It’s important not to panic. According to Pew Research, 9 out of 10 adults use the internet. More than 70% of adults have high-speed broadband at home. You may not be able to host or participate in trade shows, give away free demos in stores, or be part of a festival or exposition. You can tap into the millions of people around the world who have the internet at home and are looking for things to do while they’re home and isolated.

Live Video Streaming Events

Live video streams allow you to connect to consumers in real-time. While you stream the video, allow for comments. If there are too many for you to handle individually, hire a social media marketer to answer and comment on some of the questions and feedback while directing others to you to answer on camera. Give shout-outs to some of your followers so that they know you’re reading comments and are taking their feedback into consideration.

There are several ways to handle live streaming events. The fashion industry is working on virtual fashion shows. People don’t attend, but models walk down a runway for viewers at home to watch. These live-streaming videos are easily set up on social media sites like Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.

Online and Social Media Marketing

You can’t go have face-to-face interactions with your customers and newcomers. But, you can have those interactions in a social media space. Get your target audience involved with you through photo and video campaigns, comments to your posts, and online events you host through Facebook Live or similar applications.

While bars and pubs have shut down across the country, many are staying engaged with their customers by hosting virtual trivia nights. They share the date and time on social media and explain the rules. Players log in and email answers. Police departments in many states are encouraging school children to draw pictures of what the police do and send them to the police. The police departments post the drawings along with pictures of the police doing whatever the picture shows.

Online and social media marketing is ideal when self-isolation rules are in place. Many of the best apps and sites to use for social media presentations are established and easy to use. Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook are some of the most popular options. With a little help, your social media marketing campaign will stand out and delight your target audience.

If you need ideas, Factory 360 helps with social live streaming, PR strategies, influencer marketing, and social media content. You may not feel comfortable using social media, but we can help you reach that point.

Online-Only Virtual Participation

Have you considered connecting with new and existing customers in a way that captures their attention? Statista estimates that there are 2.6 million gamers in the world and that number keeps growing. If you have a message to sell, a video game is a fun, interactive way to get it across. You do need a strong marketing campaign to make sure people hear of your game. Social media marketing is one of the best ways to do this. Post teasers and video trailers on sites like YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook. Tempt people to play directly from your website.

KFC came out with a dating simulator game in 2019 that received high praise. The free game titled I Love You, Colonel Sanders! A Finger-Lickin’ Good Dating Game received 9 out of 10 stars on Steam and drew thousands of players. Players picked a character and went to a KFC cooking school in hopes of landing Colonel Sanders’ heart.

An interior designer could share the link to an online free interior design app or game. Participants are asked to share screenshots of their character’s room designs. Share your company’s screenshots too, and create a virtual competition where users vote on the submissions and you award the person with the most votes with a prize like a gift certificate or gift basket.

An experiential marketing firm like Factory 360 can help you brainstorm ideas and come up with the right virtual participation experience for your consumers through augmented reality (digital information is placed in the real world, such as Pokemon GO), virtual reality (immersive where the user feels like he/she is in this virtual world), and mixed reality (a mix of AR and VR).

Virtual Trade Shows

Virtual trade shows or expositions are other ideas. Along with other brands, you set up a virtual booth that showcases your service or product. Visitors use a link you advertise on social media or in email newsletters and are able to tour the different virtual booths to learn more about a brand. If you integrate real-time chat, downloadable pamphlets or guides, and/or video streaming, you add features that help consumers better understand your values, products, and services. You can also engage with consumers by offering giveaways or coupons to those who answer a survey or submit an entry.

When Germany’s Interpack trade show was canceled because of coronavirus, one food company opted to take its new products and ideas online. Buhler opted to host a virtual trade show with chats and digital showrooms in order to present the products and solutions it planned to show off at Interpack. You can take an idea like this and come up with ways to host your virtual event that reaches your intended audience in a unique and memorable way.

Webinars

Some companies find that webinars are a better way to reach their consumer base or connect with industry partners. They use these webinars to present new ideas, brainstorm with their marketing department, or host meetings with other industry professionals. They can use them to educate their consumer base into what’s in development or currently available. Webinars are online meetings or presentations that are held online in real-time. For experiential marketing, webinars that present your brand, service, or product are effective.

With many children staying home until schools reopen, some educational websites have stepped up to help keep children engaged and learning at home. Coddy, a coding school, is hosting online coding lessons through webinars. Children participate without charge and have the opportunity to learn something new in a format that allows for some socialization. That’s one example of how a webinar can help you reach consumers.

An expert in experiential marketing, Factory 360 is fully prepared to help companies create exceptional marketing plans in a virtual format. We can help you plan, prepare, and pull off live-streaming events, webinars, virtual trade shows, and more. Talk to us about our expertise in digital advertising, augmented, mixed, or virtual reality, live streaming, e-marketing, and UX/UI. Share your ideas, goals, and budget with us and we’ll help you design and implement an online-only experience that brings the success you desire. Call (212) 242-2417 or email us to learn more.