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How To Organise A Virtual Press Conference And Make The Best Impression

Cédric Ghighi-Bonnin, Head of Sales & Marketing at Company Webcast

The rise of the virtual press conference has gathered pace in recent years, with a number of factors behind this phenomenon:

Budgets are shrinking, and it’s becoming more difficult for journalists to travel and attend events live. A recent report published by the European University estimates that, during the first lockdown in March 2020, media companies lost 30-50% of their advertising revenue. As a result, newsrooms had to cut budgets for freelancer contributions and end short-term contracts, leading to fewer journalists having to work longer hours.
Remote working is on the rise. After surveying a number of European companies, SD Worx found that 27% of employees work remotely at present, compared to 16% before the pandemic. This means that, to connect with all the people you want to, you need an online presence.
Global firms can have their CEO or other senior leader update all stakeholders online. Hybrid and virtual IR and PR events, such as AGMs and Capital Markets Days, have become a thing because they reach more people and are much more convenient than in-person events.

If you are thinking about taking your press conferences online, this article explains why you should do it and how to make the most of this powerful opportunity.

How does a virtual conference work?

There are a few different ways to host an online press conference. Here are the main methods you can choose from:

Type of Conference	What it Entails
Online conference	An online conference involves a number of remote attendees communicating remotely with each other using cameras. They often share screens and present documents to the meeting. This is more like a virtual meeting for a smaller number of people than a traditional press conference.
Webcast	A webcast resembles a press conference more clearly and is suitable for audiences of all sizes. The host or hosts present to the audience via live streaming. Attendees can chat, ask questions and interact with features such as polls and surveys. The hosts may be at a specific venue from which the webcast is streamed live. They can also join remotely.
Hybrid event	A hybrid event takes place at a designated location where audience members can attend in person if they like, but it is also available for remote attendees, who have the opportunity to engage.

Advantages of virtual press conferences

Different event formats

The flexibility of online press conferences makes them advantageous to companies. You can choose the format that suits your business, the situation, the audience you want to engage and the outcomes you require from the event. This means you can plan the ideal virtual event to ensure the largest audience participation possible.

Flexible choice of location

Taking press conferences online frees you up from having to decide on a single, potentially costly, location for your event. The trend for remote working means that not all your potential audience will be located in large cities and able to travel to your event. This way, they can take part without leaving their home or office.

In addition, you can broadcast to different regions and countries at the same time without having to book a venue in each territory for that area’s press.

Your hosts can be located remotely, in your offices, at a conference centre, in a custom studio such as our venues in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, the Hague, Brussels and Paris, or in any location around the world, depending on what works best for your business.

Cost savings

Venue hire can prove expensive for face-to-face events. In addition, there are other costs such as refreshments, travel and accommodation expenses for your staff, and printing of the documents you want to distribute to attendees. Taking the event online can help avoid these expenses, as you use digital methods to deliver information to your remote participants.

Easier for attendees

With a press conference, you want as many people to attend as possible so that you can get your message out, which means you have to make the process simple for them. If they can take part online on any of their devices, wherever they have internet connections, they are more likely to engage than if they have to travel a hundred kilometres to a specific venue.

A virtual conference does not eat into their time as much as in-person press conferences. They don’t have to account for travel time, and they can continue working at their desk if there is a delay for any reason, meaning that they do not have to make that time up later.

More control

One problem with traditional press conferences is that you are at the mercy of the reporters pulling out the information that they are most interested in, which might not chime with the message you wanted to put across. When you webcast, you can place a recording of the whole briefing on your website and even share the pertinent information in a series of clips for your social media. You control the narrative.

How to plan a successful virtual press conference

1. Find the right platform

There has been a huge rise in the use of basic video communication tools, such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams in recent years. But, if you want a secure, stable and truly interactive experience for your online press conference, you need a specialist webcasting platform, such as Company Webcast.

Company Webcast is ISO certified (27001), which relates to the security of your data and gives peace of mind that your sensitive information will be safe. Our team also boasts a wealth of experience from working with some of the biggest organisations. This means we have the insight to help you make your virtual press conference a huge success.

The tools at your disposal when you use Company Webcast make interaction and engagement with the audience simple but very effective. This allows you to make it a memorable experience for everyone involved.

2. Identify your audience

Who do you want to talk to? Who needs to hear the news that you have to report?

These are questions that you need to ask yourself before your event. The people you invite can spread the word quickly in the right circles if you pinpoint who you are talking to.

With a virtual press conference, you can aim higher and more broadly with your audience, as there are no physical limits to attendance. If there is an influential blogger in your niche that is based overseas, for example, you can invite them to join the conference in a way that would not be possible at a solely physical event.

3. Send invitation emails

Your mailing list and contact directories are some of your best tools for promoting an event and increasing attendance. These people have already expressed an interest in your company, or you already have a working relationship with them.

You still need to make sure your email stands out, though, as their inboxes will be inundated with similar invites. Also, don’t be afraid to follow up with people who do not respond within a couple of days. They may just have missed the original message.

Explain in the email that the event is online and provide simple and clear instructions on registering for the event. Share any password information and details of technical support they may need and even drop a diary reminder in to show up on their calendar.

4. Practice before you speak

A rehearsal of the press conference before you go live is essential. First, it will help the host understand their script better. The more they read it out loud, the more natural it will sound.

And second, it will also aid in making the transitions smoother and help improve the operating technical aspects like presentations and slides. The presenter will get a feel for when they need to put each slide up without having to wait for a cue and then leaving a pause whilst they react.

If the host has practised enough, they will feel more confident in their ability to express the message, and the audience will notice.

5. Check the tech

With any online event, you need to know that the streaming technology, microphones, lighting, and everything else will work for your purposes. Try a dummy run to check that you can webcast, and it looks the way you want it to be on-screen.

You should also make sure the operator is comfortable with any cuts and with showing the presentations. If a host has to do anything technical, ensure that they have the ability to do so close at hand, so they don’t need to be worrying about where the button they need to press is situated.

