Don't Just Throw Together a Webinar — The Virtual Events Crash Course You Need

Community experts, go-to-market leaders and founders everywhere are facing a new challenge: quickly spinning up virtual events and online communities that feel unique and valuable.

STRATEGIES FOR SHIFTING YOUR EXISTING EFFORTS ONLINE:

For those that already have a robust community strategy in place. How can you adjust as you shift from IRL to online?
“From a community manager standpoint, you’re probably thinking, ‘Engagement is super high right now. Our community is coming together in these really special ways. We just need to figure out how to rev this up, keep supporting our community, and then come up with creative ideas and new formats to bring them together virtually,’” says Spinks.

The biggest shift in strategy or tactics for existing community programs is the offline to online move for events specifically. “This is especially true if they were leaning heavily on an in-person component of their program, which most were. For example, our recent industry trends report at CMX found that 60% of companies were doing both online and offline events. Obviously that mix is changing for now,” he says. “Previously, it was really difficult to get someone to sit there for a whole day attending a virtual event from their office. But now there’s this perfect storm of companies having no choice but to go virtual, and everyone being stuck at home, online and looking for ways to stay engaged and learn. That's making virtual events work really well right now. Most folks are seeing through-the-roof engagement. The jury’s still out though on whether virtual events will work as well after the dust settles.”

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Here are several specific tactics Spinks himself is leaning on right now:

• Experiment with different formats. “You don’t need to organize a massive virtual conference to get people together. Start with a simple discussion group on Zoom and see how that goes. Try hosting an Icebreaker speed networking session. Do a single talk and Q&A,” says Spinks.
• Move quickly. “Everyone’s going to be organizing virtual conferences over the next six months. There will be more competition for attention than ever before. You don’t need the same kind of lead time to organize an online event that you do for an in-person event,” says Spinks.
• Keep all the elements of your event experience in one place. “If you use multiple platforms that people have to find links for and log into, you’ll quickly lose engagement,” he says.
• Connect local communities. “If you have local organizers who were hosting local events, we’re seeing that many of those local organizers can switch to virtual events as well. All of Bevy's customers have been running local user group programs, and are switching to virtual,” says Spinks.

PRINCIPLES FOR GETTING YOUR VIRTUAL COMMUNITY & EVENT GAME OFF THE GROUND:

For those jumping into virtual events and online community building for the first time. Where should you get started? Spinks offers five principles for you to keep in mind as your rev up your online event engine.

1. Don’t be afraid to swing for the fences.

A mistake I often see with folks who are just getting started is that sometimes they just don't take a big enough swing at it. They launch a group, invite some people, post a couple times — and then lament the fact that they’re seeing no engagement.
Communities form when people see an experience that's exciting to participate in, either because the content is great, the people are high quality, or it's well produced.

2. You’re growing a tree, not building a house.

Another misstep Spinks often sees is a tendency to overthink the program — and letting that prevent you from getting started. Just start gathering, learning and iterating.
Growing a community is more like growing a tree than building a house. You don’t need to have blueprints for what it will all look like from day one.

3. Focus on first principles instead of exporting your offline event strategy.

There seems to be an almost limitless appetite right now for online content, because people are socially isolating in real life. Ultimately, the same things will cut through the noise now that always has: targeted, high-quality content that’s focused on real pain points.
Ask yourself: What problem are you solving? How are virtual tools uniquely positioned to provide that value?

4. Set dual goals to stay authentic.

*“Business and community building have to be integrated.