CO-OP Financial Services
Agile Marketing During COVID-19 Captures Record Audience
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Category: B2B
Type: Engagement / Demand Generation
Channel: Digital, Email, Live Video Streaming
Industry: Banking
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Challenge:
With nearly 500 attendees, CO-OP Financial Services’ (CO-OP) annual THINK conference is one of the largest events in the credit union industry and is also one of CO-OP’s largest lead generation sources. Due to COVID-19, CO-OP announced in early March 2020 it was suspending the in-person May event. At this point CO-OP had not committed to cancelling or changing the format. A decision was needed whether to cancel or re-imagine THINK based on the current uncertainty.
Solution:
We had partnered with ON24 in January 2020 to test a new quarterly streaming event format. Using lessons learned from this event, we quickly adapted a new mini virtual version of THINK 20 using ON24. Rather than charge for the new virtual event, we decided to make it free to anyone. The virtual “interim” event was held on the same date as the original in-person event, but scaled back to just a half day instead of three full days.
We rescheduled the in-person event to August knowing that we may have to cancel this entirely if the pandemic situation didn’t improve (the in-person event was eventually cancelled in early June and 400+ registrants received a refund).
The objectives for the free virtual event were multi-fold:
· Give loyal THINK audiences an immediate virtual experience and make it relevant to the current situation.
· Build a new audience for THINK by giving first-time attendees a virtual sample of the in-person event content.
· Position CO-OP as thought leader and business partner that is able to quickly adapt to change.
· Provide a post-COVID business outlook and lay the foundation for strategic thinking.
· Launch the Credit Union Strategic Assessment Initiative (CUSIA)—a joint initiative with EY to provide a customized strategic roadmap.
For production purposes, we secured a studio space in Los Angeles for locally-based speakers to ensure high production quality. However, the need to limit travel meant that the majority of speakers would be remote. We made sure their internet speed was optimal for streaming, audio was clear and lighting looked professional. Jean Chatzky, financial editor for NBC Today Show, hosted the live event remotely from her home in New York.
The ON24 platform allowed for attendees to customize their experience with screens for both the live video feed as well as presentation slides. We used polling questions throughout the presentations and kept the content light. Additionally, we had a Q&A screen with related content, as well as a chat feature which the sales team could use to engage with their clients during the event. We also partnered with DoorDash to provide virtual gift cards so attendees across six time zones (we had participants from Maine to Hawaii) could order their lunch and have it delivered without missing the live event.
For promotion purposes, we used a multi-channel approach with emails, banner ads and social posts as our primary means of promoting the event. In addition, we worked with our media partners and the credit union leagues to further promote the event outside of our owned channels. Using Ceros, we created a content-rich registration page as we did not have time to create a Cvent site. We also did not have time to create an event app so we relied heavily on email, text messaging and twitter for messaging before, during and after the event. We started engaging with registrants two weeks before the event to amplify the reasons to attend and sent out multiple reminders up until the morning of the event. We followed up with a post-event survey to gain feedback and also capture leads.
To further aid in demand generation, we developed a content-rich hub using Uberflip to house on-demand video of the presentations as well as gated bonus content. Attendees could access related materials after the virtual event and raise their hand if they wanted to talk to sales about any solutions shared. Registrants who missed the event had the opportunity to view it on demand.
Result:
· CO-OP was the first credit union service organization in the industry to execute a large totally virtual conference.
· Our goal was 1,000 registrations and we ended up exceeding our goal by 150% with over 2,500.
· Over 72% of the registrants attended, which easily bested the industry average of 45% for a free virtual event.
· The event generated 112 MQLs (which converted to 29 SQLs), which was above goal since the event was truncated to only five hours.
Overall, we received an outpouring of positive feedback from attendees with over a 90% net promoter score. Roy Choi, known as the “grandfather of the food truck movement,” received the highest praise as a keynote speaker for sharing his own personal experience of adapting to adversity.
Our biggest takeaways from the event:
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· Virtual attention spans are much shorter than in-person attention spans.
· Engaging storytelling is even more important when it comes to virtual events—don’t rely on slides as you need a live feed of the speaker.
· Make the content relatable and entertaining.
· Surprise and delight the audience with bonus content and unexpected experiences.
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