Online events have been increasingly important nowadays. It has been an alternative solution to physical meetings and events. Such is a result of the social distancing measure to prevent the COVID-19 spread. To further enhance connections, LinkedIn puts out new Events and Live Streaming guidelines.
LinkedIn launched Events on 15 October 2019. They then made it available to all Pages last 12 March 2020. On 12 May 2020, they integrated Events with live broadcasting. And today, they publish a new guide on events and live streaming. Such a guide will help businesses optimize LinkedIn Events. It will help them to build better relationships with their clients.
The first part of the guide gives an overview of LinkedIn Live and Events, plus how they work together. The platform gives a tip on when each function works best. Live Streaming boosts awareness by being a public broadcast. While Events boost deep engagement of your target audiences. LinkedIn also highlights that a Page needs to apply as a LinkedIn Live Broadcaster. To qualify, it must have an active community with more than a thousand direct followers.
The second part of the guide suggests the type of Events that works best in the platform. These are:
- community-building events like an influencer’s interview, a product launch, and Q & A;
- exclusive promotional events for a target audience or VIP clients;
- conferences that are relevant to current times or audience concerns;
- talent branding like campus tours or career talks to further increase company awareness.
LinkedIn also cited some inspiring virtual events for each type.
Last, LinkedIn shares tips and best practices to optimize the event journey. Some tips before, during, and after the event include:
- Targeting invites through segmentation of 1st-degree connections and existing email list.
- Sharing highlights of the event through feeds and multiple broadcast sessions.
- Saving the live stream as an organic video to lengthen the event’s visibility.
While the best practices on the list are:
- Sharing a pre-recorded intro and outro of at least 5-10 minutes.
- Using analytics to figure out the optimal time to broadcast live.
- Assigning another Page admin to moderate comments on the events and live streaming.
With the new guide, LinkedIn hopes to bring the professional community together through its virtual solutions. LinkedIn puts out the new events and live streaming guidelines on 19 June 2020.
Implications for Marketers:
LinkedIn’s new events and live streaming guidelines is a playbook to optimize using both features together. Marketers should consider them as an option for their business functions. A virtual showcase makes it easy for brands to connect to their audience. And saving the live broadcast makes it easier for the audience to discover the brand.
