guide improvements towards making your next engagement even more successful.
We often wonder when things will return to normal, but the fact is, they won’t (yes, it's time you snap out of your bubble and accept this too). But it doesn’t mean we can’t still work towards our business objectives and continue to engage with audiences.
With the ‘business as usual’ largely out the window, thousands of brands and people have fully maximised the capabilities of our day-to-day communication platforms. The name of the game is adaptability and agility. Brands and their partners need to adopt agility, tune into their evolving environments and adapt accordingly