Social + Media + Marketing: Virtual Presenting

I recently got to chat with my friends David Newman and Jess Todtfeld about social media marketing in these strange times, and particularly about video and virtual presenting.

We discussed the seemingly endless amounts of video options available to us, which can be overwhelming. When trying to figure out what services to use and where to spend your time, ask yourself, “What do you want as your endgame?” Do you want to just communicate with people? Are you trying to drive business? Instead of trying to figure out all of these different platforms, focus on where your intended audience is, and do that really well.

In the course of discussion around video options, of course Facebook came up…they’ve just introduced Messenger Rooms (which we talked about in detail in my last email). When it comes to Facebook, the reason we should be paying attention to what they’re coming out with is that everybody is already there. People can just pop into their friends’ rooms and say hello.

So what does this mean for a service like Zoom? Facebook is a juggernaut – they’ve completely wiped out other competitors in the past. So Zoom needs to continue to innovate, otherwise down the road they’re the ones who will be forgotten.

David, Jess, and I did a lightning round of Virtual Presentation Best Practices – here are just a few of our tips:

Acknowledge and encourage comments. It encourages connection and community, and gives YOU credit for helping to foster that.
Open up in an unexpected, exciting way, all while providing value right from the start.
Put a sticky note near your camera so you know where to look when you’re talking! This helps to make sure that you actually give eye contact, instead of looking down.
Speaking of sticky notes…when you go live, have a note with 3-5 points on it. DO NOT read a script!
If you’re doing a webinar, have a co-host/moderator to help you answer questions or address any technical issues that come up.