Why Your Virtual Event Needs Virtual Event Videos
With Virtual Event Videos, You Can Inject Engaging Pre-recorded Segments into Live Events.
Have you ever heard of Virtual Event Videos?
Neither have I—it’s a term I kind of made up. But I think it’s an idea that may be useful to a lot of marketers and event organizers today.
With all the limitations on face-to-face meetings during the COVID era, everyone is having to reinvent how we meet, how we network, and how we generate leads.
For example, trade shows have become virtual trade shows. Networking groups are now virtual networking groups. And of course, even day-to-day meetings and sales presentations are now being conducted on Zoom.
Make It More Engaging
But there’s a problem with virtual meetings—they all seem pretty much the same.
How can you make a virtual presentation more interesting? More fun to experience?
And the answer is—drumroll please—yes, you guessed it, Virtual Event Videos.
They’re short segments to play during your event.
They can be pre-recorded, pre-written, and pre-planned. That means you can incorporate music, stock images, voiceovers—all the proven storytelling techniques that make videos so interesting to watch.
And it’s so easy—all you have to do during the event is press “Play.”
Virtual Event Videos
Remember David Letterman? How he used to play pre-taped segments on his Late Night talk show? Virtual Event Videos could work the same way.
Imagine having a series of short segments to play for attendees, to help break up the flow of the meeting and to help add visual interest:
• Interview with the CEO
• Customer comments
• Product demonstration
• Sales presentation
• Infographic charts or statistics
• Photo slide shows
Here are some examples. I just produced videos for an upcoming event, a “virtual gala” for Our House, an Atlanta homeless shelter.
Under normal circumstances, this gala would have been a live event, with dinner and speeches and tributes to donors and corporate sponsors.
It’s hard to capture that same energy in a virtual environment, but Virtual Event Videos will definitely help.
In the video above, we filmed the CEO baking and decorating a cake for the event’s honoree, injecting some humor and fun in the process.
And here are two more examples. The first is a video that explains how to register for the virtual auction. The second is instructions for mixing a signature cocktail during the event.
Other segments will show kids in the shelter’s preschool and after-school program, as well as pre-taped messages from board members and officers, and thank you videos from leadership.
In addition, these videos will be usable even after the event is over. Maybe they’ll appear on the shelter’s website or in their social media posts.
With the pandemic continuing into its second year (sigh), I think more companies and event organizers may want to consider incorporating Virtual Event Videos.
We could all use a little more fun these days.
About the Author:
Harry Hayes is the owner and executive producer at Content Puppy Productions, a corporate video production agency based in Charlotte. Before starting Content Puppy, he spent 20+ years as an advertising writer and creative director.
