Should You Cancel Your Event During Coronavirus? 3 Risk-Free Alternatives
Should you cancel your event during Coronavirus?
Honestly, this is the biggest question going around right now in both the marketing and broader business worlds. And you know what? The answer is likely yes.
In the past few weeks, we've gone from taking a few extra precautions to canceling major events the day before they're scheduled to occur. This is every event planner, marketer, and business owner's worst nightmare but the hesitations, concerns, and overall fear are highly valid.
Some of the major concerns I've encountered so far:
I don't want to host an event where I could be responsible for the virus spreading
I don't want to encourage people to travel to my event and risk them getting infected
I've spent too much money on the event already, but if I host the event, my brand's reputation is at risk
I bought a ticket for the event, but it's not worth risking my health to attend. They'll likely do it next year.
As a marketer, businesswoman, and overall human, I wouldn't advise hosting an in-person event if you can avoid it. I also wouldn't suggest attending any unless necessary.
With all this being said, I want to clarify one thing: you do not have to cancel engagement and connection with your audience because of the Coronavirus.
Instead, take it online.
We live in such a digital age that moving your event offline to online will be a seamless transition.
To help give you a little inspiration for what this could mean for your business, here are my top 3 event alternatives that are just as exciting:
Webinars and livestreams (Facebook, Twitch, etc.)
If you were already planning an event, you likely had an agenda and speaker lined up. If that's the case, you have already done most of the work!
An incredible and my favorite alternative to in-person events are webinars and live streams! Whether it's a webinar on something like GoToWebinar or a live stream on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitch, you can easily present the agenda you worked so hard to create to your audience risk-free!
An extra benefit to this alternative is that if you already had an event page and people registered to attend, all you have to do is:
Change the physical address on your event page to the URL for wherever your digital event will take place.
Send an email to your registered attendees telling them of the direction your event is now going in for everyone's safety.
Set up calls with your speakers to make sure they're prepared for the new timings for their presentations and any other technical information they'll need to present (downloading the software, creating an account, making the presentation in a specific format, etc.)
This is my favorite alternative to keep the engagement LIVE, share immediate knowledge between your speakers and your audience, and keep up the excitement of everything your brand shares.
Video Series
Another alternative to the event is to break down your plan into a series of 1:1 or panel videos with your presenters. For example, if you were going to have a half-day event with four 30-minute presentations, you could break those four presentations down into four individual videos to put on your website or YouTube.
While this isn't a live event alternative, you can still keep that connection with your audience through video comments, social media discussions, and ensuring your registered attendees receive the full videos through email.
If you have a schedule and speakers already lined up, this is a great way to keep the message of your event front and center.
Podcasts
If a video-style alternative isn't your cup of tea, podcasts might be just the ticket! Yes, you read that right - podcasts! This might not seem like the typical digital "event," but think about it this way:
Your event was initially focused on sharing a set of messages with your audience through speakers you believe they would get a true benefit from. That's precisely what podcasts were created for.
Invite your speakers to join you on a podcast series sharing their message with your audience, and I'm sure they'll be thrilled!
And if you're thinking, "but what about the presentations they've prepared or wanted to prepare?!" Well, that's simple - upload those to Slideshare and share them with your audience via social, email, and a section on your website.
It's a win/win!
Bonus: Social media competition
A social media competition is a great way to keep your brand engaged with your audience if you don't already have an agenda or speakers. If you had a major sponsor lined up for your event, do a partnered giveaway of whatever their product is (example: product discount code, freebie, or discounted subscription). Or, if you had an event in mind that you hadn't begun planning yet, take your brand's core message and use that to drive a giveaway of your product, service, or even something random.
Throw in some fun hashtags, imagery, and momentum, and you've got an exciting campaign driving as much brand awareness as an event!
You could use many other elements to replace your in-person event, but these are my favorite, tried, and true alternatives.
NEED HELP OR ADVICE WITH YOUR EVENTS DURING THE CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK?
I understand the confusion that goes along with planning or managing an event right now. If you need guidance on handling your event during the Coronavirus outbreak, please get in touch, and let's discuss.
