In this 2021 #propertymarketing blog, Client Services Director Sarah Riley talks us through the future of virtual events.
Today, it feels like everywhere you look there is a virtual event being promoted and they have very much taken precedent over physical events now and throughout 2020. Events form a large part of our customer engagement, so our careful planning last year has enabled us to launch ‘developments’ virtually.
To our customers and our customers’ customers, a launch event is one of the most important events in the lifecycle of a development. It has to be pitched right and launched to a good number of interested people, so when ‘lockdown’ hit us last year, we had to make it a priority to find a way to be able to offer the same level of gravitas as a physical launch, but virtually.
" a launch event is one of the most important events in the lifecycle of a development"
Over the years, our customers’ launch events have been varied; some having a celebrity to open a Sales and Marketing Suite, others offering a particularly plush affair with champagne and canapés, or simply those that gave customers an opportunity to spend time with the sales team and have the pick of the plots, choosing their preferred house type in the best position within the site.
Since the pandemic, we have put together numerous virtual launch event plans, each following a similar format. It was important to put all our learnings from a physical event into the virtual events, so teasing with early-bird development information and using the sales team to follow up leads to build momentum, was the key to success as well as using the right targeted platforms.
Even though 2021 promises to ‘get back to normal’, 2020 has taught us to research and make changes to how we spend our time, so virtual events will continue throughout this year and will be more focused around the ease to discover more. These events work best when they are ‘information-led’ allowing customers to find out more about a development, have the opportunity to hear from the experts, and understand more about the enablers on hand to help them buy their next home.
Webinars offer a structured approach with the opportunity to listen to experts, learn more and ask questions if needed, and have proved successful in 2020. Our findings will only mean that virtual events will continue to get better and better.
