5 virtual event strategies to strengthen your brand image

May 09, 2023

Brand image is the overall impression that a brand creates in the minds of its customers—a mix of all the thoughts, feelings and associations customers instinctually have when they hear a brand’s name or see its logo. Brand image is influenced by a variety of factors, including the brand's logo, messaging, products or services, customer experiences, and interactions with the brand.

Strengthening your brand image is important for several reasons:

It increases your visibility and brand recognition. Brand image can make it easier for customers to find and learn about your products or services. Brand recognition and visibility is crucial to capturing new leads as 84% of users are sometimes, often or always influenced by brand familiarity when they’re purchasing a product. The more familiar they were with a brand, even if they hadn’t bought from that brand before, the more likely they were to purchase from them.
It increases top of mind awareness. Top of mind awareness refers to the first brand or product a customer thinks about when they encounter a specific problem or need. For example, if a customer is looking to redecorate their home, what is the first store they think about visiting to browse furniture and decor? That’s top-of-mind awareness. Customers are more likely to immediately turn to the brands they like or think of positively, meaning the better your brand image, the more likely you’ll be their first stop.
It helps to differentiate your brand from your competitors. Echoing the last two points, a strong and unique brand image can really push your brand to the forefront of the competition and differentiate it from the others.
It can help to increase the value and perceived quality of your products or services. Customers often associate strong brand image with high-quality products or services, and may be willing to pay a premium for a product or service that is backed by a well-known and trusted brand.
It can help to increase customer loyalty and engagement. When customers have a positive personal experience with your brand, such as strong customer service, they feel cared for and valued and are more likely to become loyal customers who are engaged with your brand. Customer loyalty has also been shown to increase when customers respect or share values with a company. Similar values on topics such as environment, social equality, ethical product production, and ethical labor have shown to strengthen customer-brand relationships and highly influence purchasing choices over competitors.
It increases word of mouth marketing. Word of mouth marketing is exactly what it says—it’s when people hear reviews about your brand from others (be it family, friends or strangers). Positive word of mouth is key to your brand’s success, after all, and is currently one of the most effective trust-building marketing strategies. 88% of people strongly trust a brand if it’s been recommended to them by friends or family. Even strangers hold powerful sway—90% of people say that they are more likely to trust a brand if it’s been recommended by another customer, including strangers. And yes, according to marketers, word-of-mouth is more powerful than paid ads or social media marketing. So how can you influence word of mouth, and make sure it’s positive? Easy. Happy customers make good word of mouth marketing. Customers are more likely to tell others about brands they like or have positive experiences with and they’re more likely to recommend a brand they associate with positively.

Here are 5 strategies for strengthening your brand image that you can use in your virtual event campaigns.

Offer useful content

One way to strengthen your brand image is to focus on providing valuable, informative, and useful content that your customers can use in their everyday lives. Providing consistent, valuable content not only establishes your brand as an authority in your industry, but it also shows your customers that you care about them and are actively listening to their needs, wants, and problems. In short, publishing content positions you as a customer-centric brand that cares more about their customer’s general satisfaction than just selling more products.

For example, if your business sells cooking tools and appliances, you’d lure in more customers by posting recipes, cooking videos or cooking classes. How about posting a holiday treats workshop for the family? Or a tutorial on making the most comforting soups for fall time? Use your content to show customers how your brand fits into their daily lives.

The consistency of your content is also key. Regular content posting keeps customers coming back to your website and social pages for updates. It also ensures that your brand is always top-of-mind.

In virtual events, content is also king. According to Kaltura’s 2021 study on virtual event attendees, educational content is one of virtual events’ biggest draws. Specifically, attendees look forward to and enroll in events that provide product expert advice, Q&A, and demonstrations on products as well as skill courses. What’s more, according to studies 64% of attendees say the value and usability of an event’s content heavily influences their decision to enroll in that event.

