Inspiration Hub

You’ve just wrapped a major event. You’re exhausted, you’re happy — and you’re curious. What did your attendees think about your event? How about sponsors? Are they likely to support your event next year? Surveys tell you exactly what attendees, sponsors, and stakeholders loved about your event and what you can do to make it even better next time. So how do you ensure that they’re worthwhile for the respondents too?

Raise your hand if you get (what seems like) a million emails per day? Yup, we can ALL relate.  And your members are in the same boat. So when they’re receiving email after email after email, how can you make sure yours stand out? 

Uber-novelist Stephen King once offered some deep insight into hype and buzz. He said when the message lands, and there then becomes a groundswell of genuine interest, that becomes “buzz.” It almost always portends good things (the success of your product launch, new feature rollout, etc.)—and creating that spark is what marketers live for. Marketers should pay attention to this insight because it goes straight to the heart of why consumers get excited about certain things.

In 2018, 281 billion emails were sent and received. That causes a problem for event creators trying to compete for attention in event-goers’ cluttered inboxes.

There are many email marketing strategies you can use to stand out in event-goers’ inboxes, but the most important is your email copy. Here’s what you need to know to stand out with your event invitation email copy.

Conference-goers are a discerning lot. Sure, they’re looking for great content to further their career development—but at a good price. And like 88 percent of savvy consumers today, the first place they’re going to look for more information about your event is online: your event website.

But just because a potential attendee finds your conference website doesn’t mean you’re in the clear. You’ve only got 10 seconds to capture their interest, so your site needs to present the right information to capitalize on that window, especially by providing a seamless checkout.

When a curious event-goer lands on your website, you’ve only got 10 seconds to capture their attention. Will your event website grab someone’s attention in such a short amount of time?

If it’s not, that might be because event websites are very different from every other website. And if you don’t understand why your site should be different, your event attendance may suffer as a result.

As anyone who’s ever sent a professional email knows all too well, figuring out what to say and how to say it is hard work. There’s a fine line between being assertive and being passive aggressive and finding that line can be a tricky feat. There’s nothing more tempting than throwing a “per my last email” when the person you’re corresponding with clearly ignored your last message or a “moving forward” when someone on your team screws something up,” but all those phrases do is ignite annoyance on the receiving end. 

You’ve heard the saying, “What you say is not as important as how you say it.” Well, what you say is certainly important, but when it comes to marketing - and particularly, marketing to young professionals - how you say things is key.  

In 2019, it’s harder than ever to get consumers’ attention. For that reason alone, it’s easy to see why brands are falling in love with experiential marketing. Immersive, live, and memorable, experiential campaigns help deliver your message without distractions. But the strategy lacks a standard definition, which can be confusing when you’re new to it. So, what, exactly, does experiential marketing mean?  Are there different types of experiential marketing? How does it differ from traditional marketing, or from live events more generally? And when is it a good idea to use an experiential strategy over other tactics?

You’ve heard it (and probably seen it) time and time again: Video content is growing in popularity. Now that may either excite you or terrify you, depending on your comfort level with filming video. But the good news is, you really don’t have to have ANY videography experience to put together a top-notch video. All you need is your phone, a vision, and a few best practices in hand.

Is your life hectic? It seems that everyone I talk with laments their frenzied life. Have you ever considered that your customer or client is also frenzied? You can add to their frenzy with uncertainty or create an oasis of calm certainty through proactive communication. Proactive communication is a simple technique that will set you apart because of the calming response of the customer’s brain to certainty.

With all the logistics you have to manage for your company’s trade show program, you might feel justified in skipping trade show promotional activities. But that would be like planning a party and not sending out all the invitations. Sure, the show organizer will get people to the show floor.  But it’s up to you to get them to your booth space.

I hear it all the time. “How do I effectively market my events?” This is one of the greatest challenges meeting planners face. They want to improve app adoption, engage attendees with content and on social media, and increase visibility for their sponsors and exhibitors.

