Want to attract more attendees to your next convention, seminar, trade show or fundraising outing – and learn more about them at the same time? Follow these four steps.
Step 1: Know your audience.
Some of your audience will immediately plan to attend; the rest will need different levels (and types) of convincing. Creating a database segmented by interest levels lets you target specific messages to each group for maximum interest, response and attendance. Note: you may need to do testing to identify each group.
Step 2: Inspire them to act.
Once you’ve identified your audience segments, craft different messages to appeal to each group. Use headlines and subject lines that stress different features/benefits. Also, use different channels to spread the word. Social media will be far more effective with some groups than traditional channels, like direct mail, that will be better suited for others. Then, track response rates – reply card returns, phone calls, email open rates and click-throughs – to determine which are most effective.
Step 3: Make it easy to say, “Yes.”
Provide multiple response mechanisms: postcard, phone, online, and increasingly, Facebook and Twitter. A Direct Marketing Association study found 42 percent of direct mail recipients prefer to respond online.
Step 4: Experiment, Evaluate, Repeat.
Like much of marketing, this is often a trial-and-error exercise. At every step, compare the responses you get using different media and messages. Use the customer data gathered to refine and individualize subsequent messages. The results not only make your event marketing more effective, they also give you a fuller, more accurate picture of your audience – which you can use to make the next event even more successful.
