What to consider when planning a LinkedIn audio event

So if you’re not sure what a LinkedIn audio event is, go back and check my last LinkedIn newsletter which explains more about them and why you should be hosting one!

Today I’m going to be sharing my top tips on what you need to consider when you are preparing for your LinkedIn audio event. Like any of the moving parts of your marketing strategy you should plan ahead.

Pick a topic!

So the first thing you need to consider is a topic. What is it that you want to discuss with your audience?

Is there something in the news or a topical trend in your industry that you want to address? 

Or your top 3 tips on something that you are an expert in. This is a great way to showcase your expertise and entice people into your world. 

Your goals

Think about why you want to host the event, what is the objective? 

Are you nurturing, selling, seeding a future product or service, conducting market research? Do you want the audience to connect with you, message you, work with you, send them to your website etc. 

If it’s simply to try an audio event and wing it then it may not work well if you don’t have a plan your audience may get bored and leave.

Your audience 

Then think about who you want to come to your event? Make your topic attractive to them so when you invite them they accept and add it to their diary (yes LinkedIn does prompt this)

Plan the event format

So once you’ve chosen your topic, plan out perhaps 3 key areas that you are going to focus on so that you don’t go off on a tangent. Make it valuable and interesting. Don't overwhelm or try to give too much information in one go.

When you create your event I'd recommend doing it a week in advance. Go to Events and choose 'Audio Event' add an image and send it out in the feed.

You can then go back into the event once it's live and invite people individually or even share it on other platforms.

And make sure you share it in the lead up to the event to promote it a few times to increase the reach more of your target audience.

Invite a guest speaker

You can’t show slides and interaction is limited so I would recommend from experience that you have a panel discussion and invite another speaker to the audio event. Otherwise (and speaking from experience) it feels like you’re just talking into the void. 

And it ensures that the audio is more of a conversation rather than a soliloquy.

Share your insights and keep it conversational. 

Include a Q&A session

If you’re the host of the audio you have control of the room (i.e. you start and end the audio) A great way to engage your audience is to invite them up on stage (as a speaker rather than just a listener) to contribute to the conversation. 

You need to ask your audience to put their hand up to enable them to join the stage.

Sadly the audience can’t comment but they can share emojis as they’re listening to do watch out for these. 

Make sure you watch who is putting their hand up and give them some airtime after all they have taken the time out of their day to join your event and to hear you speak. 

Time keeping

I’d recommend a 30 minute slot for your first event and trial it and make sure you end on time and be respectful of your audience’s time. 

Recording

Sadly at the time of writing this the events aren’t saved like LinkedIn live video streams so people can’t listen back. But this is a good way to ensure people do turn up because once it's over they have missed it!

I have in the past recorded the audio events on my phone through Ottai so I can repurpose the discussion content at a later date. 

Thank everyone

Make sure you thank your audience for attending and their contribution, as well as your guest speaker. 

Rinse and repeat

The audio events are a great vehicle in which to nurture your audience so creating a monthly event will help to raise your visibility and create trust with your audience. And fine tune the content and plan as you go along. 

Remember that the success of your LinkedIn audio event will depend on how well you plan, promote, and execute it. By considering these factors and paying attention to detail, you can host a successful and engaging event on the platform.

I hope this has inspired you to host your first Linkedin audio event, and if it has then please do invite me! I’d love to come and support you. 

If you are reading this, thinking ‘I need to leverage LinkedIn but I’m not sure how to’ and you don’t know where to start with your content, engagement, and audience growth then please do get in touch here. 

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