make your event a hit! marketing tips for a successful turnout

Copyright © 2011 Constant Contact, Inc. 1

ONLINE EVENT MARKETING FOR BUSINESS TO CONSUMER

Copyright © 2011 Constant Contact, Inc.

Agenda

Making the most of your event

Promote & Communicate

Engage with attendees

Measure your success

Worksheets

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MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR EVENT

Making the most of your event

Ease the burden of event management by going online!Keep registration open, even when you’re not.

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Offline management: Time consuming manual list management

Less efficient registration methods

Cumbersome spreadsheet tracking and reporting

Guessing what is wanted from the event

Online management: Easily manage all information online

Self-serve 24/7 online registration

Efficient tracking and reporting

Custom registration= Information you need and want

Making the most of your eventWant specifics to be the “Event of the Season”? – take 2-minutes to ask!

5Copyright © 2011 Constant Contact, Inc.

Things to keep in mind: Time of Day What is ideal?Location Traffic? Adequate parking? Driving directions? WIFI provided?

An event invitation and website provide all the information needed for attendee to understand the value of the event and successfully attend.

Include a link to a survey in your regular email.

Ask the uncomfortable question about a previous event:“What didn’t you like about our last event?”

Learn what your attendees desire:What events of ours have you attended in the past?

Why do you attend events?

What types of events interest you?

What social media networks do you use?

Event successCountax

Their challenges:

Attendees had to call or fax RSVP Inaccurate information on name badges Confusion over event time and location

With Event Marketing their results:

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“It saved us hours and hours of work. We still took some registrations over the phone, but simply typed them straight into the online sign-up form – then and there…and then being able to display the directions to the venue was a great help.” -Jef O’Riley, Marketing Manager, Countax


PROMOTE AND COMMUNICATE

Are you promoting to the right people?

Who do you want to come?

Create an “ideal” attendee profile:

People new and/or familiar with you?

What makes them the same / different?

Influence in networks (local and social)?

Where are they finding out about events?

Online?

Offline?

Advertising?


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Event experience starts with your invitation

A professional looking invite encourages registration and attendance

Advertising on an invitation is not professional looking.

•Ad free invites, registration and homepage•Over 140 themes•Customizable


Foundation from those who know you

Brand is important; show your personality-79% of respondents said they hit the "report spam" button when they don't know who the sender is.-Email Sender and Provider Coalition

Use Subject Lines and headlines that get you opened

Personalize message to recipient –the same invite does not need to go to everyone on your list


Get their attention with customizable email invites

56% of consumers consider marketing messages from known senders to be Spam if the message is “just not interesting to me.” -Q Interactive

Good Invitations cause interest and action


Do your invites do more than ask people to come?

Must have shareworthy content:– Provide information about why they should attend– List activities to improve attendance:

Topics Lessons Speakers

– Engage with video– Add list of upcoming events

Today, 71% of the U.S. online audience watches video on the internet, and the number of streams consumed should more than double by 2013. – Forrester Research

Video in email can increase click-through rates by as much as three-hundred percent.– Forrester Research


Success with Event InvitationsBusiness Victories

Their challenge:

Promoting weekly teleseminars which educate customers and prospects

Boosting teleseminar attendance


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"We've seen registration go up 30% to 40%, and it's consistently growing each week, undoubtedly because we've started using Event Marketing.“-Cheri Ruskus, Business Victories

Does this invite work?

What works:Headline captures attention and sense of urgencyVisuals match event theme

Why it does not work:No way to RSVP on line!

Created sense of urgency but no way to take immediate action

Unclear how to sign up for eventNo personalizationNo map for directions on how to get thereNo way to share

Missing out the power of word of mouth and social media marketing

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Beyond the one event

Share upcoming events in your email invitations to increase awareness

“Attend My Events” button appears in the Insert menu

Clicking this option will feature:– Event Name– Start/End date and time– Event Description (if given)– Location

Track which readers are interested in what events

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Leverage Social Media for your invite

Use Simple Share to promote the event on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn at the same time!

