How to use pre-event networking to increase audience engagement

You’ve been working on your event for months. The date is final, speakers and performers are booked, sessions are scheduled, and you’re ready to invite your audience.But the digital world is full of events, from trade shows to medical conferences and everything in between. Your prospective attendees are bombarded with invites and ads everywhere, so how do you stand out? More than standing out, how do you actually engage your audience’s attention – and keep it – during the time leading up to your event? Let's see three ways you can do it.

Host a virtual quick coffee chat before the event

Grabbing a coffee is one of the most common ways for people to connect and talk about their businesses. Your attendees can join a virtual ‘coffee room’ before the event begins. This is a low pressure, fun environment in which they can connect in the same way as they would at the start of an in-person event. Conversations in the coffee room could be a mix of event related topics and personal 1-1s. This is where your most enthusiastic audience will gather.

Socialize on social

Quick polls on LinkedIn such as “How excited are you for the event?” or “Which speaker do you look forward to meeting at the event?” can create much-needed enthusiasm for your event. Create event-specific hashtags to increase your event visibility. And tell people about different networking opportunities available pre-event. When you engage your event audiences on social media, other attendees get to know about them too. This will probably help people look out for each other while attending the event.

Get the Activity Feed buzzing

The Activity Feed is an amazing way to generate engagement and networking opportunities. In fact, you can reuse your social media posts on the Activity Feed for people to comment and interact. This passive introduction can help attendees find people with shared interests, similar titles, or interesting points of view, who they may not have noticed otherwise. It gives them something to talk about and helps in building new connections.Remember, attendees love virtual networking. In addition to enjoying your event, you want your attendees to talk up your virtual event as an awesome networking experience. When you give attendees a chance to start interacting with one another well ahead of time,

• They can figure out who they want to connect with.
• They get time to start the conversations that they want to engage in but may not find enough time for during the virtual session breaks.
• Finally, they have a great networking experience at your event and get more value out of it.

Facilitating pre-event networking for your attendees can help your event stand out. It also helps you up your event engagement and deliver immense value that your audiences will appreciate. If you are planning to host a virtual or hybrid event, see how Hubilo can empower you to facilitate multiple networking options for your attendees. For deeper insight into networking at a virtual event, download the e-book here.