6. Publish related press releases

If your audience has access to embargoed press releases, fact sheets and supporting materials from the press conference in advance, they will be able to understand why they should attend your announcement.

They will also be able to concentrate more on what you are saying rather than trying to understand the main concept the first time they hear about it. Distribute these documents by email, and make sure you pull out the most relevant information to make it easy for the journalists to use in their stories.

7. Keep attendees engaged

Engagement is the key to preventing viewers from becoming distracted, and it can also provide relevant feedback for you. With Company Webcast, you have the facility to keep your guests interacting with polls and surveys that maintain their interest and help you understand how they are reacting to the main subject of your press conference.

8. Leave time for questions

An important part of a press conference is where the journalists ask the host or experts about the subject of the event. This is essential, as all reporters want to be able to squeeze in more information and additional quotes from the event. Make sure there is a method for attendees to leave questions and interact with the conference, such as a chat function or a chatbox.

9. Save the video

By recording the event, you can allow other potential attendees who missed the live conference to watch it in full. This also creates a destination on your website for anyone else interested in the press conference.

And why not publish your online press conference on your YouTube account? As to other social sites and newsletters, you can post short, shareable clips that attract attention and get people to watch your event in full. Or, you could use the audio for a podcast.

A simple video of your news conference can be transformed into several pieces of marketing content for your business.

FAQ

How do you speak at a press conference?

Speak naturally and slowly, enunciating properly so that people can understand and follow what you are saying. This is particularly important if you are inviting an international audience who might not speak the same language natively.

There is sometimes a tendency to speed up the way you speak when you are nervous, so be conscious of maintaining a steady pace.

What should you do after the press conference?

You should follow up with those attendees that you most want to report your message. Check what their plans are for the media coverage of your live video event. Take a look through your attendee list to see if any major players did not make it, and contact them directly with a link to watch the full conference on demand.

You should also debrief after the event with all involved parties to work out what you can do to improve the experience next time.

Conclusion

A virtual press conference can be a productive and effective tool in your efforts to spread the word about a new product, service or any other company news. Going online allows more flexibility and a broader audience. Besides great PR, you also end up with some excellent content for your website and socials. You can increase attendance rates by allowing people to take part from their office or home.

And, if you choose Company Webcast, you can make your press conference engaging with polls, surveys and other interactive elements. For more information, request a demo of Company Webcast today.

References and Further Reading

Blog: Here Are 9 Examples of Good Internal Communications To Inspire You

Internal communication is all about engaging employees and developing the bond that inspires your team to help you reach your goals. Disengaged employees can prevent this from happening, and that is why we have collected together these examples of good internal communications. We hope they will help you develop your own winning strategy.

Gallup found that 85% of employees are either not engaged or are actively disengaged in the workplace. The company estimates this could cost companies around the world a total of €6.9 trillion.

Much of this disengagement comes as a result of a lack of communication — nearly three quarters of employees feel that they miss out on important company news and updates, and 79% of internal communications teams admit they don’t think employees understand why senior management makes the decisions it does.

Regular lines of communication within an organisation make employees feel like they are an essential part of the company and inspire them to want to succeed for their team.

What is good internal communication?

Good internal communication involves the following factors:

Factor	Explanation
It reaches all employees	With the rise in remote and flexible working, as well as the fact that many companies span multiple countries and timezones, it is important that employees don’t miss out on messaging because of their situation or location.
It is a dialogue	Employees want to feel heard. If your internal comms are just one-way, it does nothing to encourage engagement. You employ staff for their expertise, so make sure you listen to the issues they raise and the solutions they suggest. The right internal communication tools will help you achieve this.
It involves a sharing of knowledge	Nothing can hit staff morale like the feeling that they are being left in the dark. Your internal communications channels are the place to share information and make sure that you leave no room for rumour and gossip
It celebrates good news	Everyone wants to be recognised for the results of their hard work. This means you should celebrate the positive events that occur in your organisation as well as recognising the teams that go above and beyond the call of duty.
It is simple	Good communication involves condensing the message down so that your audience understands it completely. Too much detail can complicate the communication and confuse matters. Shorter delivery also respects the value of your employees’ time.

Examples of good internal communications

Here are some internal communication examples to inspire your next campaign.

AstraZeneca

Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca uses webinars to effectively and efficiently communicate with its employees around the world. They use the self-service solution from Company Webcast, upgrading their previous email channel for a more immersive and engaging experience.

The power of video over text for engagement cannot be overestimated. About 90% of the total information transmitted to your brain is visual. In addition, your brain can process visuals 60,000 times faster than it can text.

One of the other benefits of a webinar for a global operation is that employees in other timezones can catch up on the recording on demand when it is convenient for them. This increases the reach of the webinar for a company like AstraZeneca.

Another example of internal communications used by AstraZeneca was the Return to Growth video that brought together mobile phone footage created by employees to highlight the company’s new strategic direction.

Starbucks

The international coffee chain Starbucks uses social media to create a community for its employees, or partners as it refers to them. The firm encourages staff to share stories and pictures to its Twitter and Instagram accounts, helping this disparate group find connections and commonalities despite their only connection being that they work for the same business.

This adds to the sense of belonging for employees and makes them feel more loyal towards the organisation. In turn, such an approach can improve performance and reduce turnover, as staff are happy in their work.

Deutsche Telekom

As a fast-growing telecommunications company in which technology is always advancing, Deutsche Telekom needed a way to stay in contact with its 20,000 employees and keep them in the loop.

After a thorough selection process, the company opted for Company Webcast to provide the platform for it to stage up to 100 webcasts, interactive webinars and live streamed internal communications events per year.

The solution also includes peer-to-peer technology which allows for smooth streaming, even when a large proportion of employees are all watching a webinar at the same time. This is crucial to deliver the message to the largest possible audience in the clearest and most effective manner.

