Content marketing has become the way to reach attendees in 2013.
Broadcast approaches continue to lose their effectiveness while marketers everywhere scramble to adjust to a new world, in which quality content is at the centre of a sound marketing strategy.
Believe it or not, this is good news for conferences, meetings, and other events.
Why? Think about it. Events have been incredible content generators from the beginning. Presentations, panels, discussions and workshops, even keynote speeches provide digestible content that is particularly useful to the larger community to which your attendees belong.
So how can event planners best generate and use quality content to market their events?
Capture As Much Content at Events as Possible
Don’t let this valuable information fall to the wayside. Record or videotape it, or hire someone to take notes and summarize it. Whatever you do, get it down for posterity and make sure to have all speakers sign waivers giving you permission to use it.
Your conference will have the best impact if you go onsite with a plan for how you will use your captured content. If you don’t have a plan beforehand, you can figure it out later. Remember there are companies (such as Smarter Shift) with the experience to take your content and transform it into something that is attractive to an online audience.
Use Captured Content to Build Reputation and Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Because it builds thought leadership, reputation, customer trust, and search engine optimization (SEO) all at the same time, content marketers often put fresh, quality content at the centre of their online marketing strategy. A regularly (at least once a week) updated blog is usually the place where this content is posted.
Content captured from events can easily be converted into months of weekly blog posts. Written session summaries, photos taken at your event, even video can all be used as fodder for online marketing.
Use Captured Content to Build Community Online
As you publish your quality blog posts throughout the year, make sure to promote them in the online communities where your attendees hang out. Use your conference hashtag, if you have one. Make sure that you contribute to the community by sharing outside content and promoting others much more than you promote your own event or blog posts.
Create New Content
While content captured at your event can provide you with a treasure trove of content throughout the year, it’s important to keep your overall blog current. So don’t hesitate to address any hot topics you see emerging in your online communities. You can conduct interviews with past attendees, industry VIPs, or past or future speakers. And keep an eye out for opportunities to refresh or reintroduce past content by newsjacking the day’s headlines.
Take Advantage of Online Content Monetization Opportunities
Consider new streams of revenue that can be created by selling content online. You might wish to sell short videos from your conference, or create a white paper or e-book for purchase. Monetizing your content can be an excellent way to generate passive income over time that takes only a moderate amount of initial effort.
Once you’ve decided to pursue content marketing, create a comprehensive strategy that includes long- and short-term objectives and regular assessment using analytics tools.
It certainly is a new marketing world out there, and events are in a prime position to take advantage of it. If you’re an event planner, now is the time to beef up your digital marketing skills and create your new media strategy. If that isn’t an option, consider hiring a company that specializes in digital or content marketing.
A version of this article was first published on Jenise Fryatt’s Sound n Sight blog.
(Photo by GDC Europe)
