Is post-event, on-demand viewing now in demand itself?
In today’s fast-paced world, businesses need to offer a personalised event experience to really leverage audience engagement. Event organisers must understand that all event formats need investment and have to be sympathetic to the delegate journey – so it’s crucial that we understand how and where audiences are able to invest their time to engage.
One way to achieve better engagement is by really enriching your ‘on-demand’ options post event, because although businesses may be disappointed by their live event attendance, they may find that their on-demand viewers are much higher. Barriers to live events are challenging; being time poor, lack of budget due to spending cuts, travel bans, time zone challenges, health concerns, language etc, and sometimes delegates (especially healthcare professionals) can find attending an event really difficult to justify. So, it’s not surprising that lately we have found that post-event, on-demand viewing, is now in demand itself!
Virtual events still have their place of course, but if you’re time poor it’s challenging to sit and watch a 6-hour live show virtually – especially if you live in a time zone that’s 8 hours ahead of the event, so you’re watching at 2 in the morning. Also, typically many global events are conducted in business English, and even if you’re reasonably fluent in English – it can be difficult to follow the quick-fire content of a panel or a Q&A, or someone else speaking with English as a second language. By sharing on-demand videos post event, planners can add both audio and subtitle translations that make the content more understandable and therefore accessible to a wider audience – and delegates can then play your chosen language video at time and place that suits you perfectly. The life of your event can also be extended because your viewers can go back time and again if they wish, and/or re-share to a wider audience down your channel.
During your planning process, consider which tools may be required for pre, during, and post-event engagement. Really understand your audience and put them at the heart of your planning. When creating on-demand videos, think about strong branding, clear messaging, enhancing music, good titles, and creating diversity in how you present the content. Think about how to add interactions that will make the ‘on demand experience’ even more engaging and immersive. Give your audience the opportunity to download more details that support the content with additional pdf and decks, or links to social media pages, or create additional value by sharing our new immersive video technology OpenTube to really showcase new product information.
Whether your audience is live or view on demand, you’ll have a new video asset which you can remarket to attendees and wider commercial audiences. You can make your content more accessible and live longer, and you can leverage more from the investment you’ve made in your live event whilst overall delivering a more effective and valuable event experience for your audience.
