Best practise advice on how to run online and virtual events

Value: [rating=3] Our commentary: We've all attended them, and many of us have managed them, think about sales and marketing meetings, conferences, tradeshows, corporate meetings, training sessions, job fairs, and more. Taking them online makes those same events available to a much larger audience that can conveniently gather and exchange information, browse, watch product demonstrations, feedback, and network through a live, interactive platform on their computer. In this article marketing profs share their top 10 best practices including sponsorship sales, messaging and positioning and the big one - driving live day attendance. That last point is a big one in my experience and requires multiple, well-timed reminders and helping people remember through an 'Add to Calendar' function. Marketing implications: Online or virtual events require extensive planning, though they are generally simpler to organize and execute than traditional events. In today's time-sensitive and cost-sensitive business…

Here's an interesting article about a real social media case study, I've summarised what I feel are the salient points. The case study is based around a luxury hotel in Greece, so pretty 'real life' stuff. Firstly, the hotel clearly defined its objectives: Increase brand awareness through internet users in order to grow the prospect email database Increase online booking as well as grow twitter followers, Facebook fans and views on You Tube based videos The resulting campaign was only a few days long yet was very successful, amongst other stats it generated 187% increase in web traffic, 227% more people were drawn in to the booking engine and 150% more Facebook fans were recruited. And, the effects lasted for weeks after the campaign ended - which is interesting since the campaign only lasted for a few days so extremely short in social media terms. The key take-aways from how the campaign was successful: Targeted:…

Key campaign ingredient = momentum!

For me, momentum or inertia is a key ingredient of digital campaigns. Digital enables you to create momentum by adding more appealing content or apps or rewards through time, rather than just a short burst campaign. With the viral affect from the audience sharing the value you can offer, momentum grows further through time.

The McDonald's Flavourhood Facebook campaign example

I thought it would be good to share some of the thinking behind The Flavourhood campaign which was recently written up behind the paywall on New Media Age since it shows how momentum was built in through a strategic commitment to creating value linked to through the app and through partnering with social sites like Facebook and Spotify. Writing in New Media Age, Nathan Cooper, Creative Director of Riot 180 Amsterdam described it as: "A cunning combo of…