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Promoting Your Meeting or Event As important as anything else involved in meeting and convention planning is getting participants to come to the event. Be sure to budget adequate time and resources to promote your event properly. Some factors affecting event attendance include
When promoting an event, the most important factor is the list of prospects you are promoting to. Promote your event or convention to the right people and you’ll have an easier time getting good results. Membership lists, subscriber lists, organization rosters—any type of list that you think matches the interest area of your meeting or event is a potential list to market to. Pick the very best list—even the best marketing piece won’t work if it’s mailed to the wrong people. It may take several efforts to get potential attendees to respond. For example, if you choose to use direct mail, expect to do at least three mailings. Be sure to finalize as many details for the event as possible so that potential attendees have a chance to see what the event includes, thereby increasing your early bookings. Advertising that hits very specific niche publications that reach your desired audience, particularly trade journals and newsletters, are sometimes effective ways of reaching potential attendees. And don’t overlook using emails, e-newsletters and a regularly updated event Web site to help promote your event. |
