In this video, we explain why you might want to combine video campaigns with events, as a way to increase your overall marketing effectiveness.

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

Hi,

I’m Jonathan from StrategyMix, and in this video, I'm going to explain why you might want to combine video campaigns with events as a way to increase your overall marketing effectiveness.

When combining videos with events, we do have a bit of a chicken-and-egg situation in the sense of which comes first. Actually, you can start at either end. So you can run a video campaign, see who watches it, and then invite them to an event, or you can start with an event, record it, and then slice the recording into a series of highlight videos.

The magic occurs when you combine the two: the events with the videos. Note that it is important to slice the recording into multiple videos to make them shorter and easier to consume, especially if you are targeting senior executives.

Let's start with using videos to help remediate the events problem.

So what is the events problem? The problem, simply put, is declining response rates and increasing numbers of late cancellations and no-shows. No, you are not alone.

So how can videos help? The first point I'd like to make is that modern video platforms now enable you to track who is watching your video, when, and for how long, and therefore who is receiving your message. This was not always the case. And it is still not the case with, say, YouTube.

This tracking capability is a game-changer as it allows us to adopt new marketing tactics to support our events. To explain further, I'm going to examine the events problem in more detail and give you examples of how videos can help in each case.

We'll start with declining response rates. There are three main reasons why prospects decline an event.

First up, simply not interested in the topic. In my view, this is fair enough, and actually there is not a lot we can do about it. Videos won't solve the problem.

The second is IBU, so interested but unavailable at the time that you have decided to run the event. Here, videos can help because we can ask them if they would like to register for the video highlights. If they agree, then this is a registration that would otherwise have been lost.

The third reason for declining an event is interested but too busy. This is the serious one. Because when translated, what it actually means is, "I don't believe that your event will provide sufficient value to be worth my time."

The reality is that this is understandable. The IT vendor community has run a lot of events and continues to run a lot of events that are frankly pretty poor. And this is putting downward pressure on response rates for all of us.

The trick is to be seen to be different. And this is where a video can help because you can offer to send them a video as evidence that your event will be high quality. Typically, we use the phrase, "You'll only need to watch the video for thirty seconds to appreciate that x y z, as in our event presenter knows what they're talking about."

Now let's examine the no-show late cancellation problem and how videos might help. There are broadly two reasons for no-shows and late cancellations.

The first is that someone has organized something that I can't get out of. That's okay. You can say, "Would you like the video highlights?" Yes, they'll say. So instead of being lost completely, you've now earned another chance to get your message across.

The second reason for a no-show late cancellation is, "Okay, now that I realize the event is tomorrow, I am just too busy." Which actually means, "I don't believe that your event will be a good use of my time."

So how do I know this to be a fact? Because I have done some analysis, and what I found is that someone who has not previously attended one of our events is three times more likely to be a no-show or late cancellation because they have not experienced one of our events before, and therefore do not know the value they are going to get.

The way to respond is to offer the video highlights as evidence of quality. There is one additional benefit of videos, which is that they're easier to share with colleagues.

So how can StrategyMix help? First, we can help you create a video with a compelling message. This is optional as you may already have a video with a compelling message.

Second, we can promote your video or your event to our extensive database. With the video campaigns, we include a post-video "What would you like to do next?" form, which typically has three options:

1. Request for pricing, like this.

2. Request for contact, like this.

3. Register for an event, which looks something like this.

If you're starting with a video, then there are two parts to the campaign. Part one is awareness and education, so quality prospects watching a video on your value proposition.

Part two is lead generation, so quality prospects who, having watched the video, now understand what you do and have decided to engage with you either directly or by attending one of your events.

When it comes to pricing, we have two options. You can either pay as you go, so per video viewer or per delegate registration, or you can purchase an annual subscription, which would be a lot more cost-effective.

Please get in touch if you have questions, and thank you for your time.