We might not be restricted to webinars any longer, but that doesn’t mean live events are going anywhere anytime soon.
And, on LinkedIn, they might be the boost you’re looking for to take your brand to the next level.
With LinkedIn being the primary professional social networking platform that everyone goes to around the world, it only makes sense to take advantage of these features to propel your organization to the next level.
In this week’s quick guide, we take a look at LinkedIn events and the unique role they play in any growth hacker’s toolkit.
Why LinkedIn Events?
LinkedIn events are an opportunity for your organization to host events in real time for your audience to view. This could be anything from streaming a live product launch to having a quick live interview with key stakeholders in the company.
Why does it seem that everyone is trying to use them?
Simple.
If normal videos are naturally engaging, imagine the growth that you can generate with videos that are live.
According to LinkedIn’s own guide on LinkedIn virtual events, it has the “ability to drive up to 7x more reactions and 24x more comments than regular video.”
We love LinkedIn events because of the flexibility that they provide.
Since it’s basically a streaming service integrated into the platform, you can even simultaneously broadcast in-person events to make sure that you maximize your number of attendees and exposure.
Now, it isn’t available for everyone, as you’ll see in the next section, and it isn’t the easiest feature to deploy on LinkedIn, but it’s a good feature to have in your toolkit if you want to maximize your growth potential.
Now, note that LinkedIn Events is not the same as LinkedIn Live, but they do kind of depend on each other, we’ll explain in a bit.
Looking for more detailscheck out: The Ultimate Guide on How to Use LinkedIn Live Video!
Setting up a Linkedin Event
The first thing you need is access to LinkedIn Live.
Everyone can get access to LinkedIn Live, however, you need to make sure that you pass the following criteria:
- You have abided by LinkedIn’s community policy. So this means you need to show LinkedIn that you have a good record of using the platform.
- You have at least 150 followers or connections – which shouldn’t be too hard given that you’ve already started your growth hacking journey on the platform.
- You are not trying to access the feature from mainland China.
If you know you’re good with all three criteria, it’s now time for you to trigger a review of your profile to get access to the cool feature.
Now, there are also three ways to trigger LinkedIn’s review.
- Create an event on LinkedIn, if you see the option to use “LinkedIn Live” under “Event format*”, then you should be good to go, if you don’t then you are not eligible.
- Create an event using your broadcasting tool, once you connect LinkedIn, you connect your LinkedIn and try to create an event it will tell you about your eligibility
- Lastly, remember Creator Mode? LinkedIn Live should be available as one of the tools in your tool kit.
Read more: Using LinkedIn Creator Mode For Conversions: The Pro’s Guide
Once you have LinkedIn Live out of the way, it’s time for you to pick our favorite third-party broadcaster tool. Now, you can pretty much pick whichever one you can use, but we suggest you first check if they’re compatible with LinkedIn Live or if someone has used them before.
Now it’s time for you to sign in and link the platforms together.
The next step is for you to start an event by going to your organization’s page.
Head over to the section marked “Manage”, find the “Events” heading and hit the “+” icon.
A window will open up for you to customize your event, it will give you the option to upload a cover image and choose an “Event type”, the “event format” has to be “LinkedIn Live” as we mentioned earlier, and there is no option to change out the Organizer as that will be your page’s name.
Continue to fill out the other details of the event such as its name, time and timezone, description, and even the ability to add a LinkedIn registration form – much like the usual lead magnets you can deploy at the invitation stage of a webinar.
Click on “Next” and you can create a post about your event.
Now your events will automatically show up in the streaming tool of your choice.
…(preferred partners only, including Streamyard, Restream, Socialive, Vimeo, and Switcher).
LinkedIn’s preferred partners
And, there you have it. It is really that easy.
Types of Events You Can Host
There is no limit to the type of events you can host, as long of course it falls under LinkedIn’s guidelines and you are not posting anything that causes any harm.
But among the things, you should consider posting are:
Simultaneous Physical and Virtual Events
Take your physical events to the next level and maximize your number of attendees, by hosting your physical event also as a LinkedIn event.
This allows you to increase your reach and connect with more people who could be interested in what you have to offer.
Product Launches
Product launches should always be done with a bang, and what better way of marketing your new product service than through the use of live video? If you’re tight on resources, you can even limit your product launch to just LinkedIn Live.
Keynotes and Panels
Do you have a panel of professionals and thought leaders that want to talk on behalf of your organization, then get them onto more screens through LinkedIn events? This works well if you’re trying to increase awareness for your organization or trying to nurture leads through the pipeline.
It doesn’t even have to be a panel, you can host a speech from a thought leader or have a conversation with one of the top people in the company.
“Day in the Life”
Offering viewers a chance to see what your company does on a day-to-day basis humanizes your operations and reveals a vulnerable side which is critical if you want to form human connections with your prospects. Everyone’s interested in what happens behind the scenes. You can take this up a notch, by starting your stream early and showing people the setup.
“AMAs”
You can have a virtual AMA to engage with your audience directly and answer any questions they may have about your organization or products. This helps build trust with your audience and establishes you as a transparent outlet. Furthermore, the engagement on AMAs is always great.
…anything else you can do with a physical event, you can do with a LinkedIn event
With LinkedIn events, the possibilities are endless, if you’re stuck in a creative rut, getting a LinkedIn event might be the solution you’ve been waiting for.
Pre-event Checklist
Since LinkedIn Events are basically events themselves, most of the prevent checklists still hold true.
- Get the event plan and schedule ready.
- Make sure that you put out content before the event to hype the audience. This includes posts about the event, profiles of those that will be featured, and maybe even giveaways…
However, since they are virtual, you will also need to:
- Configure your streaming settings and run a test to make sure there will be no hiccups.
- Test your equipment.
- Use proper title cards and overlays.
- Have a technical team in place to manage the broadcasting software, don’t rely on just one person running the stream.
- Make sure your internet is stable and if possible have a backup.
- Pick a time when most of your target audience will be free to watch your stream.
What to Do During the Event
So you’re done with your pre-event checklist and your audience is hyped to see you go live.
Here are a couple of things to remember during your stream:
- Have a backup or contingency plan just in case something goes south, this could be anything from possible failures or hiccups with your guests.
- Take notes during the event so that you can turn them into materials and distribute them right after.
- Be prepared to analyze your audience so you can see what works and what doesn’t.
Post-event Checklist
- Send your viewers a “thank you” in the form of materials, meeting notes, or a giveaway.
- Collect feedback from your team so that you know how you can improve next time.
- Schedule your next LinkedIn Event!
Takeaways
LinkedIn events should be a part of your toolkit especially if you are looking to drive engagements.
It might not be the easiest thing to pull off, but it pays off big time.
However, it’s not for everyone and it might take a couple of streams before you pull it off properly.
