We’ve been spending a lot of time at Isenberg Projects HQ discussing how we can best show up for and support our community during this uncertain time. Community is at our core, and connecting with others through one-of-a-kind experiences is what we love to do. While the world has changed, our mission has not. With so many digital offerings out there, it’s hard to stand out and make impactful and purposeful moments. 

Here are some hot tips, from what we’ve learned.

Reason

Just like there were countless options for grabbing coffee or taking a spin class, there should be options for digital programs. There’s room for everyone! Instead of seeing the number of digital offerings companies are producing as a negative, it should be viewed as a way to positively impact your community, and bring much needed amenities to your audience and tenants stuck at home. Now more than ever, people want to support their favorite local businesses, and digital programming can be the perfect tool for you and your audience to do so.

Purpose

Who is your digital programming for and why are you spending time putting it together? Focus on who your target audience is and what you want the outcome to be. Whether it is supporting your existing tenants, engaging with your public audience, or using digital programming as a tool for future leasing strategies, it is important to own a clear vision for why, instead of just because. Having a clear purpose will result in meaningful digital content, instead of adding noise to oversaturated social platforms.

Lastly, there are amazing tools out there that will help inform the effectiveness of your work. Using dedicated hosting platforms like Vimeo and bit.ly tracking links are crucial to continue getting important data about who is viewing your content in real time and after the livestream ends.

Partners

Make sure your partners make sense! Do your partners fit with your purpose and brand identity? Partnering with existing and future tenants or past partners with brand awareness on your site will benefit both parties and increase digital engagement.

This is also a great opportunity to give people a glimpse of what is to come when we are able to resume in person activities. Is a new tenant scheduled to open? Do you have programming or events planned for later this year? Digital programming is a great way to tease out future programming and is an effective way of interacting with future partners and tenants with so many creative ways to do so.

Platform

Where are you sharing your digital programming? With so many tools to take your programming online, it’s important to pick the right way to share your content. If you are hosting a creative workshop, something live may be helpful so participants can ask questions and interact with the artist, whereas a digital workout could live permanently on your website so your audience can participate at any time.

Providing as many ways to participate as possible is important no matter what. Not everyone can make a livestream, so keeping content available after the fact allows for increased participation.

Perception

Does your content look good? With so much content out there, you need to be able to stand out on digital platforms. Take the time to make sure your partners are setting up correctly, have appropriate backgrounds, and are speaking loudly and clearly.

Since everyone is filming in their respective homes or studios, a well designed opening slide on all videos will help create a cohesive feel to a programming series.

Marketing

It’s important to continue marketing these digital programs as widely as possible, from facebook events to online calendars, to cross-promoting with partners. Just because they are virtual and we’re all in our homes doesn’t mean people will seek out the information.
Hot tip: Avoid the Zoom Bombers
Customizing Zoom’s settings from the website ahead of time allows much more control than the settings from the toolbar during the live call, and gives more peace of mind to the host. It’s also important to have a moderator tune into the session in case any surprises or unwanted guests arrive. This requires additional time and management in order to prevent any zoom-bombings.

Final Note

This is all uncharted territory! It’s important to constantly communicate with your audience to find out what you could be providing to support your local businesses and community.