8 Tips For the Most Engaging Video Event Recaps

Events are ephemeral, once it’s over, it’s gone forever.

How do you make it last forever?

How do you get the most out of each event?

How do you ensure your next event is even bigger and better?

Through an awesome, can’t-take-my-eyes-off-it event recap video. One that’s a fun memento for attendees and convinces potential visitors that your future events are a must-attend.

After all, according to Wyzowl, 84% of marketers say video marketing has helped them generate leads.

So a good event recap video is the best way to ensure you get the most out of your event and transform it into an evergreen piece of content. Especially with virtual events becoming more popular these days, branded recap videos allow your company to highlight your event-organizing prowess.

• Event recaps have more material and footage to show. They’re longer, they’ve got lots of B-roll to utilise, and additional elements to truly catch the vibe of your event.

• Teasers are shorter, snappier, and show just a quick glimpse of everything that went on in the event. Where teasers illicit curiosity and interest, recaps demonstrate the ROI and why it was worthwhile.

How can you create successful event recap videos? Let’s find out.

Tip #1: Answer the 5 W's

Before starting your video event recap, make sure you know your big W's. Those are the basics for good storytelling in your online-marketing video!

1) Who is supposed to watch your video?

What do you know about your participants? What do you know about the audience you want to attract to your next similar event?

From their key demographics to their pain points, research and outline everything. Create a thorough audience persona.

This is key to ensure the creation of an irresistible event video. Setting out your why and who will provide insight for yout event video recording and editing process.

2) What is your key message?

Are you celebrating a company milestone? Launching a new product? Conducting an industry gathering?

Now decide on your key message. Would you like to highlight the influencers who were at your event? The inspiring talks that were given? The amount of attendees your event had?

Once you've honed in on your key message, you’ll have a clearer idea of how to make an event recap video video that successfully conveys this message.

3) Where do you want to post your video?

From Facebook to YouTube and all the social media platforms in between, there are a ton of places where you can post your event recap videos.

Once you’ve outlined the platforms you’d like to target, you can then start your video-editing process, according to its format and technical specs.

4) When will you post your video?

Timing is crucial in your video marketing strategy. You'll want to figure out the best time to upload and share your video.

Is it right before you open registrations for the next event, or just after your event ended?

5) Why do you want to show this video to your audience?

Do you want to use this video as a means to attract potential attendees?

Or do you want to show your audience that your corporate event was a huge success?

Maybe you simply want to highlight all the influencers that attended and participated in your event, so you can attract an even bigger influencer crowd next time around?

Figure out your ‘why’ before you start creating and editing your event recap video.

Tip #2: Use high-quality live footage

Blurry, shaky video. Terrible sound. Low quality graphics.  Horrible editing.

Characteristics of a bad, nobody's-gonna-watch kinda video content.

Your event may have been a huge success, but if your video content is poorly shot, all your hard work goes down the drain.

Even mediocre events can be made to look amazing with high-quality, excellently edited event videos.

This means you need to be prepared, before the event, to film the key-moments of the event — the participants' arrival, interviews with speakers, laudatory speeches, and so on.

Make sure you have a precise shooting plan prepared, and capture as many rushes as possible. Crop the videos during post-production and keep the best moments.

Tip #3: Keep your content short

This is essential if you want to reach a massive audience on social media — your audience needs to understand in a short amount of time what happened, who was there, and why it's important.

Tip #4: Outline key takeaways

Before editing the video, create a comprehensive script and storyboard that follows the event chronologically. Each part of your script and storyboard should refer to a specific part of the event.

You can also add text overlays describing…

• The key moments of your event
• The results you ended up with
• The number of attendees and influencers you had at your event
• The different emotions that the participants experienced during the day, with motion graphics that describe the atmosphere

Tip #5: Highlight big name speakers/brands

As a great marketer, you worked your butt off to get influencers to your event.

If you’re not highlighting their names and snippets of their speeches in your recap video, you’re losing out on this valuable social currency.

People love celebrities and influencers and are easily impressed by them, so use their love for celebrities by highlighting them in your video recap. Leveraging their names will be one of the best tactics to make the video viral, and attract more conversions for your next event!

Tip #6: Add testimonials by happy attendees

Did you know 92% of customers read online reviews before buying and 72% of consumers say positive testimonials and reviews increase their trust in a business?

Testimonials and quotes by attendees and influencers can easily elevate your brand video.

During the event, interview participants and ask them about what they experienced during the event. This will spark more engagement, and may even trigger the interviewees' desire to share your professional video on social media afterwards.

And you know what that means — more reach, and more lead-generation!

Tip #7: Choose a catchy soundtrack for your video

Let’s face it: good music creates a mood. It adds oomph to your (already spectacular) videography talents.

Even if you add interviews, testimonials, and snippets of speeches, there will be parts of the video where you'll need to add some sort of music. However, make sure you choose music that suits your event's vibe and is appropriate for your target audience.

And to make your job even easier, here’s a list of awesome royalty-free music websites for your event recap videos,

1. Artlist
2. Premium Beat
3. Audio Jungle
4. BenSound
5. Filmstro

Tip #8: Don't forget to include a great call-to-action

And finally, don’t forget to include an actionable call-to-action to your video content. One that convinces the viewer to click on it.

Whether that’s liking, commenting or sharing your event recap video, or registering for your next event, lead your audience towards it.

Ask yourself, what do you want your audience to do? What was your purpose behind creating these event recap videos? What’s your goal?

Once you’ve outlined this, you’ll have a clearer idea what your video CTA should look like.

Wrapping up

Video content is here to stay.

If you still haven’t caught on to that, you’re missing out on a lot of opportunities to thrive in the digital-marketing world. You’re already conducting an awesome event: just take it up a notch and create an equally amazing marketing event video that you can use over and over again for another marketing campaign.

And the best way to create event recap videos (without breaking the bank by hiring a video production company) is with PlayPlay, the online video creation platform for businesses. Unleash your creativity with PlayPlay, the ultimate solution for crafting stunning recap video using pre-designed video templates. Start to produce professional videos that leave a lasting impression. Get started with your free trial right away!