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A virtual event session is a bit like a movie; it needs promotion trailers to maximize attendance. For physical events, the event’s promotion and its speaking sessions are jobs for the event organizers. But for virtual events, speakers should consider taking a more prominent role in promoting their participation across four promotion jobs. 

Drive registrations 

First, a prerequisite for your audience to see your session is to register for the event. Competition between events is fierce, and part of a successful registration job is to leverage the attention of both the event itself and its speakers. Expect your audience to be part of the organizer’s network and part of your digital network. Actions you can take to boost registration is to: 

• Record a short promotion video for use on organizers and your personal social accounts. 
• Post visuals with your picture and event/session information. 
• Share organizers’ promotion posts on your social media accounts. 
• Tap into the reach of influencer networks, internal and external. 

Convert registrations to participants 

Second, converting registration to participation is not a given. This process is peaking in the last 48 hours before the event. You face two challenges: competing with parallel tracks at large events and late upcoming priorities your registrants need to address. Actions you can take are: 

• Repost the speaker visual the same day as you speak.
• Post a teaser about what you plan to cover to trigger a fear of missing out. 
• Post an energized welcome to your session. 
• Link your post to other speakers in your panel and high profile speakers at the event. 

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Extend the reach to your audience’s network

Third, you have an opportunity to extend the reach of your session to your audience’s network. You are not just aiming to reaching the people watching your session but also reaching people in their network. For this objective, your goal is to share something your audience will find worthwhile to share with their network. Actions you can consider here are: 

• Share quotable one-liners your social media team can turn into easy to share post tied to the event tagline 
• Share a behind-the-scenes picture with you in your virtual speaking environment. 
• Share the signature visuals you use in your session for your audience to share. 
• Tag the influencers engaged by the event organizer to make sure your posts get the proper acceleration. 

Not all audiences are social-savvy, but when they are, this is a powerful strategy. 

Attract viewers to the post-event sessions 

Some organizers make sessions available after the events. This second audience might be even more important than the live audience. Sometimes the live events are free with pay per view for the recorded sessions. The recorded session draws an audience with a genuine interest in your sessions and eliminates the timing constraints associated with live sessions. The actions you can consider here 

• Write a blog post published on your own company’s blog or the event organizer’s blog. 
• Create a media script to trigger byline articles in the market, or topic-specific audiences addressed in your session. 
• Publish reflections from your session on questions raised, comments made by others, or feedback received afterward. 

Questions for you and your promotion team to consider 

1. What do we know about the event organizer’s promotion strategy and plan?
2. Which stage do you want to focus your own promotion efforts on – registration, conversion, reach amplification, or post-event attendees? 
3. What is vital to provide to event organizers to support their promotion efforts?
4. Which hashtags and influencers are in play for this event? 
5. Do you expect your audience to be active on social media during the session? 

Additional reading suggestions 

• How to promote your keynote speaker [BLOGPOST] – by BigSpeak 
• Amplifying virtual event promotion with influencer marketing [BLOGPOST] – by Isa Hasty
• 4 virtual event strategies to boost turnout [BLOGPOST] – by Jenna Ott
• 20 ways to market and promote your event in 2021 [BLOGPOST] – by Nishchal Dua 
• 27 creative event promotion ideas for your next online event [BLOGPOST] – by SpotMe
• 12 must-know strategies for marketing virtual and remote events [BLOGPOST] – by Social Tables
• 5 tips for choosing the perfect virtual speakers for your next virtual event [BLOGPOST] – by Adam Christing  
• Preparing speakers for virtual event success [BLOGPOST] – by FORJ