Virtual Event Success

Often, I get asked what’s the best way to attract attendees to a virtual event. And too often, those who host virtual events waste precious time focusing on the content and technology, instead of hiring the right people to help them do so.

In the video below, I share the #1 thing that fills virtual events. It’s a phrase I’ve shared many times before, but this time, I add it to song. Hat tip to Mark Silver for inspiring me to reach into my musical background.

And look out for an announcement from me on Tuesday December 20, 2011 where I’ll share how you can learn about the best marketing tools to use to get more bums in the virtual seats.

In a previous blog post, I shared the reason why you may be disappointed by the number of people who sign up for your virtual event through your emails.

One of the ways to increase email open rates from the industry standard of 17% is to create subject lines that prompt the person to take interest in reading your email.

So, I went into my shopping cart and looked at every broadcast email that has been sent to my list since 2007. I pulled the subject lines from emails that had an open rate of 17% or more. Here's what I found:

Instructions

• How to Write an Earthshattering Episode Title (Part 1) (27% open rate)
• The 4 Quickest Ways to Lose Friends Online (27% open rate)
• My Mother's Stress-Free Christmas Tree (There's a Biz Lesson, I Promise) (18% open rate)
• Why Mistakes Happen, Reason #2 (this is a biggie) (17% open rate)
• Why Mistakes Happen, Reason #1 (vid enclosed) (17% open rate)
• Why you're making mistakes in your virtual support business (19% open rate)
• Read This If You're a VA, OBM, VES, MP or PM (18% open rate)

Numbers

• 3 Pitfalls of Social Media Traffic (20% open rate)
• 5 Ways to Attract Leads Using Social Media (19% open rate)
• The 7 Common Social Media Mistakes (22% open rate)
• 5 Ways to Market Your Virtual Event So It Sells-Out (18% open rate)
• 7 Quick Online Content Ideas (18% open rate)

Questions

• Can You Boost Your Business Hosting Virtual Events? (18% open rate)
• Are You In? (21% open rate)

Absolutes

• Why You Should Never Outsource Your Social Media Tasks (22% open rate)
• Why You Should Always Record Everything You Do or Say (27% open rate)

Checklists

• Your Social Media Outsourcing Checklist (20% open rate)

Miscellaneous

• I was hoping to meet you... (19% open rate)

Feel free to model the subject lines above for the emails that you'll send out to your list regarding your upcoming virtual event, telesummit or video summit. I also recommend that you get on the lists of the following people so you can see good email subject lines in action - Callan Rush, Milana Leshinsky, Lisa Sasevich, Sean D'Souza.

It's no secret that when it comes to promoting telesummits and virtual events, emails convert the best. While social media will create buzz and ALOT of clicks, email messages to an opt-in list is by far the best way to convert prospects into profits.

Although many telesummit and virtual event hosts (erronously) rely solely on speakers to promote their virtual event, most are saddened that their speakers produced very few sign-ups.

In my experience, up to 30% of those who sign up for virtual events come from emails that speakers sent to their lists. And there's a reason why conversion rates are so low. It has everything to do with low open and clickthrough rates.

According to a report released in June 2011 on email marketing by Harte-Hanks, a company that compiles statistics on direct marketing, email open rates average 17% with only 3% of those actually clicking on links in the email.

Let's do the math...

If a speaker has 5,000 on her email list, only 850 people (17%) will actually open the email (and what "open" really means is up for debate). Of that, only 26 people (or 3%) will click on the link that will take them to your telesummit, video summit or virtual event information page.

Eek! That doesn't sound like alot, huh?

So, if you're calculating your total promotional reach based solely on speaker email lists, whatever the total number, make sure you do the actual calculation to arrive at the real number. So:

• If Speaker A has 5,000, Speaker B has 10,000, Speaker C has 3,000 and you have 1,000, your total reach via email marketing is 19,000.
• Because you know that not all 19,000 will click on the link, you rightly identify that 3,230 will open their email.
• Then, you rightly calculate that of the 3,230 people who open the email, just 97 people (3%) will click on the link that will take them to your telesummit information page.

