How to host a virtual product launch event

Your team has spent months – sometimes years – brainstorming, testing, and perfecting a new product that’s about to turn your industry on its head. Now with the release on the horizon, you owe it to your team, your investors, your audience, and yourself to mark the occasion and celebrate all the hard work with a product launch event.

A blog post, a press release, and social media posts are all necessary assets to help get the word out about your brand’s next big step. But these simply don’t generate the same buzz as an event.

When done successfully, a launch event generates hype and gives customers, as well as the press, opportunities to interact with the creators. The anticipation and interactivity often help form positive impressions and demand-generation momentum.

So let’s find out how you can drum up some excitement ahead of your brand’s next big release and delight customers around the world with a virtual product launch event.

Organize a production team

Because of its lightweight, flexible nature, a virtual event can be run by a three-person team. These three essential roles are:

• Tech producer. Responsible for making sure the video, sound, and live stream are working correctly, create and switch between various branded layouts on video.
• Talent and content producer. Responsible for booking guests, organizing the run-of-show, managing content, and coaching speakers and guests.
• Live moderator. Responsible for answering questions in the chat, asking questions, publishing polls, and managing other interactivity.

It is possible to spread these responsibilities across a larger team. But as long as you have these three key roles filled, you’ll have everything you need to run the event smoothly.

Set presenters and guests up for success

If you have the budget available, it’s worth shipping capture cards to presenters so they can connect professional cameras to their computers. The average, built-in webcam just can’t compare to the image quality of even an old DSLR. The same goes for sound. If you can send an $80 condenser mic to speakers, it’ll be worth it because the quality will be exponentially better than the built-in microphone. These upgrades add production value, which will help communicate your message more clearly.

If there’s no budget or time to ship out these upgrades, don’t panic. There is a way to get high-quality video and audio with everyday tools that’s easy for speakers, guests, and producers. Epiphan Connect can turn any ordinary Microsoft Teams meeting into a virtual studio. When Epiphan Connect is added to a Microsoft Teams call, the meeting participants’ audio and video – as well as the screen share – are isolated into stable streams that can be ingested by any production tool.

Not only do producers get high-quality, isolated video and audio to work with, but they can also rest easy knowing that speakers and guests won’t have to do any setup. They join the meeting just like they’ve done millions of times before. And once they’re in, they’re ready to go live.

Find your audience

YouTube or Twitch? Facebook Live or any of the myriad, virtual event platforms? These may seem like tough decisions, but there’s typically an obvious answer.

Take a look at your social media accounts. If you have a big Facebook audience, then stream to Facebook Live. Simple as that. In the event there’s no clear-cut platform choice, it is possible to multistream to multiple sites.

Create the content

Now the event is starting to take shape – you have your story, your crew has been assembled, you have your tools, and know which platform you’ll be streaming to. The key now is to see how all the pieces fit together.

Create every asset you think you’ll need to dazzle the audience. This should include:

• Graphics and lower thirds to make the final show look professional
• Layouts of the different speaker views
• Supporting media like intro videos, slides, diagrams, and anything else that may help tell your story
• A timer to add a sense of urgency
• Giveaways and prizes
• Polls, questions, and other interactive elements

As you’re creating this content, be mindful of how long it’ll be once you go live. Overstuffing a launch event is a critical mistake. The punchier your event is, the stickier it’ll be in the minds and memories of the audience.

Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse

The difference between a good virtual launch event and a great one is largely determined by how much rehearsal time you have budgeted for.

It is essential to take as much time as possible to iron out any technical issues on the production side, make sure speakers are comfortable and confident with their points and setups, and that the overall show isn’t too long.

Be prepared to rework or cut segments, change the order, and walkthrough some technical information you may take for granted. It can be a difficult process with tough decisions, but it’s better to wrestle with it now while no one’s watching.

Sample run-of-show table

Promote, promote, promote

While you’re finalizing the show in rehearsal, give yourself plenty of time to promote the event wherever possible. Create LinkedIn or Facebook ads, tweet about it, and reach out to media and influencers. Tease giveaways and prizes, create a sense of FOMO. Whatever you can to spread the word, do it.

No matter what your promotional strategy looks like, make sure it’s easy for customers to RSVP. For example, if you send an email announcement to customers, provide them with a one-click signup to reserve their spot. Fewer hoops to jump through means more RSVPs and better engagement on the big day.
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