Stagecoach

Transportation firm Stagecoach created an employee experience app for its 20,000 bus, coach and tram drivers and engineers, as well as its 2,000 office staff. The company uses the application, accessible by both mobile and desktop, to distribute updates as well as for two-way communication with employees and networking between peers. Staff can also find company policies and training resources in the digital workspace.

The app has won awards for its innovation and the engagement that it facilitates. The company reports that 91% of staff are active users and 96% of users still interact with the app four weeks after downloading it.

DSM

Health and nutrition company DSM uses webinars to inform its 16,000 employees about the latest business information and to consult them on issues related to the company.

The live and interactive nature of a webinar creates an engaging experience for workers and shows them that the company values their point of view on campaigns and matters of strategy.

Virgin Trains

Virgin Trains became concerned its comms were rooted in an old fashioned top-down, dictatorial fashion. To ensure healthy two-way interactions, it introduced a system to underpin all internal communications conversations as part of its company culture. They should involve five Super-Skills, which are:

Voicing – speaking out with courage and conviction
Decoding – Drawing out what the other person is really saying
Presence – Maintaining undivided attention
Flow control – Managing the beginning, middle and end of conversations
Hyper-awareness – Acute self-awareness of biases, beliefs and emotional triggers

By running each interaction through these filters, Virgin Trains has increased the quality and impact of its internal communications.

Heineken

As Europe’s biggest brewer and the third largest in the world, Heineken faces a challenge to be able to engage its office-based workforce and remote workers across 192 countries.

Its solution is to use webinars for presentations of the market-editing plans, global forum meetings, Heineken brand global platform communications and global company broadcasts.

The main benefits of this approach include the ability to interact with colleagues across the globe, building relationships with them and reaching the largest number of employees possible at the same time; something impossible to achieve in person.

The company ensures that it includes a Q&A session in each webinar, offering workers the opportunity to provide real-time feedback.

Heineken reports that webinars contribute to the involvement, enthusiasm for campaigns and clarity about strategy and execution. They also reduce the time window that is needed to achieve results and provide one voice and one message.

Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola runs an employee-made podcast as part of its internal comms efforts. The show, called Total Refresh, sees the hosts Katherine Cherry and Jamal Booker, who work for the company, interview senior leaders about relevant topics.

The company found that the leaders interviewed would be candid and honest about the topics up for discussion in the podcast, showing a more human side of management to employees and making them more relatable.

KLM

Dutch national airline KLM has always sought to create a family feeling for its 30,000-strong workforce. Webinars are the solution of choice for the company, allowing for an interactive relationship between the company, its CEO and its staff.

Since introducing webinars, which it streams from its headquarters, the company has found that employees reacted positively to having more access to board members. They also feel they can participate in the running of the organisation more effectively and they have more trust in the CEO of the business.

Tips for better internal communications

Establish an open-door policy

An open-door policy can also refer to virtual doors. If management makes it clear that it values all communication and feedback from employees, your internal communication strategy will be richer for it. You will receive honest, but invaluable feedback, from your workforce that you can use to finetune the way your business operates.

Make your company digital workspace fun to use

If you have a digital workspace to gather all of your important documents, policies and internal chat functions, it doesn’t have to be dull and corporate. As it is not an externally facing facility, you can have a bit of fun with it and make sure it is somewhere that employees enjoy visiting.

Use video

We ignore up to 65% of the emails in our inbox, meaning that we need to look for something more engaging for internal communications. When it comes to video, 72% of people say they prefer it as a medium for learning new information. This is why video should be a key element of your internal comms.

Encourage knowledge sharing

Knowledge sharing brings your employees out of their silos and adds to the wider conversation within the organisation that you want to encourage as part of your internal comms.

Encourage your workforce to bring their experiences, issues and solutions to the table and get departments talking between themselves.

FAQs

How important is internal communication for employee motivation?

Internal communications done well can boost motivation, as it makes employees feel involved in the organisation’s decision making and that their voice is valued. When employees feel that they have a say in the workings of the business then they are more connected to it and motivated to make it a success.

Do you need an internal communication plan?

You should have an internal communication strategy to ensure that you are using the correct channels and disseminating all of the information you need in the most effective manner. Internal communications plans also help you monitor your progress and adjust your approach to make it more effective.

What is the role of leadership in internal communication?

Leaders should engage in your internal communication efforts as their presence represents the importance that the company affords to engaging employees. If leaders do not take part, it can seem pointless for staff to join in because they won’t be heard by the people who can drive change.

Conclusion

These examples of good internal communications show you how organisations are embracing engagement with their employees in order to help them meet their business goals. Using channels that encourage employees to interact and take part is key to effective communication and making them feel part of the company.

Company Webcast’s webinar and webcasting solution allows you to create live events that anyone can attend, whether they are office-based or remote workers. Participants can ask questions, take part in polls and chat with other attendees. Anyone who misses the event can catch up on demand. To find out how you can use Company Webcast’s platform for your internal comms, request a free demo today.

References and further reading

Blog: How To Improve Communication Between Managers And Employees

Forward-thinking organisations must continuously seek to improve communication between managers and employees. This should be a frictionless, two-way interaction between these parties in order to facilitate engaging and productive information sharing.

This article explores why internal communication between management and employees is so important and how you can adjust your processes to improve the way that these stakeholders interact.

The importance of effective communication between managers and employees

More than half of communication professionals in research by Social Chorus think that employee alignment with organisational and strategic changes and prevention of misinformation is leadership’s top priority.

In order to successfully deliver these messages, you must have strong internal communications channels in place. These lines of communication should not just dictate news from the top. Rather, it should engage and listen to staff members so they feel valued and heard in the workplace.

Management can better steer the company forward if they understand what the situation is like on the ground. Employees deal with the current processes and procedures every day and so are best placed to stop potential problems and instigate innovative solutions. Only by listening as well as talking internally can management take advantage of this.