Can you see now why you have to:

• Have an interesting subject line in the email message so that more than 17% will open it up?
• Use the right language in your email copy so that your target market is captivated enough to read through to the end?
• Offer just one link in your email message so the reader takes the action you want them to take (which is to go to your sales page)?

So, don't blame speakers if your conversion is low.

First, you must use a diversified marketing approach to get people to your telesummit or virtual event information page (get my program, Virtual Event Marketing Blueprint if you need help).

Second, you need to fully understand how many will actually open, then clickthrough on links sent in email messages.

We've wrapped up the 10 Days to Producing a Better Virtual Event series. Here's a summary of what was covered over the past 10 days.

• 10 Days to Produce a Better Virtual Event, Intro
• Day 1 – Benefits of Hosting a Virtual Event
• Day 2 – Planning Your Virtual Event
• Day 3 – Virtual Event Delivery Options
• Day 4 – Marketing Your Virtual Event
• Day 5 – Managing Virtual Event Speakers, Exhibitors & Sponsors
• Day 6 - Monetizing Your Virtual Event
• Day 7 - Measuring Your Virtual Event
• Day 8 - Engaging Your Virtual Event Audience
• Day 9 – Virtual Event Associations & Communities
• Day 10 – Other Virtual Event Issues

Produce a Better Virtual Event Activity Book
Want to download the free PDF that contains the homework from all 10 days in this series? If so, just enter your first name and email address below and you'll get an email with details on how to do so.

In order to fill your virtual event, you need to promote it. Below are some resources you can use to fill your virtual event and market it using both traditional and non-traditional tools.

• Leesa Barnes on 5 Ways to Market Your Virtual Event So It Sells Out and How to Use Twitter Hashtags to Fill Your Virtual Event
• Gina Bell on 8 Ways Virtual Events Quickly Boost Your Biz
• Online Event Marketing Tips
• Heidi Cohen on Seven Virtual World Marketing Tactics and Metrics to Follow and Seven Ways to Market in a Virtual World, Part 1
• Lorilynn Smith on Marketing Your Virtual Event

Homework: Put together a promotional campaign for your virtual event to help you fill seats using the tips in the resources above.

Did I miss a really great resource that fits the theme of this post? If so, leave the URL in the comments below so others can see it.

I've been digging around the web looking for blog posts and tips on how to host and produce a more profitable virtual event. I know that many of you who are anxious to host your own virtual events could use these tips as well, so over the next 10 business days, I'll be sharing links to blog posts on how to produce a better virtual event.

I got the inspiration in 2006 from Darren Rowse who blogged about the 31 Days to Building a Better Blog. I was so inspired, I ran my own 31 Days to Producing a Better Podcast on my other blog. Because of how well that went, I decided to run a similar series here for virtual events.

Now, I was only able to come up with 10 days worth of content. The issue is that there's quite a bit written on virtual worlds, such as Second Life, but not much on virtual events and virtual shows.

Here's what else I excluded from this line up:

• Resources that required an email and/or mailing address to gain access to the content;
• Articles on websites or blogs that don't encourage interaction (comments/trackbacks turned off or missing);
• Question and answer articles that outlined many ideas, thus making it hard for me to categorize;
• White papers extolling the wonders of a virtual event software;
• Posts by those employed by companies that lease virtual event platforms. While they were insightful, most contained bias towards their employer's virtual event platform.

So, once a day over the next 10 business days, I'll display a virtual event tip that will take you to a wealth of resources on the topic. While reading this, don't forget to:

1. Add your comments. Whether I missed a really great resource, if you have a question or if you want to share how the tip has helped you in your virtual event journey, please leave your comments.
2. Post your tips on your blog and do a trackback to mine. If you end up writing up your own virtual event tips, do so and make sure you provide a trackback to the tip on my blog.

The 10 Days to Producing a Better Virtual Event begins on July 15th. Enjoy.