Face-to-face events are traditionally more engaging for clients and allow for a more convivial atmosphere, says Mark Hutchinson, head of marketing at the Personal Finance Society.
Virtual Champagne never quite tastes the same, Mr Hutchinson jokes. But he says online events can suit a dynamic and geographically dispersed client bank.
While online events generally lend themselves to briefer or subject specific updates, Mr Hutchinson says they can still form the basis of a useful series of events.
There is the perception that ‘networking’ is limited to questions and answers online, but in reality Mr Hutchinson says you have a world of social media to engage and extend the networking aspect.
Live Twitter question and answer sessions work for some, he adds.
Even if your event doesn’t take place digitally, Mr Hutchinson says it is worth thinking about how a coherent social media campaign could help to extend your event and incorporate aspects into your post event follow-up planning.
But Jay Naylor, marketing manager of Personal Touch Financial Services, says face-to-face contact is a necessity in networking.
She says a key consideration for any event is that individuals may not know each other and have those barriers to overcome, which is difficult online. She says face-to-face interaction offers many benefits that online does not.
Ms Naylor says: “It provides a platform to read facial expressions and body language, and gauge an individual’s sense of humour and personality.
“The more informal points of the itinerary are highly powerful and shouldn’t be undervalued, for example, the coffee breaks or in the queue for the lunch buffet. These opportunities are missed when an event is delivered virtually.”
But Victor Sacks, IFA of Ringrose Grimsley Ltd, says he is a social network fiend and all for online.
He says Google hangouts are an excellent way of communicating. You could invite people (up to 10 including yourself is free) to log in at a certain time/date and chat away, seeing everyone on screen, Mr Sacks says.
He says you could decide to explain pension crystallisation in simple terms or discuss auto-enrolment.
Mr Sacks says: “You could start a discussion in one of the many groups on Linkedin or circles on GooglePlus and while it won’t be a fixed time of networking, you may well start a thread that could lead to you making calls to those who join in and set up a meeting.
“After all, no one is going to inbox you to set up a pension.”
