Event Promotion Techniques that really work
- by Mike Event
- Published on 7/28/08
- Article views: 515
It depends upon how you opt to promote your event via e-mail, phone calls, direct mail, etc. Your event schedule will be striving against several other events, which shall put on an attendee's schedule. Your battle is to somehow get the attention of the potential attendee and get your event agenda on his schedule. In other words, provide a convincing argument for him to attend your event.
Let us check what other ways are there to let your message spread all over, before that let us talk about what not to do. Please be aware: In case, you are utilising any of these publishing methods, you are wasting your time and money.
Fashion-style invitations: Most of the event managements, in an effort to seem classy and elegant, spend huge amounts on carved invitations that list little more than the time, date, and place of the event. That is fine - your attendee certainly needs that information. However, they also need much more than that to think whether your function delivers enough value to warrant taking the time from their busy schedules. Moreover, the odds are against you if you will be expecting probable attendees to go through too many steps to get more details.
Advertising: Occasionally you will see advertisements in trade magazines; tends readers to visit a company's booth at a trade show or to attend a seminar, etc. These can be extremely expensive on a cost-per-attendee basis. Now that we have talked about what does not work, here is what does work - if used judiciously.
Press Releases: Sending press releases about your event to local business publications that publish event calendars may fetch you good approach. To send it with a bigger hit, enlist the business publication as a co-sponsor. This will certainly give you more exposure, both before and after event.
Direct mail: Direct mail works better - long or short copy. You may feel that short copy is better than long, since most people are so time-pressed. In fact, research shows that long copy, separated into readable critiques with bullet points and sub-headings, is usually more effective. Pass every piece of message via this filter: will my target audience be concerned? It is great if you want to keep a presentation of your new software release. However, what tangible benefit attending this event offers your customers? In all your communication, stress your value proposition. Furthermore, incline your message toward your targeted audience.
E-mail: This is the trendiest way to promote various styles of events. As of today, corporate spam filtering as little as at least thirty percent of email from outside addresses that land in the recipients Inbox.
Telemarketing: Telemarketing is recommendable in your pre-event promotion. After you have sent out letters and e-mails, approach VIPs who have not responded. If you have shaped an event with a convincing benefit, you would not need a clever topic or a bribe, such as a sketch for a cruise, to fill up the seats.
For example, one company needed to approach the top 10 hedge fund managers. Therefore, for its event, this company promised a PDA to every event attendee and asked each person to check-off in the RSVP box, which item he or she wanted.
Let us take another example: A company tried to mail a violin bow to each member of an elite group of executives and promised that if they come to a seminar, each of them would receive a violin that they could give it to their kids, play themselves, or display on a shelf. Again, because the cost of such promotions is so high, they thought of reaching a small, sought-after audience.
Now that we have covered the 'how,' let us talk about the 'when'. It is essentially important that you hit your target audience repeatedly with your message.
Two months before the event date: Send a 'mark your calendar' message that urges event invitees to save the date.
One month before the event date: Send a second communication listing all the reasons for which they should attend and urge them to reserve a space. If you are sending e-mail, include a link they can click on to enroll online. In all cases, send an immediate confirmation that gives guidelines to the event and encourages guests to invite their co-workers and friends.
Some event managements might also include a pre-event questionnaire asking event attendees what they would like to gain from the event. This can help you customise the content, and guests are more likely to show up if they feel their critical concerns are addressable.
After the event: Thank each attendee, by mail or by phone, for attending the event. Always remember that frequent communication is the key to the success of your event. It does not matter what your motives are for the event - moving customers further along in the buying decision, educating them about new products, or simply introducing them to your company - you need to fill your seats.
A well-executed promotional campaign will always help your event pay off.
Events366.com is a service available to Event Organizers and Event Subscribers (people who attend
events). Every week we broadcast event details to thousands of subscribers. Our emails reach mailboxes
of people from various walks of life. Yet, every subscriber receives a customised event listing based on his or her personal interests,
location and event type preferences.
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