Cvent

With the current economic environment, many meeting and event budgets are feeling the pinch. Though planners need to carefully pick and choose how they spend their resources, more often than not they're overlooking basic changes that can help to get the most out of their meeting spend.

For example, event marketing and event promotion are critical elements to any event or meeting—and costly ones. How are you promoting your events? Even in today's digital age, many meeting planners respond with, "Paper invitations and promotions."

Our response: "Have you tried email?"

Event and meeting costs can be cut by eliminating the paper invitation. Plus, you'll likely see an increase in registration rates as well. After all, paper invitations are often set aside or lost and never responded to. Studies suggest that paper campaigns see a 1 percent to 2 percent response rate. Not so with email campaigns, which can see a jump to 5 percent to 15 percent rates.

Not only is email an ideal channel for invites, but also for reminders about registration or RSVP deadlines. You can easily communicate with your attendees and invitees with a few simple clicks. In the past, Cvent customers have seen a registration spike by as much as 100 percent after an invitation reminder is sent.

Eliminate unnecessary costs and the hassle of stuffing envelopes? Consider upgrading your event marketing to email. And with the extra time, you can:

• Brainstorm ideas for your next meeting or event

• Search for a venue for next year's annual conference

• Clear out your inbox (you may even have an invite waiting!)

• Watch a YouTube video