Stacey Burke, writing for Forbes, extolls the virtues of employee engagement but warns that it is more difficult to achieve in the current environment, where working from home is ever more prevalent. Burke says:

“Maintaining the morale of your workforce is crucial for both capitalising on their skills and retaining top talent. As many of us have permanently switched from working in-person to remote employment, we have learned that even the closest teams can grow apart and miscommunicate when deprived of regular face-to-face interaction.”

This is why all organisations must consider how best to improve this key element of internal communications.

Before you start: Assess your current internal communication strategy

Ahead of changing your strategy for internal comms, look at where you are with your current plan:

Element	What to look at
Goals	How close did you come to meeting your goals? Are the goals still relevant? What do you want to achieve with your strategy?
Audit	Look at the different aspects of your internal comms policy and work out what has been effective and what hasn’t. Try to analyse the reasons for the outcomes and whether there is anything to do to make your channels more engaging.
Metrics	Seek out measurable data to understand where your engagement is working and where it isn’t. This includes page views on your intranet, comments on internal social media channels, numbers of attendees at company town halls and similar.
Employee opinions	Survey your employees and ask them how they feel about the current state of communications in the organisation. Ask them for practical solutions to streamline the internal communications processes in the future.

How to improve communication between managers and employees

Lead by example

Management sets the tone for an organisation, so you should lead by example in terms of internal communications. Be seen to broadcast important information widely and encourage employees to respond and give feedback. This public endorsement of two-way conversations shows employees that you are serious about instilling internal comms best practices in the organisation.

It is also important to maintain the dialogue and be seen to do so. It is not enough to welcome feedback. You also have to respond and act upon it. Even if you don’t agree with the suggestions that an employee makes, you must explain why and give clear business reasons. This type of engagement helps employees understand that you will take their points of view seriously.

When leaders interact, employee trust is heightened.

Promote transparency

Sharing news and information, no matter whether it is positive or negative, is a part of the transparency that underlines a strong internal communications policy. It is very easy to share the good news, but it can be challenging to discuss the bad ones.

However, rumours and doubts lead to uncertainty and a drop in morale, as employees worry about the events occurring within the company. By not communicating the negatives, you allow doubts to creep into the workplace, which can stifle productivity and lead to employees seeking opportunities elsewhere.

You should foster an environment whereby employees know that they are kept in the loop, and that means that they will take even more pride in the positives because they know you are honest and transparent with them and that there is no spin being added to the news.

Focus on company culture

Transparency feeds into your company culture, which in turn informs the success or otherwise of internal communications. In a company with a culture of openness, communication flows more easily between all parties.

By promoting this type of environment where everyone has a right to speak and where you value all opinions, you make all stakeholders more open to conversing and less afraid of being punished for escalating problems. This is also known as a “speak-up culture”, and it is invaluable for keeping channels open and being able to adjust processes and strategies in an agile manner.

Maintain regular contact

In a remote working environment, it is important to check in regularly with your team. You don’t want engagement between the parties to stop, but this is a real possibility unless you make an effort to touch base. This isn’t exclusively a remote issue, though, as large organisations sometimes find it a challenge in their physical workplaces, too.

Sending a message, booking a weekly face-to-face meeting or contacting the team through any other means on occasion reminds them of the communication channels they can use. It keeps the conversation going so that employees understand what is expected of them and management knows what is happening on the ground.

You should make sure you pass all the important news. In addition to this, regular contact could just be a simple message to ask if employees need anything to help them with their work, for example.

Foster a team mentality

The sense of belonging and of being valued within the group is one of the drivers of good, engaging communication. This is facilitated by fostering a team mentality amongst your employees. Here is what you can do to achieve this:

Celebrate your employees’ successes. When they achieve something inside or outside of work, share it on your avenues of communication.
Always deal with internal stakeholders in a respectful manner, both in terms of language and actions.
Mark personal occasions, such as birthdays and work anniversaries, with celebratory internal messages.
Organise a work retreat or day away. Spending time together will strengthen the bonds that make internal communication more effective and productive.

Build a digital workplace

Using digital tools to maintain contact between colleagues and management is an effective way to foster good internal communication in the physical office, the remote office or the hybrid workspace.

Your digital communication outlets could come in any form; it could be an internal newsletter that you send around weekly or monthly, or it could be a digital workplace platform where all the relevant news and information is stored.

Utilising webinars as an internal communication tool is also a great way to pass on updates and important information. You can organise meetings, training sessions and online events that both office-based and remote staff can attend whilst offering all participants the same experience and the same opportunity to ask questions and interact. You can also archive the proceedings for future reference or viewing.

Company Webcast provides a professional, secure and engaging platform for internal comms. Using our innovative peer-to-peer technology, we mitigate the issues surrounding many employees maxing out your bandwidth to watch the same broadcast, allowing you to impart your message with no interruptions or IT headaches.

FAQ

What are the six qualities of good communicators?

Good communicators share many traits in common. Here are the skills and qualities they usually possess:

Good communicators are honest. People appreciate being told the truth, even if it is challenging to hear.
They are proactive about communicating.
They ask good questions because communication is a two-way street.
They listen to not just the words but the meaning as well.
Concise language is another skill they possess. It is essential to keep the interest of the audience and put across the message clearly.
They are reliable and trustworthy.

How should managers talk to employees?

Managers should be open, honest and respectful in the way they talk to employees. This kind of communication is liable to elicit the most favourable response from an employee and means that they feel comfortable being honest and open in return.

How can you improve poor communication skills?

Listening to others helps you pick up on more effective communication skills, as does the process of asking questions. This way, you gain an understanding of how the other person communicates and can adjust your style accordingly to meet theirs. Fitting your communication style to your audience is key to delivering your message correctly.

Conclusion

Internal workplace communication is essential to team building and productivity. It helps you understand the challenges at play and their potential solutions. To improve communication between managers and employees, you should keep in constant contact with employees, encourage speaking up, lead by example, be open and explore solutions to communicate in a manner that best fits your team.

