How to Price Virtual Attendance and Monetize Conference Videos: Successful Strategies and Cases
Monetizing Virtual Attendance & Conference Videos
If you’re just getting into the virtual attendance space and debate on the pricing, the most important thing to remember is that people are always willing to pay for valuable content.
A good starting point is approximately 30% and it can go all the way up to 70% of the regular ticket price. Considering the current situation with event cancellations and health concerns, there is a high demand for virtual attendance so pricing virtual passes at 60–70% of the regular ticket price is optimal. Since virtual attendance cuts other costs, such as the rent for the venue and additional staff to direct traffic, these savings should be reflected in the ticket price to ensure your conference is affordable and accessible. But make sure you don’t sell yourself short — you want people who actually care about the conference to invest in their virtual pass.
People love to watch videos of conference talks. In this article, we’re going to take you through several case studies that prove video content is a viable revenue stream and share some strategies for monetizing conference videos from Growth Marketing Conference, MozCon, Content Marketing World, MicroConf and others. The data doesn’t lie — people are definitely interested in paying for valuable content and your conference talks are nothing if not valuable.
If you’re planning on growing your brand and staying ahead of the curve when it comes to e-learning and new mediums, you’ll benefit from taking the time now to take a close look at what conference videos can do for your business. They can revolutionize your revenue by providing a steady stream of income that doesn’t dry up just because the event is over.
Let’s talk about the Growth Marketing Conference, a world-class event for B2B and B2C growth marketers. They sell approximately 200 virtual prices a year at $385 per pass, providing pass holders with access to a Startup Video Library, as well as all previous conference videos. Each conference boasts thought leaders and speakers who teach actionable growth strategies that drive sustainable revenue, and all of it is now available, on-demand to those who couldn’t quite make it to San Francisco, and to those who did but want another look. According to Vasil Azarov, the CEO of the GMC, the best way to build an audience is to invest in community building. That means not just thinking about one single event, but also thinking about “what is next — how are you going to engage your community after it’s over?” And for those of you still on the fence about the value of videos, let me tell you that one answer to that very important question is going to be making content accessible to everyone all the time.
MozConMozCon offers video bundles for $299 to those looking to improve their SEO skills. With talks ranging from ‘The Essential Data Marketers Need’ to ‘Uncover Content Ideas Worth Chasing,’ the MozCon video bundle has something for everyone. Moz’s annual event, aptly named MozCon, is a 3 day conference that brings experts and amateurs together to explore the deepest realms of search marketing, after which all videos and slide decks are posted online. What they do really well is keep their audience engaged year round, with the #MozCon hashtag, where speakers and attendees post slide decks and videos of key takeaways. In fact, their Twitter account has over 550K followers. If that’s not a broad audience, what is? And sure, pithy quotes and photogenic conference rooms do a good job of keeping interest high while the panels are running, but it’s the deeper conversations that make people want to follow @Moz. The question is, when you put a find out more link at the end of your Tweet, where does it go? To a generic article or to specialized content from your conference?
Strategic Talent Acquisition Conference
The Human Capital Institute sells virtual passes for their Strategic Talent Acquisition Conference for $695 each, costing only 40% of what an actual 3-day conference pass would. It’s targeted for those who can’t quite get away to beautiful Boston, Massachusetts but want to experience it anyway. When prices start that low, it makes it easy to start making a difference in the lives of talent acquisitors and talent alike. In fact, having an online and in-person conference means that employees won’t even have to leave the workplace to gain practical tools and learn new strategies.
Content Marketing World offers Post-Show Video Access two weeks post-conference. $599 buys pass holders all audio and video content of the general conference sessions, as well as slide decks from breakout groups, for one year. This conference is one touted as well worth the price by the Lumen5 team, and the affordability of having that digital option is a huge plus for those who want to attend but can’t stretch the budget that far. Virtual attendance makes a lot more sense when the focus is on gaining knowledge on all things content-related since you can browse talks and keynotes at your leisure. CMWorld has a 4.8/5 rating on Facebook and has been going strong since 2011, making it well worth the cost of either a virtual or in-person pass. And even if you go for the virtual, don’t worry — you’re going to have plenty of potential networking opportunities with the #CMworld hashtag going strong on Twitter.
MicroConf has been hosting online and in-person events for startups for nearly a decade and boasts a huge library of curated videos for indie-funded startups. They currently provide access to videos from 2019 for $99, as well as access to individual videos on Vimeo for $25. Their numbers look good too — they make $13,000 in sales, have 500 current subscriptions and have reached 3,000 individual plays on their videos. Bloggers have also picked up on what MicroConf has to offer for the niche non-venture startups out there, with lists made of the top 57 MicroConf videos for self-funded software businesses and comprehensive analyses of MicroConf events and videos. So if you’re wondering if there’s an audience out there for conference videos, the answer is clearly yes.
The Integrative Healthcare Symposium sells approximately 200 to 250 video recording from their conferences, 50% to attendees and 50% to those who couldn’t make it. 2019 videos are priced at $295 and 2018 videos at $225, to those who want to be kept up to date on the latest research and findings of integrative healthcare. Doing so allows those interested to pursue these topics at their own pace, without the pressure of trying to network and consume content at the same time.
In short, we’ve provided 6 examples of highly recommended conferences making profits from video content. Although pricing and recording practices will of course vary from conference to conference, we hope that this gives you a good starting point for thinking about what virtual attendance can do for your revenue and audience.
