The COVID-19 pandemic outbreak has affected every sector of the global economy. Events have been cancelled to push-for social distancing to avoid the spread of the virus. Thereby, events have since then been held online or virtually and those that can’t are postponed till have notice. A number of tools including LinkedIn’s events and live-streaming tools have been used as means of communications.
As the pandemic still remains un-neutralized, LinkedIn has published a new guide on how to use its event and live-streaming tools to run engaging digital functions.
The California-based social networking service first launched its native events function in October 2019 for select users and business, making it available to all businesses in April 2020 in order to cater to demand for online event options. LinkedIn expanded on this in May by adding live-streaming functionality within events.
“Our goal is to be as supportive as possible, in order to minimize disruption to your business. That’s why we’ve created this guide, to share some helpful resources on conducting successful virtual events on LinkedIn,” says LinkedIn.
The new guide includes a range of tips and pointers to assist in one’s events planning. In the short guide shows how to; create a virtual event on LinkedIn, invite your target audiences, drive buzz and connection before & after the event, mirror other companies who’ve hosted successful events using LinkedIn, to mention a few.
LinkedIn also provides some pointers on what types of events work best on LinkedIn, along with examples of past business functions.
But, of course, not all Pages have access to LinkedIn Live — and while there are no specific parameters that define which Pages can access the option, LinkedIn does provide some pointers as to the types of Pages that are more likely to get approved for Live access.
Pages likely to be approved are;
- Brands with active communities — Brands who make an effort to regularly engage audiences, take the time to respond to comments and create a dialogue.
- Brands with over a thousand followers — To ensure there’s an audience for the live stream. If one is not quite at that threshold, they can consider leveraging “Invite to Follow,” a feature that allows Page Admins to invite their first-degree profile connections to follow their Page.
You can apply to get LinkedIn Live access for your business here.
LinkedIn Events is a good option to consider for business functions, and the addition of connected live streams makes it easier for all brands to run a virtual showcase, and connect with audiences, even if one cannot physically be in the same place. And even when the lockdowns are lifted and businesses can once again hold in-person events, the capacity to easily capture, stream and save videos from an event to LinkedIn company page could be a valuable option.