With remote working being such an important part of life now, using video streaming to keep in touch with employees is an innovative solution to improving internal comms. Company Webcast provides professional webcasting capabilities that offer interactive features to keep your employees engaged with your messaging. You can request a free demo for your company today.

References and further reading

Blog: Hybrid Event Planning: The Ultimate Guide For Companies

The COVID-19 pandemic saw a major shift in work practices. More than 100 million employees started working from home, with up to 45 million doing so for the first time. Many found it much more convenient and more suited to the way they wanted to live their lives. Others were desperate to return to the office. As the future of work looks to accommodate both preferences and embrace flexible hybrid work, hybrid event planning is essential.

Additionally, the European Union gives parents of children up to at least eight years old the right to request flexible working. This means that, whether you arrange events for internal or external communication, you have to consider this when planning. And this is where hybrid events provide the best possible solution.

What exactly is a hybrid event?

A hybrid event is one that takes place in a physical environment, with some people attending in person and others joining remotely. Successful hybrid events ensure that both physical and virtual attendees receive the same experience, as well as enjoying the same capabilities to vote and interact with the event.

Merely streaming the proceedings of a physical event, where the presentation is directed towards the physical guests, and online attendees can only observe without being able to engage, does not constitute a true hybrid event.

There must be a level playing field for all attendees, no matter how they join the event.

Why organise hybrid events?

There are many benefits of running a hybrid event. They include:

Benefit	Reasons
Higher attendance	Hybrid events allow those who cannot or do not wish to attend the physical location to still take part, meaning that you make it possible for more people to attend. There are many reasons why someone might prefer to attend online, including: ● Not having the time to travel to in-person events ● Travel restrictions ● Not wanting to pay for travel and/or accommodation ● Having COVID-19 or another illness ● Concerns over catching an illness such as COVID-19 ● Being required at home for childcare ● Living in a different country ● Working from home as a matter of course.
Greater reach	You can upload the video to your company website and allow those who missed the live event the chance to watch on demand. You can share the link and repurpose some of the content for social media, mailing lists and other marketing uses. This ensures a greater number of people witness your event and its themes.
ESG benefits	Fewer people travelling to an event to attend physically means a reduced carbon footprint. There is also less food waste from refreshments with fewer attendees. In addition, you need to print fewer documents to give to physical attendees.
Cost savings	You can hire a smaller venue if you develop a hybrid event. You also spend less on refreshments, printing and travel and accommodation when some of your presentation team and guests attend remotely.
Better engagement	The ease of use of engagement tools means that you can better encourage attendees to interact with the event. From asking questions to answering polls, all engagement helps with the discussion of the themes of the event.

How to plan a hybrid event

It is important to remember that you are planning an event for two different audiences and that both should enjoy the same experience. This provides challenges, but it is worthwhile making sure that you deliver a coherent and clear message relating to the reason behind the event to everyone who takes part.

These steps to planning a hybrid event will help you create something that speaks to both audiences.

Ensure you have a clear vision

Whether you are running an internal or external event, you should be clear on what you want to achieve and make sure that both sets of attendees understand your key themes by the time it finishes.

Make sure you take all factors into account to tailor your event accordingly. Think about:

Who will attend the event?
When should it take place?
Where will you hold the physical event?
Which webinar platform or virtual event platform will you use for the virtual element?
What do you want your audience to learn from the event?
How will you deliver this in an engaging manner?
Who will present the event and who will the guests be?

This provides your starting point for creating the perfect hybrid event. Everything you do has to keep these elements in mind.

When choosing a webinar solution, consider one that will provide the best experience for your online viewers so that they don’t miss out by not being in the room.

Set event goals

Once you have your vision in place for the event, you can set SMART goals to help you deliver what you want to achieve.

SMART goals are:

Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant
Time-bound

For an event, this could be something like having 40% of your target audience signed up to attend at least a month before. This is a specific number and date, and you can certainly measure your progress towards that goal. It could well be achievable, depending on your industry and the nature of your event. The goal is relevant because these are people who will benefit from attending, whilst the time-bound element of one month before the event gives you additional urgent motivation to work on hitting the target rather than leaving it as a low priority.

Prepare a detailed event plan

This is the point where you need to dig deeply into the event and decide how it will run in order to meet your goals.

Contact your guests and keynote speakers, and find out whether they want to be there in person or remotely. Work out the timings, running order and where you will leave time for questions. Think about guest logistics, maybe alternating between those that are there in person and those that are remote to keep things more varied and interesting.

Consider whether you will hand out physical documents to in-person audiences and think about how you will relay the same information to remote viewers. It might be that you choose to take everything online and put up posters with QR codes in the physical space to send people to the correct place.

Plan your marketing, think about the technical aspects and consider the logistics to create a unique and engaging event.

Set roles and responsibilities

There are many roles involved in a major event, and you should allocate them all so that everyone understands their responsibilities and can play to their strengths. From choosing a presenter to creating the presentation and directing the events on stage, a lot of work goes into making things run smoothly and creating an effective event.

With hybrid events, you also have to consider the technical aspects. Work out how you will film the event to make it easy to follow for remote viewers. Someone else should work on the sound so that it is clear for virtual audience members. There is also a need for someone to direct the camera shots and transitions.

When you use Company Webcast’s onsite webinar solution, we provide professional lighting, sound and crew, HD cameras and a large screen for your background. This means you can ensure your remote attendees receive a high-quality experience from the event.

Create content

You need to create content for your presentation that will work for both in-person and online audiences. Whereas physical audiences are likely to be comfortable sitting through longer sessions with fewer breaks, this might not be true of an online audience in front of a screen. Keep things brief, engaging and to the point so that both audiences are most open to receiving your message.

While some may think that webinar fatigue is the reason for low engagement, this is largely a myth. The problem usually lies with presentations that do not take into account online viewing habits.

