Lessons learned from communicating during the crisis

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought forth several challenges for the communications industry and forced us to adapt our usual tactics. At Orbit, we saw this as an opportunity to be creative and expand our expertise in the virtual sphere.

In February of this year, the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership held its first-ever digital conference on the platform Hopin. Orbit was responsible for the organisation and delivery of this event which was attended by over 100 delegates and supported by four sponsors. 

The first step to organising an event like this is to research which platform is the most suitable. By using Hopin, we were able to utilise a variety of facilities that would have been unavailable to us on platforms such as Microsoft Teams or Zoom, making the conference more comprehensive for attendees.

There were several key takeaways we could identify from the beginning of the planning process to the end result. In planning the programme, it became clear that consistency is key. It may sound simple but keeping break times and presentation lengths to similar timings can do wonders for the turnout and overall enjoyment of attendees.

When facing the possibility of technical difficulties, we followed a simple mantra: prepare for the worst. With 16 speakers over three days, digital platform familiarisation was essential to ensuring a smooth running. We provided each speaker with the option of a one-to-one briefing session to give them a background on Hopin and offer advice on presenting in a virtual format. This gave us and the speakers a chance to practice with the technology and drastically reduce the chance of malfunction during the event.

Pre-recorded videos can also be a useful method in preventing technical glitches. Some of our speakers were offered the choice of pre-recording their presentations if they were concerned about the reliability of their internet connection or could not attend the live event, resulting in more speakers being able to take part than would have been possible at a live conference.

Like any event, digital or otherwise, we had to identify creative ways to engage with our audience. To build a dialogue around the conference, we integrated our speakers into our social media strategy.  Each speaker was asked to film a short video that introduced themselves and gave our audience a teaser of what to expect during their presentation. These videos encouraged discussion around issues important to Scottish empty homes while generating some buzz for the conference.

While creative organic social media content is useful, it is paramount to partner this with activities that will expand the visibility of your event. Social media ads can prioritise showing advert to users who are most likely to interact, reaching those who have an interest in your subject but may not already follow your accounts.

Often, people do not buy tickets the first time they hear of an event. Facebook ads, for example, can target those who visited your website without purchasing, ensuring their continued event reminder.

Our frequent social media strategy was supported by a regular output of press releases. Gaining the media attention of publications, such as Scottish Housing News, The Scotsman, and The Daily Record, guaranteed the widespread visibility of the conference and its core purpose.

While digital events have been forced upon us due to the pandemic, it looks like they may be here to stay. As communications professionals, the challenge has been to identify ways of delivering effective campaigns in virtual spaces. Now, as restrictions begin to ease, we can use what we have learned to create even more valuable work in a post-Covid world.