In today's technology-driven world, you no longer have to limit your conference audience to those who can attend the event in person. The ability to stream events online opens an entire world of potential participants and customers who can participate in your conference from the comfort of their own home.
Here are a few reasons that you should consider for adding a webcasting element to your next event:
Expand your audience
Even the most popular conferences are somewhat limited by the time and expense it takes for attendees to travel across the country or around the world to attend. Not only are flights and hotels a major cost, but a multi-day conference pulls attendees away from their jobs and their families.
That's why the ability to get the benefit of the content of a conference without having to travel to the location is so appealing to many people. If you provide the opportunity to engage in conference content at a lower ticket price and without the hassle of travelling, you have the potential to gain a much wider audience.
Increase your revenue
Webcasting your event not only helps your attendees save money, but it can also help you bring in more revenue. Though many people may not consider attending a conference that's across an ocean from them, they still may be interested in accessing the talks and lectures that you'll provide onsite.
You can post conference events online behind a paywall, which means you'll not only be able to access an audience that wasn't there in person, but those who may have missed the talk or want to listen again. What once was a one-time event now becomes a revenue stream that can last months or even years.
Preserve knowledge
Anyone who has been to any kind of live event can tell you that being a part of a one-time performance is an incredible feeling. However, when it comes to academic or technical lectures, attendees are often looking to obtain knowledge and techniques that they can't find anywhere else.
Even those who pay the closest attention are not going to remember all of the information verbatim. Those who want to revisit the knowledge – along with those who couldn't attend the talk or conference at all – will benefit from the ability to download and watch the talk whenever is convenient for them.
Searchability
Anyone who has been to a multi-day conference knows how overwhelming the experience can be. The day of a conference-goer is frequently packed from dawn to dusk with new information, products, and knowledge. And while attendees will have their program books to help them remember what they saw and heard, it may be difficult to find a particular talk they'd like to revisit.
Luckily, webcasting also provides on-demand video services – often within days or even hours of the talk. These videos can be indexed to make them searchable by speaker or topic which allows for easy search functionality so interested parties can find what they're looking for with ease.
Marketing opportunities
Not only are webcast talks great to ensure any knowledge that is shared is saved for posterity, it also presents an incredible marketing opportunities for future conferences. Combine clips or full videos of events with a social media campaign for the next conference you are planning, and you have already kicked off a multimedia campaign that will spark the interest of possible future conference attendees.
These videos can also be provided to the speakers or the company sponsors themselves as a bonus for participating in your conference.
Interaction
The ability for conference attendees or those who are interested in the subject matter to watch the videos on demand is only one part of what makes webcasting your conference valuable. You can also provide interactive opportunities that improve engagement with conference goers.
During live talks, you can add polls or quizzes that allow participants to become more engaged with the event.
Social media
Platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram thrive on multimedia approaches to content. And while pictures of attendees enjoying themselves and testimonials of a positive experience are always great fodder for social media, adding a video of what's going on on the main stage is a great way to generate interest in your event for potential future conference goers.
On the flip side, you can also connect a live Twitter feed to screens throughout the conference, which lets attendees describe highlights and give responses to talks in real time. This adds another layer of engagement to your event, as people can see their own reactions and those of their friends in real time.
To learn more about the benefits and opportunities of live-streaming your next event, contact the experts at CMS Australasia for more information.