Hosting a virtual event is one of the best strategies for offering extra content. You can offer different content segments, formats and media during the same event, from pre-recorded videos, live stream, audio, and digital text materials such as brochures, posters, documents, etc. There’s no limit to what you can offer. Virtual events also give you the opportunity to give your customers exclusive materials they can download and keep. For example, if you’re hosting a cooking workshop, you might provide downloadable copies of all the recipes you taught as well as some bonus recipes for good measure! Event attendees appreciate when you provide extra materials they can keep or access beyond the time of your event.

With that said, live video is virtual events’ greatest strength with 75% of attendees saying that live streamed content is valuable and engaging, more than any other content type. And it’s not hard to see why users love live streaming so much—it provides you with the unique opportunity to interact with your customers in real-time so they can get the most out of your content. Attendees can ask you questions, make content requests, and actively engage with your content through voting polls, comments, and on-camera participation. Giving your customers opportunities to directly engage with you and your content in real time is also great for strengthening your brand community.

Rewards

Offering exclusive customer deals and rewards is popular among businesses as an effective way to encourage customer loyalty and strengthen your brand image. Some businesses have rewards systems set up, in which customers can collect points that can then be exchanged for rewards. Offering rewards shows your customers how committed you are to them and makes your customers feel valued and appreciated, which can increase their overall satisfaction with your business.

The quality of your rewards is crucial. Here are some ideas for possible rewards to give:

Product deals and discounts. Deals and discounts are always appreciated—after all, your customer loves your product and is probably looking to buy more of it sooner or later.
Freebies. Freebies are items that are given away for free, typically as part of a marketing or promotional campaign. These items can range from small, low-cost items such as pens or stickers, to more substantial items like T-shirts or tote bags. Freebies can work especially well if you give out samples of newly released products. It’s a win-win—you can get testing feedback on new products before they hit shelves and your customers can feel special while they get the leg up on new stock that isn’t out yet. New product freebies also show your customers that you value their opinions and take their feedback into consideration.
Exclusive content. This one ties with the previous point of offering useful content, except it comes with the bonus of making your customers feel special and appreciated for their time with you. Also, content rewards can be a great strategy for smaller companies whose budgets don’t include freebies or major discounts.
Give rewards or rewards points to event attendees. Give your customers an extra incentive to attend your event by offering attendance points or rewards. For example, offer extra tutorial videos or downloadable content to attendees that you won’t release publicly.
Offer special rewards or extra points for purchases made during shopping events. Shopping events are all about promoting your merchandise, whether it be spotlighting your best products or showcasing new ones. So why not give your customers extra rewards points or freebies for purchases made on your event products?
Run interactive segments with rewards. Encourage your attendees to engage with your product by running interactive games, competitions or challenge segments. Set up games or challenges for your attendees where they can answer questions or vote in polls to win points.

Partner with another company

Marketing partnerships can help improve your brand image by associating your brand with a reputable and trusted partner. This can be especially powerful if the partner is a company or organization that is known for its high-quality products or services, or for its commitment to a particular cause or issue. By partnering with a credible company, you can borrow some of their credibility and trust, which can help improve the reputation of your brand.

Additionally, partnerships can provide opportunities to share expertise and resources, which can help improve the quality and effectiveness of your products or services. This can help differentiate your brand from competitors and make it more attractive to customers. Finally, partnerships can help expand your reach and audience, which can increase awareness of your brand and help improve its visibility and recognition.

Partnering up with another organization to host an event is a great way to get your customer base in the same room. Collaborating on event segments can be an amazing way to show the relationship between your organizations and the strengths each of you bring to the table. For the smaller of the two (or more) businesses, it’s a great opportunity to showcase your products or brand to a wider audience and talk to them directly or answer questions.

Expand your omnichannel strategy

Omni channel marketing is important because it allows businesses to provide a seamless and consistent experience for customers across all channels and touchpoints. This means that regardless of whether a customer interacts with your brand through your website, social media, email, in-store, or over the phone, they will receive the same high-quality experience and consistent messaging. This can improve customer satisfaction and loyalty, as well as reduce customer confusion and frustration. Additionally, omni channel marketing can help businesses gather more comprehensive data and insights about their customers, which can be used to improve the customer experience and target marketing efforts. What’s more omni channel marketing can help businesses stay competitive in today's digital landscape, where customers expect a consistent and seamless experience across all channels.

