Video Content For Your Convention Services
One of our clients is pretty big in the convention industry. Okay, they don’t get any bigger or better… it’s Chicago’s McCormick Place… the nation’s largest convention center. We’ve been shooting in and around the facility a lot lately and it has led to all sorts of thoughts surrounding why video content needs to be a part of your convention services.
There are many ways you can incorporate video into your convention presentation. Sure, you can put up huge displays pumping out video during the event, but I’d like to focus on video you can use to market your business and brand throughout the convention.
Before the convention
Your very first video should be in the can before you ever get to the convention site. It’s the preview video and there are various ways you can handle it.
- customize your existing About Us video. You should already have a video at your website that tells people who you are as a business and what you stand for. Take that same video and add a sound bite or two that focuses it on the convention. Since you’re building off an existing video, this should be an inexpensive option. If you don’t have an existing About Us video, now’s your chance to kill two birds with one stone. Produce one for the convention, but make sure it’s something you can also use moving forward at your website.
- produce something from scratch that previews what people will find at the convention. You don’t want to give away the farm here. It’s an opportunity to tease people with what you’ll highlight at the convention. Feature issues or problems facing your customers, then talk briefly about how you’re about to solve those problems. The key word here is “briefly.” Give them enough information to get them interested, but not enough that they know the full story. Remember, this video is supposed to entice them to visit you at the convention.
With either video, you can then use it as a promotional video through social media and email. It’s something that you can distribute in the weeks and/or days leading up to the convention, but you can also continue to send it out during the convention as well. Adding the event’s hashtag will help with exposing it to a relevant audience beyond your own database.
During the convention
This is becoming more and more popular among conventioneers. I was just at the Radiological Society of North America‘s convention, and Philips Health was producing videos all week. Having a video crew on-site during the show works on many levels. It allows you to spotlight whatever products or services you’re pushing at the convention. Those videos might inspire attendees to stop-by. Even better… it opens the convention doors to people who couldn’t make it.
Think about how amazing that is. Conventions were once only for the people who were attending, but not anymore. Producing videos at the event and sending them out via email and your social networks turns your convention audience into anyone who has online access. It also allows that audience to share the experience with their colleagues and friends.
The thing to keep in mind here is that you have to continue to focus these videos on your customers. Fight against the trap of simply promoting yourself. Don’t just interview the C-Suite and sales force, also make sure to involve the people who are visiting your space. Interview them about why they’re there, what they do and what they think of the solutions you’re providing them. Get their email address so you can send them a link to the video. Think they’ll share it?
After the convention
Here’s your chance to wrap-up the whole convention experience. Create something that captures the spirit of the event. You want something that’s going to remind attendees about what a good time they had and how much they learned, as well as providing people who couldn’t attend a sense of what went on.
This is also an opportunity for you to give people a sense of where things are going now that the convention is over. Talk about the future of your industry and how your company is going to be a part of it.
Adding video to your convention services
This really is an incredible time for companies that participate in conventions. Conventions have always been a great opportunity to meet customers and prospects one-on-one. Video can help you draw them to your convention space.
The really great part though is that you can now share the convention experience with all of those people who aren’t attending. You may not get a chance to speak with them face-to-face, but it still gives you an opportunity to market to them. It even helps attendees share what they’ve learned with decision makers back home.
Adding video to your convention plans can take the experience to a whole new level.
–Tony Gnau
Tony Gnau is a three-time Emmy-winning journalist. He is also the founder and chief storytelling officer at T60 Productions. T60 has won 12 Telly Awards for its work over the last eight years.