A New Digital Tool for Adding More Trust Into Event Marketing

Collaborative Posts could help event marketers be more intentional about keeping important conversations going after an event. Photo: Adobe Stock

For years, we have created event marketing posts, tagged speakers or influential members of our communities, and then asked them to share our content. Collaborative Posts amplify those voices at a time when trust is harder to earn. Here are a few ways event marketers can put this new tool to work:

Think Beyond the Traditional Speaker Announcement

Instead of sending out the usual press release or email, a Collaborative Post could frame the keynote around the idea they are bringing to the event. What is changing in the industry? Why does the conversation matter now? The speaker brings credibility and a network beyond the event’s existing audience. The event gives the idea a place to come to life. The content genuinely belongs to both.

Create With Your Fire-Starters

Beyond your keynote speaker(s), every event has people others watch: respected members of the profession or trade, emerging voices, subject-matter experts, and/or well-connected professionals who get conversations started. At mdg, we called them fire-starters. Invite a select few fire-starters to create with you by co-authoring a post like “Three conversations our industry needs to have this year.”

That distinction may become even more important as next-generation event goers make up more of our audiences. Freeman’s research with emerging professionals points to the importance of authentic connection, involvement, and real-world voices rather than sound bites. We have applied much of that thinking to event design and now we’re eyeing it for event marketing, too.

Let Other Voices Help Prove the Value

Event marketers are good at telling whether people at a conference will be insightful, relevant, and valuable. Of course, event marketers are supposed to say those things. Collaborative Posts are an opportunity to add some evidence. An event might co-author a post with the researcher behind a new industry study, previewing one surprising finding, or partner with a subject-matter expert on a short video explaining a recent paradigm shift. These voices can help validate the promise the event is making.

Be Selective

LinkedIn allows up to five collaborators per post, which does not mean all five should be used every time. Shared authorship implies shared relevance. Does this person genuinely add authority, perspective, or audience relevance? Does the idea really belong to both of you?

Collaborative Posts will likely give organizers a new way to center shared perspectives. In an increasingly low-trust environment, that matters more than another polished promotional post.

How to Spark Conversations Before and After Your Event

Freeman research found that 87 percent of working professionals wanted to talk with others about brands they encountered at a live event. While that research focused on brand trust, the broader lesson for organizers is that experiences give people something to talk about.

Before the event, a program chair and the event LinkedIn Page might share the three questions shaping this year’s agenda. Event marketers can also co-author Collaborative Posts like “Why I’m making time for this event with emerging voices, subject-matter experts, and well-connected professionals.”

Collaborative Posts could help us be more intentional about keeping those conversations going.

A moderator and several session participants might co-author “Five ideas we’re still thinking about.” A group involved in a particularly lively discussion might capture the questions that remained unresolved.

The best on-site conversations become shared content that not only extends the value of the event but begins to seed interest in your organization’s next one.

Kimberly Hardcastle is chief strategist at The Freeman Company.