How Do You Effectively Engage With Your Community During Live Events?
In the fast-paced realm of live events, social media marketers are constantly innovating to keep their audiences engaged. Drawing from the insights of Heads of Marketing and CEOs, we've compiled eight cutting-edge tactics, from highlighting key moments with hashtags to creating customized experiences with gamification. Discover how these professionals elevate live event interaction to new heights.
- Highlight Key Moments with Hashtags
- Engage with Real-Time Interactive Livestreams
- Utilize Contests for Real-Time Engagement
- Boost Engagement with Interactive Event Features
- Combine Live Commentary with Interactive Q&A
- Captivate Audience with Live Art Sessions
- Adapt Content Based on Real-Time Reactions
- Create Customized Experiences with Gamification
Highlight Key Moments with Hashtags
One tactic we've used to engage with the community during a live event is posting key moments and highlights. This included adding event-specific hashtags, sharing photos and videos, and encouraging other followers to join the conversation too.
Engage with Real-Time Interactive Livestreams
I've tried many techniques, but using real-time interaction ranks in the top three of my best strategies to engage our community during a live event.
Hosting on multiple platforms is even better! We usually create a buzz with teaser posts and behind-the-scenes content beforehand.
As soon as the event starts, we host interactive livestreams on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube, where viewers can freely interact through live comments and questions.
We then encourage attendees to use a specific event hashtag to share their experiences, amplifying our reach.
Additionally, we use Instagram Stories polls and live Q&A sessions to gather feedback. Exclusive content and giveaways keep viewers engaged, and post-event highlights and user-generated content foster community loyalty.
Utilize Contests for Real-Time Engagement
As founder of Plumb Development, I've found real-time social engagement to be key during live digital marketing events. During a recent client webinar, for example, we asked attendees to tweet questions in real-time using a dedicated hashtag. We monitored the hashtag and answered the most popular questions live, engaging the audience.
For a client's virtual conference, we created a social challenge for attendees to post photos of their experience. The photos with the most likes won free consultations. The challenge increased event visibility and drove 30% more registrations. It strengthened our relationship with clients by showing our value.
Digital events are ideal for contests and giveaways to build excitement. For a nonprofit client, we offered social media followers a chance to win an online meetup with the executive director. The contest gained major visibility and garnered over 1,000 new followers in a week. Personal connections like these build brand loyalty.
Social media is key, but don't forget your email list. For the launch of a client's online course, we sent a special discount code to email subscribers. The code gave 50% off for the first 24 hours. The email triggered a surge of sales, with 30% of total course purchases coming from email subscribers. An engaged email list is marketing gold.
Boost Engagement with Interactive Event Features
Promote live social media updates using event-specific hashtags to encourage participants to tweet and post live updates. This strategy can significantly increase engagement and broaden the event's reach. To keep the energy high, incorporate interactive elements such as contests, quizzes, and real-time leaderboards. These additions not only boost interaction but also make the event more enjoyable.
Facilitate networking by setting up breakout sessions or virtual lounges. These spaces enable attendees to connect with each other and interact directly with speakers, fostering a sense of community. To maintain audience interest, share exclusive news, updates, or even launch a new product during the event. Exclusive content can keep attendees engaged and hooked.
Gather immediate feedback by using live polls and surveys. This real-time data can be invaluable for making on-the-fly adjustments to improve the event experience. Additionally, allow your audience to ask questions in real-time, with experts providing direct answers. This not only engages participants but also adds significant value to their experience.
Combine Live Commentary with Interactive Q&A
One strategy that has proven highly effective for me in live streams is the blend of live commentary and interactive Q&A sessions, allowing us to engage our community in real-time.
Here's a breakdown of how it unfolds: During the live stream, one of our team members will be monitoring the comment section, ready to answer questions and respond to comments as they arrive. We'll also designate a specific person to provide live commentary, essentially 'live tweeting' key takeaways and insights from the stream. But the key is to make it feel like a conversation - we'll ask questions, request feedback, and even acknowledge specific viewers by name.
To keep the audience engaged, we employ tools such as polls and quizzes. For an added incentive, we offer exclusive content or prizes to those who actively participate in the live chat. This approach creates an amazing sense of community and connection, and helps to break down the barriers between our team and our audience. Plus, it generates a ton of great engagement metrics that we can use to refine our content strategy moving forward.
Captivate Audience with Live Art Sessions
In an effort to blend creativity with technology, we've initiated live art sessions during events where digital artists use tools like Procreate or Adobe Fresco to create artworks live based on audience suggestions. This artwork, themed around the event or product, is then shared in real-time across our social platforms. This not only captivates the audience but also creates unique, shareable content that stands out in social media feeds, attracting more visibility and engagement.
Adapt Content Based on Real-Time Reactions
We go by the strategy of real-time content adaptation. This is where it gets really interactive. During a live event, we monitor social media reactions—likes, comments, shares—and quickly adapt our content on the fly. If a particular topic sparks interest, we might extend that segment or provide additional Q&A sessions on it. Conversely, if something isn’t hitting the mark, we pivot, ensuring that we’re always in tune with the audience's pulse. This agile approach to content management keeps the event lively and responsive, rather than static and predetermined. It’s like being a DJ at a party, reading the room and adjusting the music to keep the energy right. Plus, it shows that we’re not just talking at the audience, but with them, creating a collaborative atmosphere that respects their input.
Create Customized Experiences with Gamification
Making customized experiences is one creative strategy I've used to include our neighborhood during live events. Rather than a general broadcast, I broke out our audience according to tastes and interests. For example, in a recent webinar series, I customized material streams to fit several areas of our audience so that each group received pertinent information and conversations.
Incorporating gamification has proven to be highly effective. For a virtual summit, I set tasks and quizzes related to the event themes. Correctly performing exercises or answering questions rewarded participants with points or badges, which not only kept them engaged but also encouraged proactive participation throughout the event.
To improve the live event experience, I also dabbled with augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR). We allowed participants in a product demo to personally explore our innovations by providing a VR tour of our sites.
