Online vs in-person for community connection, what’s the best approach?

How has your community engagement and sponsorship strategy fared in the first half of 2021?

Sometimes it is simply a question of where your focus is. There is currently a big difference in what you can do and the corresponding restrictions in each individual state.

It can make community engagement and sponsorships on a national scale very difficult!

After a year of online events in 2020, this year the 7NEWS Young Achiever Awards saw a return to in-person events. We embarked on a roadshow around the country, with 7 events in 7 cities, across 7 weeks. You can read this article to find out more about how that went…including some pretty intense challenges along the way!

But in light of the recent COVID situation around Australia with QLD, NSW, NT and WA all having recent or continuing lockdowns (VIC looks likely for another lockdown too), it really throws a spanner into the works for planning physical events.

So, back to the original question...

How has your community engagement and sponsorship strategy fared in the first half of 2021?

Have you aimed for online engagement, to play it safe? Or have you gone with physical events, because you can’t beat the atmosphere of people getting together?

Maybe there is a third option…those Old El Paso ads might be onto something!

The obvious answer is clearly “hybrid events” that involve BOTH online engagement and in-person events.

However, this comes with an added cost. Hosting an online event can be a lot cheaper than a physical event. But for a hybrid event, you need to throw in the cost of cameras, operators, data, production, etc. on top of the food, beverage, entertainment, AV and more that you need for a physical event. No wonder the price starts climbing up and up!!

With the elevated costs, hybrid events aren’t always viable.

So, I’m interested to hear from you. Is it an online or in-person strategy? Or are you trying to have the best of both with a hybrid approach?

Do you need help with your community engagement and marketing activities?

Want something that will deliver sure-fire results both ONLINE and IN-PERSON that is proven to be effective regardless of any possible COVID situation?

Simply go to the form below, select “I want to find out how the awards program works” and I’ll get in touch to provide more info.

What we’ve packaged up for our partners of the 7NEWS Young Achiever Awards is incredible! Its purpose-built as the ultimate 8-month hybrid of online engagement and in-person events.

By becoming a partner of the awards, you’ll get great community engagement and marketing results, whilst making a difference in the community. A true win/win!