■ Customize the message for each site

■ Include an image (optional)■ Easily share to all your

Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn profiles

Expand the reach of your invitation through Social Media


Create buzz in Social Media about the event

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Get more attendees by sharing the event on Facebook & Twitter


The Facebook post can contain a custom message to encourage attendance and will include a link to register.

Establish a hashtag (e.g. #B2Bevent) to track buzz around the event.

Tweet your event and watch how your followers retweet the details.

Do not forget to ask them to retweet, asking and saying “Please” really does work.

Whether you send an invite or not, promote the event on Social Media! Here’s how:

Promote the event on a schedule:Weekly The day beforeAn hour before

Create buzz in Social Media about the event

Increase attendance through professional connections

Promote the event on your LinkedIn profile

Share the event details with those you know on LinkedIn

Groups: Industry Topic

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Leverage Mobile Marketing

FoursquareHow can you use it?

Pre-event During Event

•Create a location to check in

•Share with friends

•Co-market with content partner? Drive traffic to each other’s sites•Leave a “tip” about your event•Leave a To Do about your event

•Develop scavenger hunt about event

•Hints in “tips” area

•Understand interests of people checking in – profile info

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Built-in Promotions with Social Media and Search Engine Optimization

■ Help your event be found in online searches by using keywords

Topics, speakers, theme, location

■ Create an event hashtag to encourage conversation about the event

■ The hashtag is automatically featured in event communications

Leverage Social Media & Online Marketing

Can your event be found on the web?Do you have an event homepage?

Use homepage for more promotional details and drive desire to attend.

Match the branding and colors of your website to your event homepage.

Use shareworthy content.


“The homepage flexibility provides a fantastic outlet for other complementary marketing strategies such as posting for social networking and affiliates websites.”

-Shannon Beth Harrington, SB Cre8tive

Get your event details on the web

Feature all upcoming events online or on your website

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Provide a list of upcoming events on your website:

■ Increases awareness of your upcoming events

■ Helps improve attendance or increase the number of volunteers

■ Increase SEO value

Share the link to the event calendar in emails and Social Media.


ENGAGEMENT WITH ATTENDEES

Step 1: Registration


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Where, When, and How do I Pay?

Track and see the details registrants provide:

One location online for all registrants to register They provide information needed to attend Attendees register when and how they want Registration payment made online

Online registration helps save time, decrease errors and all information stored securely and reviewable by event manager.


How registration engagesFlavaFitness Studio

Their challenge: Difficult to get a proper headcount Provide adequate event information Collecting payment from registrants


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“There’s been time saved: hours in obtaining registration information and hours in collecting payments. I would have to say in total, using Event marketing has saved me two work days at least.”– Jeni Jones, FlavaFitness Studio

Step 2: Acknowledge and Communicate


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Ask registrants to share the event information. Jump start the word of mouth buzz around your event!

Once registered, attendees can spread the word about the event by sharing on Facebook or Twitter.

Note: Facebook users have on average 130 friends**Facebook FAQ’s

Step 2: Acknowledge and Communicate

Reminder communications increase attendance

Include: Show countdown until event Provide hints to guess secret guest

speaker/feature: Tweet event information and

include event #hashtag in the tweet Share event details on your

Facebook wall Include a link to a pre-event survey or

poll, then near event start date or at start of event review results

Make it easy to share with “Forward to friend” link and Social Share button


Reminder email

Step 3: During the Event

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Easy attendance Tracking on your mobile phone!

Android iPhone

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Using Facebook during the event:

Use live updates to mention booth contests, fun activities and share pictures

In each post, share any links or materials of the guest speakers

Include pictures of any guest speakers or attendees. Ask attendees to “tag” themselves in photos

Encourage attendees to share or comment during the event on Facebook via mobile



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Using Twitter during the event

Use #hashtag for the event

Encourage attendees to tweet about what they are experiencing during the event – use event #hashtag

– People who are interested but not there can follow theTwitter feed.

