It might be from as simple as using video as a historical recording of the event through to a fully immersive experience for guests to use before, during and after the event.
Here are some ideas on what to consider and make the most of your videos at the key points in the lifespan of your event.
Building up and publicizing your event
The event you are planning could be the first of its type, or it could be a returning event coming back for its tenth year, but the requirement to communicate quickly and easily is key. People need to understand the atmosphere, get an idea of the elements and content that they will experience at the event.
By using video you can maximise interest in the event, confirm for the people already booked that they’ve made the right choice and encourage others to come to the event. By using this method, and making the video attractive, people are more likely to share, therefore increasing ticket sales or registrations in the lead up to the event.
One way of doing this is to create a short snappy ‘teaser trailer’ or ‘sizzle reel’ using either clips recorded at your previous event, including speakers, group and audience shots, exhibition stands etc.
If it’s your first event, you could use graphics to represent the event, mixed in with stock footage. The idea is to encourage the viewer to be excited enough about the event to want to attend and hopefully share the content with friends and colleagues.
You might be able to encourage some of your speakers to be interviewed too; this can give the video more definition and by featuring specific speakers can encourage people unsure about the content.
If it’s not your first event, don’t forget to use footage that was captured by attendees from previous years – put a call out across social media for this. Most people will be happy to share this, especially if you can give them a free or discounted ticket for this year’s event.
Using footage shot by people taking part creates a fantastic atmosphere, it’s more authentic being from the attendees’ point of view rather than a more corporate overview and it often captures more fun or interesting moments than an official camera operator would be able to capture.
The event is ready to go live
It’s about to start, your attendees are waiting, ready for the first speaker…
Don’t leave them waiting, create a countdown to draw everyone in and get them ready, then launch into an introduction for either that speaker or maybe the whole event dependent on your audience or type of event.
You can continue to use video to highlight key messages during speeches, use countdown videos between main talks to help people understand when they need to be seated or where the next talk will be.
Livestream and speak to the rest of the world
Live streaming your event not only enables the rest of the world to join you, it can ensure that no one at the event need miss an important speech by using the live feed across the event and on displays and screens too. It allows everyone in the main area to get the best view in the house with live relay screens throughout the main rooms/stages.
Live streaming your event means you are more likely to have more people want to attend your next event. 67% of live video viewers are more likely to buy a ticket to a concert or event after watching a live video of that event or a similar one.
Live streaming creates authenticity around your event and shows all the aspects around the event as it runs, even if you just show certain speakers or talks.
Once each live talk/speech/discussion is complete you’re able to start building a library of content to use both at the rest of the event and going forward. It can be used to advertise following events as discussed earlier, plus the opportunity to build a reference library for the attendees of the talks/discussions/speeches that they may have missed.
Your footage is also invaluable for media companies, who will often use it during the event, or in the future as a reference point for a new story; this is, of course, all free advertising for your event.
It’s all over, what next?
The event has finished, you’ve said your goodbyes, time to relax? No! Firstly, you need to keep the event in mind for all the attendees, send out a recap video to all your registered attendees, keep it short, sweet and make sure you say thank you too; you want them to retain the warm and fuzzy feeling they had at your event.
You can encourage this fuzzy feeling by requesting they share their experiences too. Ask for them to share the videos of their experience at the event. This could be footage shot at the event, plus their responses to it. Try to get them to use the event hashtag as well, this way they continue to advertise the event and you can track how many people are taking part who attended and their reactions.
Also, you must use the thank you video on your website, it acts not only as a thank you, but a reminder too, and is ready until you start the process all over again.
There are so many other things you can do too and we’ll look at that soon, but this is a starting point for your event video creation and solutions.