With video being the most effective marketing medium, it should be a part of your event marketing strategy. It is versatile enough for effective messaging and branding in various campaigns on multiple platforms. Making videos is relatively accessible, as almost everyone has a smartphone with a high-quality camera. However, your event planning business deserves forethought. These seven dos and don’ts will help you create an event video marketing plan that will deliver success.
1. Do Share Authentic Content
People can sense when marketing is inauthentic. With the significant volume of content coming at us, disingenuous content is immediately passed over. This is the last thing you want for your content after you’ve dedicated time and resources to making it. In addition, you risk alienating your target audience and having them associate your event planning brand with negative opinions or feelings.
Consider using a mix of professionally produced and casual content to create a sense of authenticity. High-production value content looks professional and beautiful. However, it can also be too perfect and not reflective of real life. Casual content that looks like an event attendee’s creation can add authenticity to your social media. It looks like content your target audience could have created, making your brand more relatable.
If you post about your event planning business, consider posting about the ups and downs of the business. Life isn’t perfect, so showing the good and bad on social media makes your business more relatable. Some event planners are afraid to show the downs because they don’t want their brand to be associated with anything negative. However, you can address this by showing how you overcame the challenges and tough moments.
2. Don’t Just Share Your Video Once
Social media is tricky because it is so fleeting, and the competition is fierce. People open an app and scroll at any time of day and any day of the week. Then, a massive volume of content is posted all the time. Combine both of these with the fact that each social media platform has an algorithm that impacts how users see content. As a professional event planner, you’re trying to get your promotional content in front of your target audience. So, posting a video once means that not everyone in your target audience will see it. Instead of a one-and-done approach, consider a posting strategy that allows you to use a video multiple times. Don’t repeatedly post it over and over in a row. However, you can try posting it again after some time. You can also post it on different platforms.
3. Don’t Forget Your Call-To-Action
When creating videos for your event planning business, you are doing it with a purpose. To help you achieve your goal, you need to include a call to action (CTA) in the video. This directly tells your target audience what you want them to do. You will see an increase in engagement and response rate when you make the CTA noticeable and direct. Test different methods for including your call to action, such as at the beginning or end of the video and text overlay or voice-over.
4. Do Nail the Lighting and Audio
As an event planner, you understand that the lighting is not always ideal for video creation at an event. However, you don’t want to post overly dark videos or videos with poor sound quality. These will be unpleasant for the viewer and make it more likely they stop viewing. Aim for videos that have the main subject well-lit and easily seen. While natural light is the best, this isn’t always an option. Try to have another light that will create the right balance. When recording audio, try to limit the background noise. Don’t record too close to oversized speakers pumping out music or among large groups of talking people.
5. Don’t DIY All Your Content
Earlier, we spoke about not using all curated professional-looking videos. The opposite is true; you don’t want to use all DIY user-generated content either. DIY content creates an authentic feel, but too much of it can look unprofessional or amateur. DIY content also has a time and place where it is most appropriate. For example, people expect to see it on Instagram reels and TikTok. However, it isn’t expected in an event promo piece, in-event use, or recap videos.
6. Don’t Try to Go Viral
You are lucky if one of your social media posts and event videos goes viral. It is unrealistic to think that all of your posts will go viral and that you can choose which post will go viral. Trying to force it will come across as inauthentic, undermining your marketing efforts with your target audience. In addition, going viral does not directly translate to achieving your goals for your event planning business. Those millions of views are from all over the country or even the world. It is highly unlikely that those folks will book you from thousands of miles away. In addition, people remember the content but may not connect it to your brand. This makes it ineffective at increasing brand awareness.
Instead of trying to force a post to go viral, focus on creating high-quality and true-to-you content that is tailored to speak directly to your target audience. You can add one or more elements commonly present in viral videos. If it does gain traction and take off, that is great. If it doesn’t, then that is ok too. At least you have high-quality content that you can use for social media marketing.
Effectively Use Video Marketing
These helpful tips give you a strong foundation for creating your event video marketing strategy. Use a combination of professionally produced and DIY quality content. This creates a balance of authenticity and professionalism. Reuse your videos and include a call to action to get the greatest benefit from them. Finally, focus on creating authentic quality content and not trying to force it to go viral. Connecting with professional videographers and video editors will help you strengthen your video marketing strategy. By attending industry events like The Event Planner Expo, you can connect with industry professionals with whom you can collaborate.
Purchase tickets to The Event Planner Expo and get ready to connect with industry professionals and vendors this October and grow your business to new heights!
