LinkedIn events - beyond the yellow brick road

A morning spent navigating LinkedIn events and community building - "We're Not in Kansas Anymore"

Today, connections are made with a click, and communities grow in virtual gardens. They can be hard to reach, to nurture and to grow.

The session at LinkedIn, kindly hosted by Céline Laukemann and Sebastian Grein from ADITUS GmbH and Elinor Honigstein , shed light on techniques and strategies for leveraging LinkedIn events in community building.

It was a foray into realising the influential role event audiences can play as brand ambassadors, showcasing that the tendril of an attendee's influence stretches far beyond the "follow" button.

We traversed the burgeoning world of LinkedIn, one where understanding and focusing on who will attend your event is crucial for conversion and fostering an enduring sense of community, a world enhanced by the ability to invite and secure participants' continuous engagement with their networks.

There is a potential level for targeting audiences here that remains untapped for many. That itself is worth investigating more.

Engaging along the yellow brick road

Perhaps a blue brick road would be more fitting, considering we were in LinkedIn's building. Then again, a multicoloured one inspired by Aditus's rainbow-adorned sustainable lanyards could be more suitable... I digress.

Once someone steps through the virtual event page door, the organiser in you becomes their guide in this entwined mesh of professional interests. The post-registration pathway is rich with opportunities, leading to group pages and speaker recommendations and connections, imprinting a vivid picture of inclusivity and sustained interaction.

Attendees mature into advocates (via content engagement) and what is on the face of it, a simple LinkedIn "event," it morphs into a thriving ecosystem of professional connections and, in turn, has the potential to grow your following, your audience, your brand, and your reach.

The morning discussion unfurled the profound insight that the times, indeed, have pivoted (argh, I used the P word...). Event organisers should acclimatise to the new digital climate, one that requires an earnest investment in content creation, active engagement, and recognition of modern pathways to influence. Good news for me - I love making content. I digress again.

The statistics speak volumes with event page recommendations showing a fivefold increase in organic growth, proving that each registrant's digital footprint nourishes the event’s virtual terrain.

The wizardry of virtually connecting audiences

But as we adopt these new methods, challenges undulate like waves on the shore (yep, I wove Waves into this conversation too...). A prevalent preconception lingers that LinkedIn events are cast merely in the pixelated confines of the virtual world, overshadowing their potentially expansive physical boundaries.

Overturning this notion becomes a task as essential as the content presented within - be transparent and be obvious with your audience. If your event is in-person, remind them of that. You don't want an empty room with everyone patiently waiting in their bedroom offices for the "event" to begin on screen, when you realise Dorothy is long gone - on here way to the "Land of the East." (that's a place in Wizard of Oz if you're unfamiliar).

Case studies were shared such as the IAA Future X Mobility event, demonstrating a palpable surge in interaction, reach, and followership. They stand as turning points to the impact that lies in the heart of a well-nurtured event community. I won't share the stats. I'll leave that to Celine if she's allowed ;-)

"There's No Place Like Home" - Making your LinkedIn event feel like one

Wrapping up this blue-branded foray into LinkedIn events and communities with Aditus, we depart with a trove of knowledge:

Engage with your audience, they are your strongest advocates.

• Lift the veil of Linkedin events, which are just virtual constructs; they are important for your brand's growth.
• Every content piece shared, every profile tagged, germinates into a blossoming network of interactions and conversations.
• High-value content isn't merely informative; it's magnetic, drawing in attendees, engaging post-event dialogue and extending the lifeline of the event from days to perpetual relevance.

The piece of discussion that has resonated most with me is about sowing seeds today to harvest a robust network tomorrow. For event architects, acknowledging, adapting, and actioning the currents of LinkedIn’s (and Aditus') influential capabilities are vital for evolving your events and cultivating the communities that hinge upon them.

So yes, Dorothy, we're not in Kansas anymore and you know what? That's not such a bad thing.

Meanwhile, have you seen what's going on over at OpenAI? You may wanna watch this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sq1QZB5baNw

Here at Waves Connects - we love learning. We'll continue to share conversations or nuggets of wisdom gathered, so if you want to know what's next, subscribe to our LinkedIn newsletter. You never know, like me, you might learn something one day ;-)

Thanks for reading.