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Originally Posted On: https://wickedbionic.com/audience-growth/zoom-event-ideas-tips-dos-and-donts/

Zoom, the free video conferencing app (that most everyone has heard of by now), has become one of the most popular platforms for communication due to stay-at-home orders. As of May 202, Zoom has 300 million daily meeting participants.

Aside from using Zoom internally to chat with telecommuting employees, did you also know you can use Zoom to increase brand awareness and build customer loyalty? Hosting various types of Zoom events can invite deeper customer engagement levels than other platforms; it can also serve as a tool to educate the public about the benefits of using your product or service. Let’s brainstorm a few ideas for Zoom events and offer some practical dos and don’ts for using this platform.

Ways to Use Zoom to Engage Your Audience

In the wake of various levels of stay-at-home orders, Zoom has become the new “in-person” meeting place—and in the process, people have quickly discovered it’s easier (and safer) to hop onto a Zoom to connect in lieu of restrictions on live event gatherings. The platform invites engagement so let’s explore some ways you can use this to your advantage:

• Webinars—Use Zoom to educate interested customers about various aspects of using your product or service, or offer helpful advice related to your vertical.
• Panel discussions—Invite experts to gather on Zoom to discuss topics relevant to your brand.
• Q & A’s and Customer Feedback—Invite a cross-section of customers to hop on a Zoom call to discuss ways to improve your offerings.
• One-to-one Sales Calls and Demos—Use Zoom as the second or third touchpoint for leads moving through your sales funnel. Invite them on a call to demo your product.
• Innovator Sessions—Invite users to hang out online and share various creative ways they’ve used your product to make their lives better.

Dos and Don’ts for Zoom Events

Once you’ve figured out some ways to utilize Zoom for your business, let’s discuss some practical ways to use it, and things to avoid.

• DO limit the “talking heads.” If you have dozens of people on a Zoom call and everyone has their mic on, your event can quickly devolve into a “free-for-all” that easily derails the purpose of the meeting. Limit the number of people in the room who can speak and mute the others. For panel discussions, one standard solution is to keep the actual Zoom login private and live-stream the discussion on a third-party platform like YouTube. That way, you can have unlimited viewers while controlling the discussion among a few people.
• DO encourage engagement in small rooms or via chat. You want to keep the conversation focused, but you don’t want to discourage participation. If you want people to participate verbally, limit the room to an adequate number of participants. For larger groups, open up the chat feature on Zoom and have participants submit questions and comments. If you are presenting, it’s always a good idea to have someone else monitoring and managing the chat so as not to be distracted from delivering your message.
• DON’T waste people’s time. If you hold a webinar or other event and you’re not properly prepared, participants will interpret it as being disrespectful of their time—even if they didn’t have anything else to do. Whatever you’re offering, come to the meeting prepared having practiced by running through your content a few times before you go ‘live.’
• DO add value. Whatever type of event you’re hosting, and whether or not any attendee is interested in buying something from you, the people coming on the Zoom call are giving you their time and attention. Make sure they come away with something useful and helpful to make their lives better, even if they never become a customer.

At Wicked Bionic, we can help you incorporate tools like Zoom into your larger marketing plan to maximize your audience engagement and build brand loyalty. Reach out to us to learn more.