Create a story to keep both of your audiences involved with the event and use simple slides that illustrate the point. Still, be careful not to include too many distracting details. The presenter can give the main information, and the slides should back them up.

Humour is another engaging feature of the best presentations, and interactivity maintains involvement with the hybrid conferences and other events.

The challenges of hybrid events

Putting on a hybrid event does come with some challenges. However, they are easy to overcome with the right plan. Here is what to consider:

Timezone differences

When trying to engage stakeholders in multiple locations, you need to consider what the time of the event will be in both your physical location and your key international regions.

For example, it is not good holding the event in Amsterdam at 20:00 if you also want to target a Japanese audience, for whom the start time will be 03:00.

You have to weigh up the online audience you most want to engage and work out a time that suits both them and the physical attendees as well. It is a fine balancing act, but it is possible with thorough planning.

Connectivity logistics

When you want to invite people to join your event online, you might be concerned about connectivity. This is where a professional webinar solution can be of great help.

Company Webcast creates reliable, stable and secure streams that allow you to engage large numbers of online attendees with high-quality video and audio.

If it’s an internal communications event, for example, too many employees watching the broadcast on your internal server could lead to a traffic surge that affects the quality of the stream. Company Webcast has launched peer-to-peer streaming to counter this. It reduces your required bandwidth by up to 95%, meaning everyone should receive perfect sound and vision from the event.

Virtual attendee interaction

With some hybrid event providers, it is not possible for online attendees to interact with the proceedings. A true hybrid event should ensure both online and in-person attendees gain the same experience and have the same opportunities to get involved.

Company Webcast provides a range of interactive features, including chat functions, the ability to ask questions and answer polls, and more. This keeps the online audience engaged and retains the equality between the audiences.

FAQs

What are some examples of hybrid events?

Hybrid event examples include construction firm Royal BAM Group produces hybrid AGMs to allow greater opportunities for attendance. In addition, a CSR association used Company Webcast’s platform to create hybrid events for stakeholders and engage a wider audience.

What technology is needed for hybrid events?

To make truly engaging and professional hybrid events, you need professional video and audio equipment as well as lighting. This comes as standard when you partner with Company Webcast’s hybrid event platform.

What is the difference between hybrid and virtual?

A hybrid event combines physical and virtual elements, with both audiences receiving the same experience. A fully virtual event happens only online.

Conclusion

Hybrid event planning is challenging because there are so many considerations to make. You have two different audiences consuming your message in two different ways, but you should provide them with the same opportunities. This is important for the hybrid event experience. Then you have to consider the technical aspects and other logistical issues. Thankfully, Company Webcast takes care of the technical aspects and allows you to concentrate on creating the most engaging event content you can with your hybrid experiences. Request a free demo today to find out how Company Webcast can revolutionise your hybrid events.

References and Further Reading

Blog: Why Is Internal Brand Engagement Crucial? (And How To Improve It)

Internal brand engagement refers to the way employees and other stakeholders interact with your company and its values, ethics and mission. Their connection with the company can be positive or negative, depending on how effectively it embodies, demonstrates and communicates its purpose.

If you are clear and consistent with your internal brand strategy, employees can fully engage with it and live those values both at work and outside of the office. Effective internal brand engagement drives you towards creating the ethos that you desire in your business.

Why is internal branding important?

A recent survey revealed that 92% of employees would consider leaving their current employment if offered a role somewhere with an excellent corporate reputation. This statistic alone makes it easy to see why your internal brand is key.

Apart from figures, there are also intrinsic benefits to a coherent internal branding strategy. Here are the most important ones:

Benefit	Explanation
Motivation	Employees are motivated to deliver peak performance in all areas of their work, which in turn provides an improved customer experience.
Positivity	They are less likely to think negatively at work. Rather than dwelling on or passing on problems, workers who feel an affinity with the organisation are more dedicated to finding solutions. They believe in the business and want the best for it and its clients.
Cohesion	Effective internal branding brings all employees together to celebrate and live the same values, making for a cohesive company culture where everyone agrees on how the organisation should work.
Brand Advocacy	An engaged workforce that believes in what the business stands for will advocate externally for your organisation and its products.

How to increase internal brand engagement

Define your internal culture

Before anyone can buy into your ethos, you need to create a bold story for your organisation. Think about what you want to achieve and how you want to achieve it.

This informs your mission and vision, which feed into the internal culture you want to foster. Without a clear definition of where you are headed, employees will struggle to dedicate themselves wholeheartedly to the project.

There is no doubt that getting the right organisational culture is important. Studies show that those businesses with a healthy and defined set of values are 1.5 times more likely to enjoy revenue growth of 15 per cent or more over three years and 2.5 times more likely to experience significant stock growth during the same period.

A powerful and engaging internal culture encourages trust and appreciation of colleagues, values high performance and encourages collaboration, communication and innovation.

Keep the narrative simple

Your brand story has to resonate with your employees. Don’t overcomplicate it because that makes it vague and less impactful. Give your workforce something that they can easily understand and rally behind.

Weave emotion into it and give your employees a reason to feel passionate about the narrative around your business.

Align internal and external marketing

In the words of Christabel Singh of upGrad KnowledgeHut: “We are what we communicate. We communicate what we are.”

Singh found in her work that many employees are uninspired because they are not sure where their company is heading or what its priorities are. The organisation may well sell itself to customers through external brand engagement, but internally the message is confused or unclear.

Internal and external messaging must align if you are to excite and motivate your employees as much as your marketing seeks to excite your customers. This is the only way that your staff will be able to provide the level of service and care that you promote externally.

Only when you prove to employees the integrity of your message can they properly sell it and believe in it. And this matters because, in the customer journey, they will meet employees in different areas of the business who must show that they understand and live the same values.

To quote Singh again:

“If an employee in sales, customer service, accounts receivable or anywhere else in the organisation does not represent the brand, it’s a sign to coworkers and customers that the company itself does not entirely believe in its own message.”