Honest feedback is the secret to planning a successful event. While you can follow trends in events, there’s nothing quite like getting information directly from the source—your attendees. Well-designed surveys are crucial to improving your product. Only attendees can provide you with real insight. So, consider incorporating surveys throughout the event timeline.

Doing social but not doing video? Then you’re missing a huge opportunity to promote your events to a wider audience. According to our recent Pulse Report, video is the most effective social promotion tactic of all. Only 3% of those who used video to promote their events last year didn’t find it effective as a promotional solution. If you’ve not produced video content before, it can certainly seem daunting. However, it needn’t mean giving up masses of time and money – you can produce effective content in minutes, utilising free or low-cost tools.

As social media has grown, so has the power of influencers and the buzz around the benefits of influencer marketing. This tactic offers a lot of potential for event marketers. It can expand your event brand’s reach, open up new audiences and push people who have been on the fence to jump in. If you haven’t delved into the world of influencer marketing yet or are knee deep in building a campaign, here are eight dos and don’ts for making your influencer campaign successful.

What marketers used to say was, “Good, fast, and cheap. You can pick two.” So, if you pick good and fast, it can’t also be done for cheap. If you pick fast and cheap, then it’s probably just going to be good enough. That used to be the “Rule of Three.” Marketing isn’t a “You Pick 2” world anymore. Now, nearly every client is able to say, “Yes, I’ll have all three, please. Good, fast and cheap.” In fact, it is now expected when you’re hired to organize an event or meeting.

While I generally recommend that planners look holistically at an event to see where video can play the most effective role, there's one spot where video makes sense most of the time: at the end of the event. Specifically, that general session where you bid everyone goodbye and good luck—and want to charge them up with excitement one last time, in a way that burns an overarching message into their memory.

You followed all the steps: Before the event, you communicated digitally, created a clever hashtag, and started a buzz around your event. Once on site, you used engaging technology to track attendee behavior, got real-time feedback, and kept your content fresh with real-time social walls that sparked conversation. Every tech tool was a hit! So now what?

Who wouldn’t want to come to a free event? Lots of people, it turns out. You build, they RSVP — but they don’t come. Even the most successful events have no-shows. Things come up; people can’t make it. But for free events, there’s no financial consequence to skipping the event. So free events tend to see much higher dropout rates — up to 50%, according to a survey of free event creators.

You’ve set up the Facebook event page, you’re regularly tweeting and you’re posting about your event on Instagram. You might think you’ve covered all your bases. But you’re missing an important piece: an event website. It might seem difficult and unnecessary, but websites are still key for promoting an event and drawing in attendees. Taking the time to create one can be daunting, but plenty of host sites are making it easier than ever to create a site quickly and in a straightforward, clean manner.

There is a lot of talk about brands taking stands in today’s marketing world where doing the right thing has become vital to an organization’s reputation and customer base. In the 2018 Edelman Earned Brand study, statistics show that 65% of consumers now buy on belief or buy from brands having similar morals, values, and beliefs on social issues and politics. This is up 13% from 2017.

Creative event marketing is the easiest way to increase the number of people who eventually attend your meeting—directly contributing to the bottom line. Email best practices such as segmenting lists, tracking key metrics and using an email verifier tool to reach as much of your audience as possible is a great way to reach maximum return on investment. That is why sometimes it pays to return to the basics.

Event Marketing is incredibly important but it doesn’t have to be expensive. In fact, there are MANY ways you can get attention for your event without spending a dime. In this article, we’ve provided well over one hundred ways to market your event without the hefty price tag. Too good to be true? Start with our top 10 ideas below and, if you really want to crush it, read on to find out how to market your event without spending anything

You’ve organized a can’t-miss event. You’ve settled on a venue, enlisted performers or speakers, and dialed in on details. And you’ve set up your ticketing options. Now, you’re faced with the most daunting challenge: getting people to attend. Event promotion doesn’t have to be hard, and it doesn’t have to be expensive. In fact, there are plenty of free event promotion options that can drive serious sales. Here are the top six to consider when promoting your event.