What do you think is an event organiser’s worst nightmare? It has got to be zero attendance! When you plan an event, you want more people to join because more people equals more potential customers for the products and services on display. With the right strategy, you can boost your event attendance and keep those nightmares at bay.
- Know your target audience.
Who’ll be your attendees? To know who your target audience is, you have to be clear on what your event is all about. Who’ll benefit most from it? Who’ll most probably respond positively when you invite them to join? When you know your target audience, you can make the necessary arrangements such as date and day/s of the event, venue, what kind of marketing campaigns to use, where to target your promotions, among others. - Craft creative content.
How will you market your event? You can advertise on appropriate channels but first, you have to make sure that your ads and campaigns have creative content. Make them interesting and exciting. Let them know who the speakers and exhibitors are. How are they relevant to your audience? Share stories of past events and show how satisfied your previous attendees were. Some other ideas such as a video of the speakers inviting your target audience to join the event, writing about the achievements of your speakers, and featuring interesting exhibitor products are sure to catch your target audience’s attention. Next, present these ideas in a creative fashion – enticing print ads, fun videos, informative campaigns, etc. - Promote your event.
Now that you know your target audience and have a creative content, you can start promoting your event on the right channels – local media, social media, or send personalised invitations through email. Make sure you allow enough time for your promotion so that people are aware of the event and have sufficient time to make the necessary preparations to join. - Get an event management software.
This is a must for event organisers. It’ll make event management so much easier on so many levels. This software will help you zero-in on the right people to invite to your event. It’ll help you send invitations through email and social media and send reminders to attendees. It’s also a big help in monitoring the progress of your marketing strategy. What’s more is that it’ll help you simplify the registration process. They can fill out and submit their registration form and pay for the attendance fee in your very own customised event website. Enjoy all of these features in just one platform. - Keep your audience engaged.
You don’t want to lose the interest of your participants. Even if they’ve already registered, you have to maintain relevance and heighten their anticipation for the event. This is rather broad so let us try to break it down with some examples. If you have social media campaigns, you can have frequent posts related to the event. Don’t forget to use a hashtag for your event and use it on all social media materials. This’ll make it easier for your followers and all those who’re interested in the event to keep track of all your posts. Be very intentional about the content. For example, you can post about how great your speakers are by letting your followers know what they’ve achieved so far. You can also invite your audience to join you on live Q&A chat. Another idea is to host a contest where they can win prizes from your exhibitors. Ask them to invite more participants to join and event and give them incentives.
If you’re using an event management software (and you must!), you can orchestrate meetings between your exhibitors and interested buyers. Software with smart matchmaking features can pair your exhibitors with the people who’ll most likely buy their products. You can also send relevant news and updates through the event email marketing feature to maintain their level of interest. There’re so many things you can do to keep your audience engaged. Make sure you maximise them to the best of your abilities.
To conclude: Attendance is a crucial aspect of your event. Make sure you boost your event attendance by targeting the right audience, providing them with interesting content, promoting in the right channels, and keeping them engaged all throughout the process! An event management software is an essential tool for this job as it’d make your task lighter but still provide you with the right data and means to connect and engage with your attendees. Maintain their interest and they’ll surely show up during the event!
