8 Video Ideas for Event Promotion

Videos are a great way to get your audiences’ attention about an upcoming event. The right video will not only generate interest and excitement, but also show potential attendees what they can expect at the event. Let’s take a look at a few video ideas for event promotion that will draw your audience in and show what your event is all about.

8 Video Ideas for Event Promotion

Some of these video ideas for event promotion work well on their own, but many of them work even better when they’re combined together. When you have multiple different types of footage to work with, you’ll be able to combine the best aspects of each. At the end of this post, we’ll take a look at a few tips to gather more videos, make the most of the footage you have, and promote your videos to a wider audience.

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1. Previous Event Highlights

If the event has occurred before and you have some footage from previous year’s events, this is a great opportunity to show it off. Take a look at the footage you’ve gathered previously and see what excites you.

It’s a good idea to use a collection of shorter clips to keep the video fast-moving and dynamic (we’ll discuss this in more detail later). With this in mind, look for short footage of interesting features, like footage of a hot new product, a particularly striking line from a speech or interview, an impressive overview shot of a crowd, or something else. Combine these highlights and you’ll have a brief, but dynamic video to share.

2. Behind the Scenes

Give potential event attendees a glimpse behind the curtain and show how you and your team are preparing for the event. If you’re involved in the event set-up, you’ll obviously have more access and more to show. Or, if you can contact the event organizers and explain you’re working on video ideas for event promotion, they may be able to give you access or footage they’ve collected themselves.

Your behind the scenes footage might include a few lines from your own team members, explaining what they’re bringing to the event or what they’re excited about. You might also show what you’re bringing to the event, including any promotional products or kiosks.

As the event gets closer, you might ask your team members to capture some traveling footage as they make their way to the event. This will give the video the feel of movement and anticipation.

3. Showcase New Items

If you’ll be showing off a new product or giving a demonstration at the event, this can also be a great way to promote the event in a video. Give viewers a peek at what you’ll be bringing, and show how it works. If you don’t want to unveil too much, you might show just one aspect of the new product or demonstration. Or, if you can give a full demonstration in the video, do so. Explain that you’ll be giving more details about the product or demonstration at the event.

4. Venue Highlights

You might not have previous event footage to work with, and maybe your products or demonstrations aren’t ideal for video. In that case, highlight the best aspects of the event venue and surrounding city.

While the event itself is the main draw, potential attendees are probably also interested in visiting a new city and traveling. If the event venue is particularly striking or impressive, show footage of the interior and exterior. You might also show footage of a few landmarks, a panoramic cityscape shot, or fun activities.

You might arrive at the event a bit early so you can collect and edit some promotional video shots. Or, consider working with the local tourism organization or another local video crew to collect some footage.

5. Interviews

Interviews from previous year’s events, or interviews with this year’s attendees, are a great way to explain more about the event. You might talk with the event’s keynote speakers, attendees from your own team, or even interview your business partners or colleagues.

These interviews don’t have to be especially formal or long. Asking questions like “what are you excited to see at this event?” or “what new products or technology are you expecting?” can help you gather a few lines that can generate anticipation and interest.

6. Speeches

If speeches, lectures, or other presentations are a big part of your event, use some of these clips in your video. While an entire speech or presentation will be too long for an event promotion video, pulling out a few great points or highlights can make your video impactful.

You might review footage of speeches at previous events, or look at the past speeches from this year’s presenters. You will probably need to get the speaker’s permission to use this footage first. Connecting or reconnecting with the speaker might help you gather more footage, too.

7. Live Stream

Though live stream footage might not always be dynamic or exciting, it’s a great resource to look at for your video ideas for event promotion. This might include snippets from live streams of past events, or even similar events. If you plan on live streaming the event yourself, you might include this as a part of your event promotion.

8. Time Lapse

A time lapse is a fun video trick to show movement and excitement in an event promotion video. You might film attendees coming into the event venue, organizers setting up booths, or people filling up an auditorium for a presentation. At a regular pace, this footage would be pretty boring, but sped-up footage or time-lapsed footage can quickly show a more impressive effect. In a few seconds, viewers can get a sense of how many people are attending and how much effort goes into the event

Event Promotion Video Tips

Finding enough footage for your event promotion videos can be difficult. Keeping these event promotion video tips in mind can help you gather video footage from different sources. These strategies can also make it easier to promote your video and reach a wider audience.

Use Your Previous Event Footage

Footage of previous events can be particularly useful, even if the footage is from years past or from similar events. Videos of your event booth, your colleagues’ booths, previous presentations, past product showcases, or similar highlights can show your audience what they might expect at the upcoming event.

Work with Colleagues or Partners

Talk to your colleagues or partners, and ask if they have videos from previous events that you can use. Using your colleagues’ videos can also help you share the video with a larger audience; you can tag your colleagues as you post the video, and encourage them to share it, too. Make sure you credit your colleagues appropriately in your video, either using text overlays on the video footage, or in the credits, if possible.

Work with the Event Venue

Previously, we mentioned using video of the event venue or location to add to your event promotion video. To get this footage, you might talk to the event venue managers or the tourism board of the surrounding city. This can provide another opportunity to share your video and reach more people. Once again, it’s important to credit the original video creators clearly, in the way that that creators specify.

Make It Short and Sweet

Your promotional event video doesn’t have to be long. Depending on where you’re sharing your video, the ideal length may be between 10 seconds and a minute. It’s also a good idea to keep your video moving quickly, and avoid focusing on one subject for more than a few seconds. Editing heavily, using a collection of diverse, short clips, and adding music and effects, will help to make your video more engaging overall.

Try one of these video ideas for event promotion, or combine several of them as you prepare for your event and build your list of attendees. Consider your overall promotion strategy carefully as well; if you create a great video that few people see, it will be tough to get the value the video deserves. Share the video on social media, in your newsletter or another regular email update, on your website, and share it with colleagues. Don’t be afraid to share your video several times leading up to the event, or divide the video into smaller segments and share each segment at different times. A great video combined with strategy promotion will help make your upcoming event a big success.