Hosting virtual events expands your omni-channel marketing strategy by adding yet another touch point where your customers can communicate with you. What’s more, it’s easy to integrate your virtual events with your other marketing channels and strategies. It’s easy to compliment your events with similar content on your website or social media platforms. For example, if you’re an art supply seller, you can create a landing page on your website where customers can learn more product specifications and make a purchase, showcase customer pieces made by using your products on social media, and then host an event workshop where you teach others to use those tools as well. Providing complimentary content across channels keeps your marketing strategy dynamic and fresh (it keeps your customers from feeling like they’re seeing the same marketing poster over and over) and it paints a holistic picture of your product, its value, and how it fits in your customers' lives.

Contribute to social or environmental causes

We previously mentioned how shared values with a company can lead to increased customer loyalty and a more positive brand image. This is particularly true for values related to the environment, social equality, ethical product production, and ethical labor. These shared values can strengthen customer-brand relationships and have a significant impact on purchasing decisions.

Actively and consistently contributing to social and environmental causes creates a positive association with your brand, builds trust and makes it more attractive to customers who value companies that give back to their communities or the world at large. Finally, contributing to these causes can also provide opportunities for your company to engage with your community and build relationships with other similar-valued organizations and individuals, which can help improve your brand's visibility and recognition.

One way you can show your dedication to your cause is to create an event in its name. Here are a few ideas on creating events that highlight your cause and show your customers you care:

Talk about how your business process aligns with your cause. Does your company source its products through fair trade labor? Are you committed to making sure you have no-waste packaging? If your values impact your business model, process or design, share it with your customers. Transparency builds trust. Why not host a keynote speech on how your cause, how you contribute to it in your business’ everyday functions, and how you’ll continue to be better in the future.
Host a fundraiser. Whether it’s an educational or entertainment event, fundraisers are a great way to raise money and awareness for your cause and show your customers that you’re dedicated to your values. Ask for attendees for donations, host auctions or donate a portion of your ticket revenue to a local charity.
Partner with a charity. We talked about this point earlier in the partnering with organization section, but it’s worth mentioning here. Partnering with a charity is a great way to spotlight that charity to your following. It’s also a great opportunity to pass the mic to cause experts who can spearhead informative presentations and interviews. Marketing often tells us to grab as much of the spotlight as you can but in times like these, it’s much more powerful to give it to someone else.

Resources:

Kaltura (2021). State of Virtual Events 2022. Industry report
Todorov (2021). Word of Mouth Marketing: 49 Statistics to Help You Boost Your Bottom Line. Semrush
Memon, M. (2022). Unpacking 2022 virtual events statistics. Vimeo

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5 ways to promote your online event and attract your target audience