Leverage your digital workplace

The digital workplace is the combination of all of your internal communication channels and plays a key role in creating your internal brand. It is a tool that all employees use and is therefore perfect for communicating the messages that define your ethos.

You can share information quickly and easily with the help of the digital workplace, increasing brand awareness and promoting your culture at the same time. It is also the place to encourage feedback and discussion in order to help workers feel part of the decision-making and inform them about the company culture.

Organise live and hybrid events

A more human way of engaging employees directly is to organise company-wide events. A town hall meeting, for example, is the perfect opportunity to gather all the workforce together, instil the company culture and add a human touch to your internal communications.

These are traditionally in-person events, but in order to include your employees working remotely or flexibly, try a hybrid or fully virtual approach. With a hybrid event, you host the event in a particular location, and some attendees are in person. Others access the proceedings on a live stream and interact with the hosts using virtual tools. It’s important that both the online and the in-person audience enjoy the same experience at a hybrid event.

With Company Webcast’s corporate streaming solution, you can produce professional and interactive events that allow remote attendees to ask questions, vote on polls and respond to surveys. This engagement opportunity helps make them feel fully involved and valued as you speak to the collective and reinforce your mission and internal brand.

Another advantage of a hybrid or online event is that employees can catch up on demand if they cannot attend in person or watch the stream as it goes out. This increases e.

Encourage employee input

Valuing the opinions of your employees is a simple way to bring them on board with your mission. As well as being an engagement exercise, it makes business sense in the fact that they are on the ground, seeing how the company serves its customers, receiving first-hand reviews from those clients and working within the systems. They can often better see the issues than executives. Therefore, their solutions are invaluable for improving your processes.

When employees feel that their input counts and has a tangible impact on the way the company runs, they are better bonded to the organisation and its culture.

A you encourage engagement. Ask questions, and you will spark a discussion.

Run regular feedback sessions, send out surveys, and invite employees to management meetings. All of these improve workforce engagement and buy-in, boosting innovation and creativity across your organisation.

Once they buy in, they become your strongest advocates. They talk to friends and family, they make informed recommendations to customers, and they pitch it just right because they become experts at shouting about the great work that you do.

Examples of internal brand engagement

DSM

Dutch health and nutrition firm DSM employs 16,000 workers across the world. For the company, keeping all employees up-to-date is a priority, increasing transparency and trust in the brand from the workforce.

The company decided to use webinars for this purpose and opted to work with Company Webcast. The client’s spokesperson said:

“It is an effective way to reach a large group of employees and to inform them, to engage them, or to look for interaction with this group on an issue that is important for DSM.”

FAQ

What are the challenges of internal brand engagement?

One of the main challenges of internal brand engagement is being able to communicate with your employees regularly and in a human manner. This is where webcasting comes in. You can talk to your employees whether they are in the room or in remotely. It brings executives and employees together.

What are the objectives of internal brand engagement?

Internal brand engagement aims to encourage employees to buy into the company’s vision and advocate for it. It provides an emotional connection for workers that creates engaged employees.

How does internal branding lead to brand success?

Internal branding engages workers who are motivated to give 100% to the company, thus improving the customer experience. They are also more likely to offer solutions to issues or improvements to systems, and they will tell their family and friends about your brand in glowing terms as true brand ambassadors.

Conclusion

Internal brand engagement is important for any company. Your employees are a valuable resource — they shape how your customers experience your brand and how many others envisage your brand, thanks to their advocacy. You need a clear, simple vision, a culture of trust and appreciation and to be able to communicate your company mission clearly and effectively. Webinars for internal communications are the answer to this, and Company Webcast is the leading name for professional, high-quality webinars that engage your employees. Request a demo today to start interacting with your workforce.

References and Further Reading

Blog: The Investor Relations Best Practice Guide For Modern IROs

The role of an investor relations officer (IRO) has changed significantly as the way investors interact with issuers has evolved. We have developed this investor relations best practice guide in order to help IROs with their shifting responsibilities in this important position.

Given the recent volatility in the markets and the rise of shareholder activism, the Harvard Business Review casts a light on the importance of IROs in this uncertain landscape, stating:

“CEOs must empower the IRO to be a proactive leader, building constructive relationships throughout the shareholder base to help the company mitigate various risks.”

IROs are essential for financing an organisation and for creating value, given their unique role in bridging the gaps between issuer and shareholder. This article explores how to use this position as effectively as possible to ensure that the connections with your investors remain strong and fruitful.

What makes a leading IR team?

Skill	Explanation
Understanding of both financial and non-financial reporting	Whereas once, an IRO would have reported to the chief financial officer and focused on the financials of the organisation in their interactions, a modern IR team has to be fully briefed on non-financial reporting and performance, too. This includes environmental, social and governance (ESG) topics and remuneration. As such, the modern IRO must align with all members of the C-suite. As investors increase their interest in a company beyond the purely financial reports, the IRO must mirror this and serve shareholders accordingly.
Deep knowledge of your company	In order to be able to accurately sell the company to investors and attract the right mix of shareholders, the IR team must display a deep knowledge of the company. They must be able to talk knowledgeably to extract the multitude of reasons for investing as well as maintaining and increasing shareholding. The IRO should also possess an in-depth understanding of the industry and sector to be able to pitch their investor relations efforts to a range of different targets and contacts. Different shareholders have varying expectations and requirements, meaning there is no one-size-fits-all approach.
Focus on long-term relationships	Businesses looking to grow, scale and experience longevity in their industry need to create long-term strategies and this can only be possible with long-term investor relationships. This makes developing these connections with shareholders a priority for IR teams nowadays. IROs can achieve this by building credibility with investors, providing the information they need, communicating the company’s strategy and explaining how it will create value for shareholders.
Transparency	Another way to build credibility with key shareholders is to offer complete transparency at all times. It can be tempting to omit negative details when networking with investors, but when they eventually discover the truth, it can damage shareholder trust in the organisation. A leading IR team will be honest and frank with investors, as well as providing full details on how the organisation is working to eliminate these issues and flourish in the future.

