Financial services company PSG is gaining significant traction among clients with its online events and webinars, and we delve into the reasons that online eventing offers an edge on other marketing channels.
PSG Konsult’s Chief Marketing Officer, Tracy Hirst, who was part of Flock Eventing Platform at its 2021 Event Trends and Beyond webinar earlier this year, spoke about the importance of events in marketing and how the switch to online events has boosted reach.
Hirst says that PSG Konsult’s pivot to virtual events since the beginning of 2020 yielded positive results for the business and online events now form a significant part of the financial service company’s marketing initiatives.
Last year PSG launched a virtual event series called the Think Big Series hosted by well-known business journalist and presenter, Bruce Whitfield, using the Flock Eventing Platform.
The series greatly impacted PSG’s marketing efforts and changed the way the company utilised events within their marketing strategy, she adds.
Hirst says: “The series was and remains a huge success, with PSG reaching more people in the first month of the virtual series than all its face-to-face events throughout 2019.
“Our virtual event series became the central focus in our marketing campaigns which we supported with other marketing channels such as social media, digital display advertising, client communications and public relations,” she says.
Expanding on the idea of events as an essential element in a marketing campaign and why it works, Hirst says: “If we look at the tools that marketers have at their disposal and the average ROI for these tools, it paints an interesting picture.
Email volumes are too high for most people, which means this channel isn’t your foot in the door with clients, she says.
In addition, the social media environment has become increasingly saturated and as far as traditional media is concerned, the days of placing a TV ad, putting your feet up and thinking that your job as a marketer is done, are gone.
There is movement within other media such as radio and out-of-home marketing due to working peoples’ commute patterns shifting, so you have to be a lot more innovative to get results.
Hirst says that events have become an essential marketing tool and it provides the opportunity to connect with your audience like few other platforms do.
In marketing, the topic of return on investment (ROI) is always top of mind and Hirst says that access to data from electronic platforms can better measure marketing ROI.
“The online events landscape provides so much more data which is almost instantly available and often comes directly from your audience. This makes the information far more reliable, and the qualitative data is simpler to analyse,” she adds.
The virtual event setting also makes it much easier to encourage attendee engagement (the ability to ask questions to a speaker via chat functionality) and therefore the success of your event.
Instead of having disengaged seat fillers who are preoccupied with their phones, with an online event, people simply log off when they lose interest. Because this behaviour is trackable, it tells you more about the value of your content to an audience (not to mention human attention spans) and is easier to identify than someone who has mentally switched off in a physical venue, she says.
But she cautions that hosting a virtual event does not guarantee success because webinar fatigue is very real.
In 2020, when we started our series, we were looking at a 90% attendance rate, which can now be down to 50% in the worst case.
There is a lot more competitor activity online in 2021 compared to 2020, so you need to differentiate your online offering from competitors, says Hirst. Webinars are not unique so the content and how you deliver it becomes important.
Mike Lysko, Founder and CEO of the Flock Eventing Platform agrees that the event environment has become increasingly competitive and says that partnering with an event professional can help you achieve the best results from your event.
“We have been in the event industry for close to eight years and, at the start of the pandemic, saw massive change in the adoption of online event technology, which had a major impact on the way organisations engaged with their clients.
‘Similarly, we have seen equally major innovations in event technologies which, if utilised correctly, can greatly improve attendee experience and create meaningful connections that have a positive impact on brands and their bottom-line,” he says.
Events are a great asset to any marketer’s toolbox. When delivered correctly, the potential it offers to really engage your target audience is endless, he adds.
Flock offers an all-in-one eventing platform and services that will help you host an unforgettable event experience for your audience.
Are you looking to host an event? Talk to the online events experts or book a FREE demo with Flock today.