Whether you are responsible for delivering B2B, B2C or experiential events, your live experiences will be packed with energy, networking and attendees full of great intentions.
But the real challenge begins when the event ends: transforming those quick interactions into lasting, meaningful connections.
Without a detailed plan of follow-up, all the time, effort, and money invested in the event risk being wasted, and your organisation loses out on valuable opportunities.
If you’re not fostering deeper engagement after your event, you’re leaving potential partnerships, customer loyalty, growth, and impact behind.
True value can often lie in what happens after the event.
But many organisations don’t plan for ‘life beyond the event’ and then lament the cost and return on their investment.
So how do you move from high energy interactions at an event to more meaningful ongoing conversations to keep your audience engaged?
The good news is you don’t have to spend hours, days, weeks or months trying to come up with ideas.
I’ve done it for you and condensed it into 10 suggestions, as well as signposting organisations who do it well, in case you want to research further.
Here goes …
Personalized Event Recaps
· Meaningful Content: Custom summaries of sessions attended, key takeaways, and exclusive resources tailored to individual participants.
· Effective format: Personalised email or interactive microsite.
· Example: Salesforce does this exceptionally well with their Dreamforce event, sending out tailored post-event emails summarising relevant sessions based on the attendee’s participation, offering personalised resources such as reports and videos.
Behind-the-Scenes Insights
· Meaningful Content: Insider perspectives, backstage moments, or stories from speakers.
· Effective format: Documentary-style video series or photo essays.
· Example: Nike’s post-event video content from its various product launches gives behind-the- scenes looks at how athletes and designers collaborate, humanising the brand and deepening engagement with their audience.
In-Depth Thought Leadership Articles
· Meaningful Content: Articles providing expanded insights from keynote presentations, industry trends, or expert commentary.
· Effective format: Blog posts or long-form LinkedIn articles.
· Example: IBM follows up after their events like Think Conference with detailed articles and blogs that explore industry trends, keeping the conversation going among professionals.
Actionable Case Studies
· Meaningful Content: Real-world case studies showcasing content discussed at your event and how it is applied, with measurable outcomes.
· Effective format: Downloadable PDF case studies or interactive web pages.
· Example: HubSpot consistently creates case studies after their INBOUND conferences, showing how companies have successfully implemented the latest marketing strategies discussed during the event, often embedding these into follow-up emails and blogs.
Interactive Session Replays
· Meaningful Content: Session replays with interactive elements like Q&A, polls, and downloadable resources.
· Effective format: Interactive video platform.
· Example: TED offers interactive replays of its talks, with the ability for users to access additional resources, join discussions, and engage with the community post-event. This extends the life of their famous TED Talks far beyond the live event.
Guides & Toolkits
· Meaningful Content: Practical guides or toolkits that provide actionable steps based on event content.
· Effective format: Interactive PDFs or web-based guides.
· Example: Google often follows up after events like Google I/O with detailed developer guides and toolkits, providing resources that help professionals implement new technologies discussed during the event.
Curated Expert Panels and Roundtables
· Meaningful Content: Extended dialogue with industry experts to explore key topics or trends.
· Effective format: Post-event webinars or virtual roundtables.
· Example: Deloitte frequently hosts follow-up virtual panels after major industry events, allowing for deeper discussions with experts on leading industry topics. These are often streamed live or available on-demand for continued engagement.
Community Stories and Testimonials
· Meaningful Content: Sharing success stories or testimonials from attendees who have applied event insights to their work.
· Effective format: Video testimonials or written success stories.
· Example: Lululemon amplifies customer and community stories post-event, particularly after initiatives like their Sweatlife Festivals, where they showcase how customers have integrated fitness and wellness tips into their lives through video and social media posts.
Exclusive Access to Future Content
· Meaningful Content: Offering early or exclusive access to future reports, events, or premium content for event attendees.
· Effective format: Email invitations with VIP links to gated content.
· Example: Apple often provides exclusive access to future product launches or early registration for events like WWDC to those who attended previous events, maintaining excitement and loyalty within their community.
On-Demand Podcast Episodes with Real-Time Transcripts and Translation
· Meaningful Content: Release podcast episodes featuring event highlights, interviews with keynote speakers, and attendee discussions, paired with real-time AI-powered transcripts in multiple languages.
· Effective format: Podcasts!
· Example: After their annual INBOUND event, HubSpot use the ‘Growth Show’ podcast to extend discussions on the most in demand topics voted for by the attendees. They then invite keynote speakers, thought leaders and experts to offer deeper insights into topics.
Just like the results announcement in Strictly Come Dancing, the suggestions, are in no particular order, it’s up to you to work out which might work best for your audience and your organisation or ask a decent agency 😉.
Keeeeeeeeep engaging!