Why video is vital for attracting audiences to an event

Video is proven to be one of the most effective ways to promote a brand.

Strikingly, 87% of video marketers report that video gives them positive return on investment (ROI), according to a recent survey. Eighty-six percent said it had been effective for generating leads.

This is hardly surprising, given that people are watching more video content than ever before; in fact, the amount of online video they watch has almost doubled since 2018.

So, it’s little wonder that marketers are increasingly embracing video as a way to promote live events and trade shows.

Leading events like the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), construction trade show CONEXPO-CON/AGG, and cybersecurity show RSA Conference all turn to video to attract and engage prospective audiences. 

There are many good reasons why live events and shows are embracing video. Here are five of them:

1. Grab attention and promote the event
   
   Video is a great way to promote an event beforehand to build awareness and anticipation—and ultimately more engagement. Video can provide a real wow factor in a way that text or images struggle to match. Video is an effective marketing tool too: viewers remember 95% of a message when they watch it in a video compared to 10% when reading it in text. Given the phenomenal growth of online video viewing, you’re not just getting more visibility with video content; you’re also getting higher engagement rates. People are much more likely to share, like, or re-post video content than any other type of content. 
    
2. Increase customer conversions
   
   Video is highly effective at converting customers. Seventy-one percent of marketers say that video conversion rates outperform those of any other type of content. Put simply, it means that people are more likely to attend a live event or trade show if they watch a video about it. People would also rather watch a video about an event than read about it. A recent study revealed that when both text and video are available to consumers on the same page, 72% of them would prefer to watch a video to learn about a product or service.
    
3. Provide event previews
   
   There is no better way to entice audiences than by showing footage of an event. Clips from a similar event or from the same event in a previous year are a powerful way to showcase what people can expect if they attend. Video can feature content that traditional media cannot, helping potential customers to build an emotional connection to an event. It is the most effective way to help them visualize their presence at an event or a show, who they can expect to meet there, and what they can expect to learn. 
    
4. Boost your search results
   
   The more video content you produce, the higher you are likely to appear in search results. The very act of adding a video to your website increases your chances of a first page Google search. YouTube is now the second-largest search engine on the web. If you seed YouTube with videos about your event or on topics that people care about, you’re likely to be found near the top of its search results. Video is also a highly effective way to spread the word about an event on social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
    
5. Spend less than ever before
   
   Creating a video used to require large crews, complex technology, and a big budget, but that is no longer the case. From shooting to editing, video content creation has become much simpler and more affordable in the last few years. With localization experts like TransPerfect, it is also much simpler to customize your videos so they can be watched by audiences around the world, helping you to reach a truly global marketplace.

Videos aren’t only important for engaging potential customers before an event, though. An effective video strategy will involve connecting with your audiences before, during, and after an event. It’s important to continue your marketing efforts after the event to ensure that the experience remains firmly lodged in the minds of attendees. A highlight video can remind attendees of the success of an event, or perhaps inform them of some of things they missed and would like to return for next time. 

And, of course, a post-event video serves as a perfect marketing tool for prospective clients for next year’s event. 

To learn more about TransPerfect's video creation and localization platform, reach out to medianext@transperfect.com.