Successful agents recognize the importance of staying connected to their sphere of influence. Especially in a shifting market and time where current/past clients, friends, neighbors and families are looking for creative ways to escape from everyday worries and disrupted plans.
With your vast repertoire of value (relationship-building, creativity, and digital prowess), you are well-equipped to provide the community and connection your sphere craves through virtual events. Affordable and safe, virtual events allow you to provide memorable experiences to stay top of mind while building your book of future business.
Get started by selecting one or more of the fun, virtual events we’ve compiled below!
#1 – Virtual Scavenger Hunt
This family-friendly crowd pleaser will bring out everyone’s competitive side.
- Choose the date, time, and platform you will be hosting on. Once the event details are set, decide on the best way to bring awareness among your sphere.
- Create a slideshow (or copy/customize one we created for you) containing game rules, points breakdown, and the items that players will be required to find. Having your hunters find 20 items total (one minute per item) and allowing for breaks will ensure a 30-45 minute game.
- On the day of the event, take your host role seriously. Walk your guests through the rules, cheer them on as they race to find the items, and keep track of their score (Griffin Group Realtor James Adair believes doing this by hand on a large Post-it sticky note gives contestants more satisfaction). You can also rely on an honors system.
- Once everyone has virtually arrived and you’ve gone through the rules, set your timer for one minute and announce the first item that players need to go find. In order to gain points, they will need to bring the item back and show it on-camera.
- At the end of the hunt, tally up the points. To generate more excitement as the scavenger hunt begins, consider including a few fun prizes for the top three players.
#2 – Virtual Trivia Night
Test your sphere on anything from pop culture to ancient history, and even local favorites!
- Choose the date, time, platform, and topics of your trivia night and generate buzz among your sphere of influence.
- Create a slide deck including the rules of the game, points system, and the topics that you will be covering. Real estate topics such as famous homes might be a fun time. If you’re expecting families with small children to join, cartoon characters might also be a topic of interest.
- Let your players know that they will need a pen and paper to keep track of their score, as well as a dry-erase whiteboard to write out their answers. For each question, give participants 1 minute and 30 seconds to write down their answer and have them raise their boards simultaneously.
- There will be five rounds total, with six questions per round, for a total of 45 minutes. After each round, there will be a 2-minute housekeeping break during which you will establish the rounds’ winners.
- At the end of the event, tally up the final points. Generate more excitement by offering up a prize.
#3 – Virtual Bingo
One of the easiest events to throw together, this classic game will get your sphere loud.
- Choose the time, date, and platform for your event and share the news with your sphere.
- Decide on the common household items to be featured on your bingo cards, and use an online resource such as Bingo Baker to create your cards.
- Once everyone is settled into the call, point them to the cards so they can download. Then, simply enjoy the game.
- For a more competitive atmosphere, Denver-based The Ribble Group team leader Gaye Ribble suggests offering up prizes. “For each bingo night, we do three bingo games and give prizes,” she says. “The first game prize is $50, the second game is $100, and the third game is $200. Our in-person events are a lot more expensive than that, so we figure we are still saving money by giving away prizes.”
#4 – Coloring Contest
Engage the little ones with a fun activity where everyone’s a winner.
- Invest in a few coloring pages from online vendors on platforms such as Etsy or Fiverr.
- Share the pages with those attending and encourage them to download and share with their little ones.
- Choose whether to turn this into a live activity, where kids can interact with each other and get timed on coloring, or simply keep the activity on social media.
- Have parents upload their children’s completed work in a closed Facebook group or the event page you created for the contest. For more visibility, encourage them to take it one step further and post on their own social media pages, tagging the event.
- Rainmaker Laura Gillott of The Laura Gillott Team uses virtual coloring pages as part of her engagement arsenal. In order to generate more buzz, she suggests committing to giving every participant a small gift card, and handing out three major prizes through a random drawing.
#5 – Fun, Engaging Virtual Classes
Use your connections to bring professionals to the small screen.
- Brainstorm a few engaging activities that would translate well on-screen by being interactive and fun. Think of activities such as art classes (like painting or origami), fitness (like Zumba or yoga), or child-friendly (like storytime).
- Tap into your network of connections and ask your professional friends to host a one-off class, or even turn it into a series.
- Choose the date, time, and platform and build excitement around your future class!
#6 – Virtual Graduation Party
Celebrate your community’s achievements.
- Decide on the date, time, and platform you will use to celebrate your client’s graduates. If you’re a Keller Williams agent, use Designs to create aesthetically pleasing e-invitations and send out to community members.
- Access free stock photography from sites such as Unsplash to create celebratory virtual backgrounds and share with attendees.
- Invite attendees to join a few minutes early in order to sort out any technical difficulties, and wear festive attire that gets them in the spirit.
- Find someone who is involved in the community and well-regarded and invite them to give a virtual speech and emcee the gathering.
- Compile a collection of photographs from the attending grads and create a slideshow or video filled with these precious memories.
No matter your area of service, these universal virtual event ideas are sure to generate goodwill among your sphere of influence. Remember, the focus is on building connections – but, if the real estate question arises, there is no need to dodge it. “We are going in as good stewards to the community,” Gillott says. “When the real estate question comes up, then we let them know that things are still selling.” Ribble suggests taking a moment at the beginning of your event to give folks a quick market snapshot, then diving right into your event.
Additional Tips to Make Your Virtual Event a Success
- Choose the right time. Before selecting the date and time of your event, make sure you are not competing with any holidays, other events, or everyday routines such as dinnertime. For further insights into your community, tap into your analytics for insights into when your community is online, or create a social media or Doodle poll with options, inviting your sphere to weigh in.
- Have a registration strategy. Pause on sharing the event link with your entire sphere. Instead, drive them to register via a Google Form, or third party such as Eventbrite. This will provide you with information for follow-up.
- Spread the word. Create attention-grabbing graphics for your event and promote them through your social media channels and email marketing. With your messaging, include language that encourages your sphere to share the event with their own networks and bring a friend for double the fun!
- Lean into the follow-up. Follow up with an email thanking those who attended encouraging them to post photos and thoughts from your event, and even sharing plans for upcoming ones!