The past year and a half changed public gatherings and events in dramatic ways and forced us to be adaptive and innovative in how we connected with others. There are so many reasons why we put in the work to plan live events: they’re a great way to showcase a specific aspect of our business while engaging with our community and they allow for deeper face-to-face connection and relationship-building that can’t be fully replaced by online platforms.
That being said, combining your in-person events with live online event coverage can maximize your efforts by providing that venue for in-person connection while also allowing people to experience the event from the comfort of their homes and adding value through digital channels. Before we get started, I want to emphasize that the safety of your attendees is of the utmost importance. Make sure that you are following any and all health and safety requirements, local gathering restrictions, and public health ordinances related to COVID-19 that are in place in your city and at your venue.
Now onto the main event (pun intended)! Here are a few benefits that live event coverage can provide you:
Reach a bigger audience Venues have always had capacity limits, but with physical distancing and other health protocols, you may find your in-person capacity even more limited. Live event coverage allows you to connect not only with your in-person guests, but all of your online followers too.
Increase engagement with your guests Live event coverage allows you to interact with your guests more quickly and on a larger scale: questions on Twitter, Instagram polls, whatever your platform of choice, you can get feedback and respond to your followers right away.
Capture authentic moments as they happen Forget about waiting weeks for official photos from your event; let everyone feel like they’re there by sharing special moments as they happen. Plus, we all love seeing behind-the-scenes action and live coverage allows you to share those fun, unedited moments with your guests and online followers.
Added value for your event sponsors/partners The more communication channels you have open during your event, the more likely it is that sponsors and other businesses will want to work with you because they know they’ll reach a larger audience and be showcased in real-time as the event is happening.
Built-in promotion for your future events By sharing your event experience online through live coverage and user-generated content, you have the opportunity to show everyone who wasn’t able to attend what they missed out on. This helps you instantly create a buzz and interest for future events that you plan on hosting.
Now you’re probably saying to yourself: that all sounds great, but how could I possibly do all of the above while hosting my event? And that’s true! When you’re running an event, it always feels like there are a dozen things that need attention at the same time and a few unexpected issues always manage to pop up. And even as a host, you should have time to actually enjoy and be a part of your event.
The simple fact is that it's impossible to be present online and in-person and even small scale events take a lot of time and attention. We recommend that you plan on having someone who is solely focused on providing event coverage or better yet, hire someone to take on this role for you. This is where Etched In Marketing can help, with services to provide real-time coverage of your event, as well as capture moments to showcase the experience after it's all over. Check out our Event Service Packages and get in touch with us today!