07 Nov, 2023

Organizing an online event can be a great way to connect with your target audience, promote your brand, and build a community around your product or service. However, with so many online events happening these days, you might be wondering how you can make yours stand out from the pack. So, it's more important than ever to make sure your event draws attention to and attracts your target audience. Here are some tips for promoting your online event: 1. Utilize social media Social media is a great way to promote your online event and reach your target audience. You can start by creating an event page on each social media platform that suits your business and include all the pertinent details such as the date, time, location, and a brief description of what your event is all about. Also, you can create a unique hashtag for your event and start promoting it on all your social media channels in the weeks leading up to the event. Be sure to also add and use other relevant and trending hashtags so that people searching for events like yours can find it easily. Additionally, consider creating promotional videos or graphics to post on your social media platforms. Paid advertising on social media to reach an even wider audience and is a great strategy to grab people's attention and give them a better idea of what your event is all about. When creating your ads, be sure to target them specifically to your target audience. 2. Send email invitations Email invitations are another great way to promote your online event and reach your target audience. Include all the important details about the event in the invitation, and make sure to personalize the message so that it resonates with the recipient. You can use paid advertising to reach an even wider audience by purchasing email lists, using a tool like Google AdWords or your clients contact email lists. Another great way to promote your online event is by sending personal invitations to people you think would be interested in attending. You can do this via email or even through direct messaging if you're connected with them on social media platforms. In your invitation, whether it is an email list or a personal email, be sure to include a link to where they can sign up for the event so it's easy for them right from the get-go! 3. Use other marketing channels In addition to social media and email lists, there are other marketing channels you can utilize to promote your event such as blog posts, traditional billboards, print ads, TV commercials, radio spots or flyers if you're looking to reach a local audience. These channels can be highly effective in reaching people who may not be active on social media or who don't use email frequently. Plus, they can help create a sense of urgency and excitement around your event that will get people curious and wanting to participate. Again, be sure to include all the important details about your event and try to make your marketing materials visually appealing. If you have a website for your business or organization, be sure to create a dedicated page for your event that people can easily find. 4. Collaborate with other businesses or organizations A great way to promote your online event is by teaming up with other businesses or organizations that serve a similar target audience. For example, if you're hosting an online seminar about starting a small business, reach out to local small businesses and see if they'd be interested in sharing information about the event with their customers or clients. Not only will this help spread the word about your event, but it will also give you some credibility since you're being endorsed by another business. 5. Offer Incentives Finally, don't be afraid to get creative in promoting your online event. There are endless possibilities when it comes to marketing, so try thinking outside the box and coming up with unique ways to get people interested in attending your event. For example, you could host a contest leading up to the event or offer discounts for early registration. One of the best ways to get people interested in attending your online event is by offering them something in return. This could be anything from a discount on products or services to freebie items such as eBooks or downloadable templates related to the topic of your event. Whatever it is, make sure it's something that will appeal to your target audience and incentivize them to attend. Event organizers now have more tools available than ever before when it comes to promoting their events. Utilizing digital channels is essential in today's age, but traditional methods such as print ads or TV commercials can still play a role in promotion. Moreover, being creative and outside -of-the-box will help make an impression on potential attendees. At the end of the day, what matters most is that the right people are interested in attending your virtual event! Remember, promoting your online event doesn't have to be difficult—just follow these simple tips and you'll be well on your way to attracting your target audience! Utilizing social media, sending email invitations, utilizing traditional marketing methods, collaborating with other businesses and offering incentives are all great ways to promote an online event and for sure you’ll attract attention from your target audience.

How to improve your inbound marketing strategies through virtual events

24 Oct, 2023

Virtual events are a great way to build your brand and generate new leads. They’re low-risk, cost-effective, and scalable, allowing you to experiment with new content types without worrying about the overhead costs associated with marketing campaigns. Events are a great way to give your audience a look at who you are and what you do. Virtual events can help grow your inbound marketing strategies. With the right setup, you can create engaging events with little effort and investment.

The rise of virtual events: why some industries thrive when the world shifts online

