Looking for marketing success? Strategy and integration are the two – not so secret – keys to communications success when promoting your conference, kicking conference goals and securing the all-important ‘bums on seats’.
The first and most important step, creating a communications strategy!
The value of having everyone – the in-house event team, external event managers and the marketing team – in one room together sharing event insights and ideas provides invaluable insight to build your strategy on.
During your session, don’t forget to discuss:
1. Goals, objectives and KPIs: make them measureable and achievable
2. Audience profiling: who is your target audience, why should they attend your conference?
3. Brand and message: What does your conference brand stand for? What does your brand look like and what is its language tone? A brand is much more than a logo; remember to create a brand style guideline
4. Tools: What are the right tools and marketing channels to reach your audience?
5. Plan: the timeline – what you will communicate, to who, when and how?
6. Measurement: track your marketing and registration results to see what is/is not working
Now everyone knows the message and the direction, the campaign will be much more powerful.
By integrating communications across a mix of channels you maximise opportunity for reach and message absorption. What are the primary tools utilised to raise awareness of your conference and drive ticket sales?
Website: keep your branding, event details and key messages clear and upfront. Use the website to effectively communicate speakers and the program, and ask your sponsors to contribute to a blog!
Email Marketing: tease your audience with key speaker announcements as you secure them. Segment your audiences and drive traffic to your website after each story.
Social media: choose your event #hashtag early and promote it across your marketing material. Boost posts on Facebook and ask Directors to share LinkedIn content with their networks to leverage their connections.
Public Relations: so much more than the humble media release! Contact your trade media to negotiate advertorial and sponsored digital content. And, remember to ask yourself is it newsworthy?
Remember to post on your social channels live from the conference and extend the life of the event well beyond the day!
Good luck #eventprofs
Zadro work with hundreds of event managers and planners every year to help promote their conferences and trade shows. From running the strategy sessions, designing conference brands to implementing the marketing and PR – we help our clients promote their events successfully.
If you would like to talk to us further about promoting your conference, please call Debbie Bradley on 02 9212 7867 or email debbie@zadroagency.com.au.
