Your Online Event Is Just the Beginning: How to Get More From Your Recording

You put a lot of work into an online event.

There’s the planning, promotion, speakers, content, rehearsals and then, finally, the broadcast itself.

And once it’s finished?

For a lot of teams, the recording gets uploaded somewhere and that’s about it.

But if you’ve already spent all that time creating a useful piece of content, it makes sense to get a little more from it.

One online event can give you an on-demand recording, short video clips, social posts, blogs, emails and even ideas for what to talk about next.

You just need to know what to look for.

Think beyond the original event

The recording doesn't have to be the end product.

In fact, it's probably more useful to think of it as your starting point.

Inside that recording could be a brilliant two-minute answer from one of your speakers. A discussion that deserves a blog of its own. A quote that would make a good social post. Or an audience question that gives you the subject for your next webinar.

You don't need to turn every minute into something new.

The idea is simply to find the bits that are worth using again.

And it's much easier to do that if you've thought about it before the event takes place.

Plan for what comes afterwards

You don't need a huge repurposing strategy before every online event.

But it helps to have some idea of what you might want afterwards.

If you know you'll be creating clips, listen out for good standalone moments during the event and make a note of the timestamps.

If you're planning a follow-up blog, pay attention to recurring themes, interesting opinions or particularly good audience questions.

You can even think about this when you're planning the session itself. Clear sections and focused questions make it much easier to find useful moments afterwards.

A few notes during the event can save you from watching the entire recording again trying to remember where somebody said that really useful thing.

What is the fastest way to repurpose a recording?

Once you have the recording and your timestamps, work outwards from the most valuable content.

Start with the on-demand replay.

Get the full recording available while the event is still fresh. Depending on what you're trying to achieve, you might make it freely available or put it behind a registration form.

You can also make the recording easier to use with things like chapters, captions and transcripts, particularly if you've covered several different subjects during the event.

Next, cut your short clips.

Look for answers, opinions, explanations and useful moments that make sense on their own.

You might create vertical clips for some social platforms and horizontal versions for LinkedIn or YouTube. The important thing is that somebody shouldn't need to have watched the entire event to understand the clip.

And you don't need 20 of them.

A handful of genuinely useful clips will probably serve you better than chopping up the recording simply because you can.

Then, create the written content.

A discussion could become a blog. Key points could become a follow-up email. A particularly good quote might work as a social post or graphic.

This also gives the ideas discussed during your event a life outside of video. Someone who isn't going to sit through a 45-minute recording might happily read a five-minute article based on the same subject.

Finally, think about audio.

If the event works without the visuals, could the audio become a podcast episode?

Not every recording will make sense in that format, but interviews, panel discussions and conversational webinars often can.

Suddenly, the same conversation can reach people in a completely different way without asking your speakers to record it all over again.

Don't forget the audience questions

Sometimes the most useful content comes from the things you didn't have time to cover.

If you've got unanswered audience questions, keep them.

You could answer them in a follow-up email, turn them into individual social posts or use them to shape your next event.

And if several people are asking about the same subject, that's useful information in itself. Maybe it deserves a longer article. Maybe it's worth discussing in your next webinar.

Your audience has effectively told you what they want to hear more about.

Use it.

One recording, lots of possibilities

So, one online event could leave you with:

• The full on-demand recording
• Several short video clips
• A blog or written recap
• Social posts and quotes
• A follow-up email
• A podcast episode
• Ideas for future content or events

You don't need to create all of them every time.

A technical product demonstration might make brilliant short clips but a terrible podcast. A panel discussion might give you enough material for several articles. A short update might simply work best as an on-demand recording.

Use the content where it actually makes sense.

Your event can keep working after the broadcast

An online event takes time to create.

You've already brought the speakers together, planned the subject, had the conversation and recorded the whole thing.

So before you move straight onto the next event, have another look at what you've already got.

There might be a lot more content sitting in that recording than you think.