Investor relations best practices

Create an IR strategy

Communicating effectively with investors should be more than several events annually. To increase touchpoints, you need an IR strategy, but many organisations do not systematically link their strategy and investor relations efforts.

This approach risks inconsistent messaging to shareholders and blind spots where some investors who could enjoy a fruitful relationship with the issuer are ignored and do not therefore invest. A sporadic approach to communication can also be detrimental to the investors’ trust in the business and decrease the power of the equity story.

An ideal IR strategy should contain:

A simple, clear and compelling story introducing the business and its place in the industry
Identification of key stakeholders, including analysts, current shareholders, potential investors, journalists and even the issuer’s employees, who may sometimes represent a large portion of the shareholding

Messages aligned with the various stakeholder groups and their level of expertise
A plan to meet with these key stakeholders
A professional IR website or IR section on the main website, providing information about the company, its products and services, its financials, profiles of the board, an events calendar, latest news and any other resources that would be helpful to investors
Corporate social media account to keep investors informed
An emergency plan for dealing with bad news

Develop an annual timetable

By creating an annual timetable, an IR team can schedule their meetings and roadshows more effectively. There are many events that must be added to the calendar straight away, including the AGM and earnings calls. This allows you to arrange the other essential IR events across the year, planning the logistics involved and being able to work on promoting them in good time to ensure attendance.

By working out the schedule in advance, you can maximise the opportunities to meet new and existing shareholders and plot meetings, investor days, capital markets days and roadshows in a manner that ensures you provide all of your key stakeholders with adequate time to show how much you value their input.

Move to hybrid events

Hybrid events allow you to increase the reach of your investor relations activities. They involve hosting the event in a physical location with some of the audience members attending in person, as well as broadcasting the event online so that remote attendees can be involved, too.

This allows you to talk to a larger audience, reducing the need to take your executives on the road in order to engage investors. You can present the information to all stakeholders at once, wherever they are based. It is also more convenient for investors who cannot clear a large enough window to travel to a physical location and attend the event.

Hybrid events save money for an organisation, reducing venue costs, refreshment expenses, travel and accommodation fees and even printing costs, as there are likely to be fewer physical attendees. They are also more environmentally friendly, using less paper and with fewer people travelling to the venue.

Company Webcast, part of Euronext Group, is a leader in producing professional webcasts and webinars for organisations, helping them host hybrid investor relations events. The platform integrates a number of interactive features, allowing attendees to fully engage with the meeting wherever they are based.

Analyse your shareholder base

Analysing your shareholder base is essential to understanding who you are talking to in your IR efforts and who you should be targeting in the future. Thankfully, The Shareholder Rights Directive II (SRD II) has made it easier to identify those who invest in your company. Once you have this information, you can dive more deeply into what motivates them, who is buying and selling your stock and who is buying and selling in your sector. As a result, you can even shed a light on how they might vote.

At a time of increased shareholder activism, it is crucial that you spot the potential for conflict before it happens and arrange to meet with activists in order to discuss the best ways to work together for the good of both investor and issuer.

For an advanced report and analysis, you can reach out to the experts at Euronext Corporate Services Shareholder Analysis. They will provide you with a data analysis featuring a comprehensive, dynamic and clear vision of your capital structure and that of your peers. They will also offer advice on fine-tuning your IR strategy based on the findings of the analysis.

Engage your investors regularly

Engaging your investors on a regular basis, in person or in a virtual format, is vital to developing the kind of long-term relationship that is essential for issuers. Regular communication maintains interaction and makes shareholders feel more connected to the business as well as better informed.

Communicating with them on a regular basis displays your commitment to transparency and increases trust in the issuer. It doesn’t have to be an in-person meeting — it could be a virtual meeting, an email or any other form of communication. As long as the dialogue continues, the connection remains strong.

Enhance your investor presentations

Eye-catching and interesting presentations are often the difference between a successful investor meeting and one that disengages or even confuses shareholders. Make sure your slides are clear and concise, with a mixture of text and graphics to keep them visually interesting.

Your presentations are there to complement what the speaker is talking about, not to simply relate the same information. If they just display the speaker’s script, they will not be interesting to the viewers.

Use them to show financial and non-financial metrics in a clear manner and to draw attention to key elements of the company’s strategy.

Receive feedback from shareholders

Feedback is an effective way to increase the effectiveness of your investor relations efforts. By asking analysts, investors or potential investors for their views on your roadshows or other meetings.

Listen to what your attendees say and use that feedback to enhance your future communications with the investment community.

FAQs

How is investor relations success measured?

You can measure investor relations success through a number of metrics. The feedback you receive from IR events helps you understand its effectiveness, as do your shareholder retention statistics. The make-up of your shareholding reflects the success or otherwise of your investor targeting and engagement. The ratings from analysts and the activity on your IR website are also indicators of your performance.

How important is an IR website?

Investors and analysts want to research your company before deciding whether it is worth engaging with, so IROs should be proactive in this regard. By creating an informative website and providing all the key information in one place, you can dictate what they see and give them the details they desire first-hand. The easier it is for them to understand what your company is all about, the more likely they are to move forward with their interest.

Are virtual or hybrid roadshows effective?

Virtual and hybrid roadshows are extremely effective. They allow engagement with a wider range of attendees while being more convenient for the attendees and cutting costs for the issuer. If you use the right solution, you can maintain the interactive elements of the in-person version but with the added advantages of online events.

Conclusion

The benefits of effective engagement with shareholders are evident in this investor relations best practice guide. Better engagement earns trust and loyalty that fuels long-term relationships between issuers and investors. The way the parties engage with each other has shifted in recent years and it is now essential to offer a chance to interact virtually or in a hybrid format. This increases the number of people you talk to and opens up the world without having to take your executives on long and arduous tours.

For a professional and interactive webinar solution that engages your audience, request a free demo of Company Webcast.