Marketing is never about what you want. It is all about what your target customer wants. However, in this pandemic, it has less to do with what the channel partners want and more about what their end-customers need.
Besides the typical social networking and digital marketing, everyone has witnessed the explosion of virtual events.
We have been monitoring loads of virtual events (big and small) since digital became the only game in town. As such, we added a “Best Virtual Event” category to our Reseller Choice Awards (virtual award gala to be held Feb 4th).
Who will be the #1 Virtual event of 2020? Winner will be revealed on Feb 4th Virtual Awards Gala!
It was interesting to see all of the virtual events that were nominated across North America and how channel partners voted. It seems like the best virtual events had at least two important characteristics in common – a live event streaming feel and solid business education by trusted experts. We have learned that virtual events need to be concise and recorded for on-demand viewing. The vast majority of people prefer to consume virtual events on demand (like binge watching TV shows). Being entertaining was a bonus! The challenge was virtual interactive social networking by attendees.
We have since built a brand new live-streaming infrastructure and experience for virtual events and are ready for the next generation of in-person events, when it returns. Our events will incorporate all of the latest best practices. A taste of this will be our upcoming Reseller Choice, 50 Best Managed IT Companies and Women In Tech Awards virtual event on Feb 4.
Build a better virtual experience in 2021!
Beyond our monthly ChannelNEXT events that we do since April, we have been playing a behind-the-scenes role in many third-party virtual events (primarily in the promotion to our eChannelNEWS subscribers). It was an eye-opening experience to see how vendors and distributors transformed from in-person to virtual. We have added this knowledge into our Digital Transformation of Channel Development Playbook for 2021 (we will be discussing some at our Channel Manager Summit in Feb 17).
My simple advice is to “build better virtual experiences in 2021!” Not sure how? Start the journey! Experience our ChannelNEXT Virtual Events!
