When planning a virtual summit, we always go through our 5P Summit Planning Framework™ to ensure success.
So in today’s episode, we are going to walk you through how to plan your first virtual summit using our signature framework.
Phase 1: Planning
The planning stage of hosting a virtual summit includes all the big picture planning including setting all of your important summit details.
You will decide things like:
- Focus
- Target Audience
- Summit Name
- Format
- Dates of the Summit
- Free or Paid Summit
- Price of Your Offering
- Set Goals
- Map Out Timeline
- Create Speaker Outreach List
Phase 2: Production
This is where you will start to create #allthethings for your summit.
Your summit website and tech stack are an essential part of hosting a summit
Summit pages will depend on how your summit is set up and what you are offering, but generally you need the following pages:
- Homepage – your main opt-in page
- Thank You Page for Sign Up
- Speaker Page – to learn about all of your speakers
- Schedule Page
- Upgrade Page
- Thank You Page for Purchase
- OPTIONAL: Tripwire Page
Then when you are determining your tech stack, here are tools you need to consider:
- Email Service Provider
- Payment Processor
- Affiliate Tracker
- Course Hosting Platform
- Video Hosting Platform
Phase 3: Promotion
You can’t have a summit without attendees, so it is important to really plan out a solid promotion plan.
We like to use BOTH social media and email marketing. And if you have the budget, we recommend Facebook Ads as well.
You will be getting attendees from your speakers who promote, but as the host you need to lead the charge!
A key thing that many people forget, is nurturing your attendees AFTER they sign up. You don’t want your attendees to forget what they signed up, especially if you have a long promotional period.
Phase 4: Party
This is the week of your summit!
Engaging and connecting with your attendees after they sign up has a BIG impact on who will actually show up for your summit.
You need to make sure that you have some sort of engagement tool for your summit. Whether that be a Facebook Group, a chat box, or both.
We recommend a Facebook Group because it gives you the opportunity to engage with your attendees BEFORE the summit even begins.
Remember your summit is a PARTY! You want your attendees to be engaged and having fun. So treat it like such.
Don’t forget to engage with your speakers as well.
Phase 5: Post
The Post Phase is the wrap up stage.
Just because the event itself is over, doesn’t mean your work is done.
You want to tie up any loose ends, such as:
- Creating a waitlist page for your next summit
- Send a questionnaire to gather feedback from attendees (and speakers!)
- Don’t forget to continue to engage with your new audience now that your summit is over
So tell us, have you hosted a virtual summit before?
Resources Mentioned
- Take our fun quiz “Is hosting a virtual summit right for you?” to discover is a summit should be in your future!
- Download our free Summit Planning Blueprint to learn more about our signature 5P Summit Planning Framework™ today.
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