No marketing activity has experienced such an assault on the senses over the pandemic than events. And that’s a big problem.
Why? Because, for many B2B companies, they contribute a significant proportion to revenue-generating objectives over the course of the year – leads, meetings, pipeline, etc.
Fortunately, technology has afforded brands the opportunity to fill the gap with their own virtual events. Unfortunately, many of them are just terrible.
Cue G2, who earlier this year hosted one of the best examples of an online conference I’ve ever seen from a B2B company.
Why? Because they looked at everything that makes every other virtual event suck and went in the opposite direction.
- Too busy to watch two days worth of content? After the live event finished it all went on-demand and will be online forever
- Tired that these events all kinda say the same thing? The G2 team had their audience curate the sessions based on what they wanted to know specifically
- Fed up with the fluff? The event prioritised real stories across sales, marketing and product with actionable takeaways
Couple all that with the fact that it’s free and you have yourself a blueprint in how to successfully programme a phenomenal virtual event.
Takeaway
Events will continue to be high on the list of lead-gen activities in 2021, but I think it’d be naive to think they return in a pre-pandemic format any time before Q3. While Zoom fatigue is a real thing, B2B companies still stand to gain from hosting their own virtual conferences.
Like Netflix, the brands that will win will be the ones that prioritise convenience and quality of their programming. Don’t restrict access to a specific timeframe or an arbitrary price point – all you’ll do is drive eyeballs to your competitors. Focus on exclusive, evergreen content that will pay dividends across the new year and beyond.
