Meeting News

Let's face it: marketing and training budgets are tight because of the sluggish economy. That said, there are seven easy steps that you can use to promote your meeting or event so that attendees see that they are getting the bang for their buck.

First, consider not only the content of your event, but how this content and why this content benefits attendees. Answer questions like the following in your promotional materials so that attendees are more inspired to attend your event:

• What are the current trends within our industry?
• What are possible future trends within our industry?
• What possible insights or fresh information can we provide our attendees?
• How does our event stand out from another event hosted by a competitor? How do we complete a niche that no others can? (In other words, what is our USP, or unique selling proposition?)
• What kind of survey questions can we use or ask to promote our event? How can we use these survey questions to help our attendees?

Second, consider the many means that are online in which you can promote your event.  Many of these include:

• Corporate blogs
• Facebook
• Twitter
• My Life
• Cvent Event Management tools
• Craigslist
• Third-party advertising, a la Atlas Technologies, Razorfish, or Microsoft Advertising, among others

You might want to create a spreadsheet to track how well the above are working for you; according to the Pareto Principle, about 20% of online resources will provide 80% of your marketing results. So, if Twitter and and third-party advertising technologies are providing you 80% of your results in terms of obtaining attendees, it's probably a wise thing to concentrate your marketing campaign solely and exlusively with these two online resources and to skip using the others to promote your event.

Third, get the word out! Use the resources in Step 2 to promote you event. Again, use a spreadsheet or some sort of tracking technology to keep a record of what resources are working best for you and to keep track of what attendees are saying that they want in the event. Ensure that you are keeping an accurate record of answers to survey questions so that you can fullfill the desires/wants of your prospective event attendees!

Fourth, follow-up. It's not enough to promote your event; besides getting the word out, you must talk with people. If that means picking up the phone to answer the questions of prospective attendees, then by all means do it. Be prompt in your follow-up and ensure that you keep accurate records of calls made, to whom these calls were made, and the kind of responses that you are getting from your calls.

Fifth, ensure that your meeting or event is organized and follows through with what was advertised and promised in your promotional materials. (Attendees will know if you're sincere by the results that you are providing!)

Sixth, during the meeting, take surveys to find out how you can make the next meeting even better!

And seventh, ask your attendees to post favorable comments about the event on their corporate blogs, personal blogs, Facebook page, and Twitter page. In addition, ask attendees to spread the news by word of mouth. While online resources offer a plethora of ways to promote your event, word-of-mouth testimonials often convey more power because of the sincerity and authenticity of the person doing the promoting; after all, it's not you or your company testifying about the benefits of attending your event, it's a satisfied attendee!