17 Oct, 2023

In a world that's increasingly driven by technology, it's no surprise that virtual events are on the rise. With so many industries embracing the power of the internet, it's only natural that more and more events are being held online. While some industries have been slow to adopt this new trend, others have embraced it with open arms. Here are four industries that have thrived as a result of the shift to virtual events. Education The boom of online learning has led to a period of adaptation where educators have had to get creative in order to continue providing students with the same quality content they would provide in-person. Enter: virtual events. Virtual events have allowed educators to host virtual lessons where, just like in the classroom, students can listen to lectures, participate in activities, and engage with their classmates. Here are a few ways in which virtual events have benefitted the educational industry: Increased access: Online learning provides greater access to education for students who may not have access to traditional brick-and-mortar schools. This includes students who live in rural areas, students with disabilities, and students who are unable to attend traditional schools for other reasons. Flexibility: Online learning allows students to learn at their own pace and on their own schedule. This can be especially beneficial for students who have other commitments, such as work or family responsibilities. Cost savings: Online learning can be more cost-effective than traditional education for both students and schools. For students, online learning eliminates travel costs, as well as material costs for bags, or school lunches. For the school, online classes reduce the overall cost of delivering education as they save money on physical printed assets, stationery, school-provided technology and more. Increased engagement: Online learning can help to engage students who may be disengaged in a traditional classroom setting by providing a more interactive and personalized learning experience. Some students also find it easier to engage with work in the comfort of their own home where they might not feel as much pressure as in a traditional classroom. Technology The tech industry is another that has seen great success with virtual events. In fact, many tech companies were already using online platforms to hold events before the pandemic hit. From promotional events to internal organizational events, the tech industry has widely benefitted from hosting virtual events. These benefits include: Increased accessibility. Online events make it easier for people with disabilities as they can participate from the comfort of their own homes. This can help to increase diversity and inclusion within the tech industry. Virtual events also provide higher access for international or faraway event attendees who otherwise wouldn’t be able to attend due to traveling time, planning or costs. Cost savings: Online events can be more cost-effective than traditional in-person events, as they eliminate the need to rent physical event space and can reduce the cost of logistics and travel for both organizers and attendees. Once again, these cost savings lead to greater event scalability and increased attendance. On the one hand, a higher number of attendees will be able to afford to attend the event. On the other hand, the company doesn’t have to worry about capping attendance based on physical space and other resource availability. Increased visibility. With increased accessibility and attendance comes increased visibility. Online events provide an opportunity for tech companies to showcase their products and services to a wider audience, often internationally to those in countries where that tech brand is still growing. This can help to increase the visibility of the company and its offerings and can also help to generate leads and drive sales. Improved engagement. Online events can be more interactive and engaging than traditional in-person events, as they often incorporate features such as live Q&A sessions and interactive polls. This can help to increase engagement and make the event more impactful for attendees. Marketing When it comes to marketing, virtual events have become a key marketing strategy for increasing brand awareness and loyalty. Here are a few ways in which virtual events have benefitted the marketing industry: Increased accessibility and visibility. We’ve covered these points in the previous industries but it’s with mentioning here too. In a profession that often places increased visibility, awareness and lead count as a key goal, virtual events have become an indispensable strategy in marketers’ toolbelts. Lower costs mean greater scalability and higher attendance capacity. Shorter event planning time. While an in-person event can take the better part of a year to plan (even just booking a venue well in advance can place your event date on the distant horizon), virtual events can take mere weeks to put together. This means marketers can create more frequent events throughout the year which increases the amount and consistency of communication they have with customers and allows them to create and put out more content that increases visibility. After all, smaller bursts of consistent engagement through the year are better than one giant event and then no engagement for the rest of the year. Event statistics and data. Virtual events offer marketers a great way to collect real-time data about their target audience before, during and after the event. By tracking attendees' behaviors such as enrolment, and attendance, as well as their engagement with event content, marketers can gain valuable insights into what type of content most resonates with their audience and make necessary adjustments on the fly or for future events. This level of data-driven decision making is invaluable for any marketing team looking to stay ahead of the competition. Hospitality The hospitality industry has been one of the hardest hit by COVID-19 due to restrictions on travel and large gatherings. However, even in these difficult times, there are still opportunities for businesses in this sector to thrive—and many of them have found success by pivoting to virtual events. Turning to online learning. One benefit the hospitality sector found during lockdown was the ability to harness its services into online learning classes. From cooking to workout classes, hotels took the opportunity to show attendees how to use new skills and start new hobbies. Fostering community. Some hotel events set up activities such as games for families, or special interest groups such as cooking groups or reading clubs. Hotels benefited from creating a flowering community around their brands. As the world becomes more technology-driven, it's crucial to remember that businesses in all industries can still thrive, even during times of crisis like the current one. By embracing new trends like virtual events, businesses can stay relevant, connect with their audiences, and keep operating when traditional methods are no longer possible or viable.