Event Planners and Marketers know that our success relies on the face-to-face interaction of the live events that we produce and market. Every study or white paper that we read tells how companies understand the value of the handshake, the name with the face and even the beer at the bar after a long day of conference sessions and show floor walking. However from necessity comes ingenuity and there are more and more companies complementing their live events with online webinars and virtual tradeshows.

From this ingenuity, we as marketers and suppliers to these event planners must develop complementary products and services for this new “wave” hitting our industry.

At ExpoCall, we’ve noticed that many of our traditional clients are following this trend of Virtual Tradeshows and Events. We have responded to the demand of our clients by creating new ways to capitalize on these growth markets.

There are two ways that we suggest utilizing Voice Broadcast Marketing for your virtual and online events.

The first is to reach out to attendees of your brick and mortar events such as Tradeshows and Conferences with special offers to attend your innovative, travel free virtual events. This application is customizable towards subsets of your attendee database focusing on the benefits of individual elements of your events. For example, if you run a conference focused on B2B Media, you can create multiple targeted messages focused on unique groups within your overall attendee universe such as Publishers, Digital Service Providers, Custom Media Specialists, etc. Having an expert focused on each of these niche groups record a targeted message that speaks to each audience with the benefits of attending your virtual event will draw more attention because the information is crucial to their staying relevant within your industry. This is not only an easy process, but also an affordable one.

The second best practice for Voice Broadcast for Virtual Events is to send a reminder call from your Keynote an hour prior to the event going live. This is a simple and cost effective way to boost your retention of pre-registrants. All too often I hear from clients that retention is a major issue. Repeatedly I hear the range of 40-50% of registered attendees actually log in and visit exhibits within the Virtual Tradeshows. By sending a reminder that is brief and to the point, retention rates have shown to consistently improve by an average of 10-15%. Plus you are showing your exhibitors that you are doing everything in your power to bring the most qualified attendees to their virtual booth at your event.

While most doubt that Virtual Events will never take the place of their more costly and less “green” big brothers – Trade Shows and Conferences, they are a valuable complement to your brand and maximizing their reach has never been easier.

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