Encourage attendees to post photos and videos from mobile devices to Twitter with tools like Twitpic

Twitter has 165 Million Users – 50% of them use Twitter Mobile. –Mashable.com, “Mobile by the Numbers”

Leverage mobile marketing

Consider using QR Codes to keep the interaction going

Direct to website information via mobile device Get feedback via a poll or short survey that people can access via

mobile device Post video content that is complementary to the event objectives to view

via a mobile device

How do I build? -http://bit.ly/Add- .qr at end of shorten url

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Wonder what is behind this QR Code?

Mobile + Events = Success

FoursquareHow can you use it? Watch how many and who has

checked in– Know when the people you want to

connect with have arrived Watch the comments, tips and to do’s

left by attendees– Gain a clear understanding of what

popular/trending in your event Watch for instant feedback

– Negative comments about the food– Problems with the facility

Ask attendees to leave a review of the event on Yelp.

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POST EVENT COMMUNICATIONS

Post Event Email and Homepage

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Post event email and homepage

Thank attendees

Include link to post-event survey

Give participants a way to stay connected through the “Join Our Mailing List” link or social media sites

Post quotes from attendees

Provide contact information for the individual who can answer questions

Send follow up email and updatehomepage for post event information

Collect Post Event Feedback

Use a Survey Ask about satisfaction with content,

facilities, etc.

How likely are they to come again?

How likely are they to tell others about your events?

Ask questions that get answers you can act upon Example: “What didn’t you like

about our last event?”

Over 60 templates to start with to meet your objective

Includes good questions

You can edit, remove, add, and re-order questions

You can add your logo, colors and images

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Feedback and Data for next event

Analyze participation to identify high value prospects, then perform the appropriate follow up

Leverage details from your registration data to help identify the right segments of people to invite to your next event

Use the information they have shared to personalize your future communications

Segment:– Details such as who paid,

how they paid, demographic, geographic, etc.

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How do you know if your invites did their job?

Is the message being shared?

Did you meet the objectives?

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Measure your objectives by: Measure attendee objectives by:

The number of people who attended

Show rate of individuals registered

Revenue from the event Conversations about event in Social Media networks

Analyze data collected via reports and survey

Feedback in surveys

Best Next Steps

Try Online Event Marketing For Free

http://www.constantcontact-event.com/

Check out a Live Product Tour

Register for the live “Event Marketing Product Demo”

http://www.constantcontact.com/learning-center/webinars/live/index.jsp

Questions? You have a consultant here to help at 1-855-816-6508

Follow Event Marketing on Facebook and Twitter:

http://on.fb.me/EvMFB on Facebook

http://bit.ly/EvMTw on Twitter37


http://www.constantcontact.com/learning-center/webinars/live/index.jsp

http://on.fb.me/EvMFB

http://bit.ly/EvMTw


QUESTIONS?

Plan- Using Objectives

Share your story: Recent or Upcoming Event Attendee Objective Your Objective Value and Content Focus of event

Audience Goal Your GoalSize of Event

Value of Event

Content Focus

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Are you promoting to the right people?

Attendees-Who is perfect for your event?

Where do they spend time? Where do they seek event information?

In common What is different

Real Life Online Real Life Online

• • •

• • •

• • •

• • •

• • •

• • •

Attendee Worksheet:

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Leverage Social Media PromotionTools Before During After

• Promote the event by sharing the event details on your wall

• Share updates on your wall and upload pictures from the event

• On your wall, thank those who came to the event

• Answer remaining questions from event and send email with link to your wall.

• Create an unique event hashtag

• Using bit.ly create short event URL for tweets

• Customize your Twitter background with the event brand

• Schedule tweets in advance to promote

• Maximize the opportunity for a re-tweet by limiting your tweet to 120 characters

• Encourage tweeting during the event

• Create a Twitter List of your conference speakers for others to follow

• List people’s Twitter username’s on their badges

• Encourage people to continue discussion

• Use tweets to promote next event

• Have link to event homepage in your profile

• Invite connections to attend

• Encourage those that meet at the event to connect

• Continue networking after the event

• Create a location to check-in

• Co-market with content provider

• Leave a “Tip” or “To Do”

• Develop scavenger hunt about event

• Review Check-ins and Tips left by attendees

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Boost attendance with promotional variety


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Remember: communicate where your audience is listening!

Invitations Homepage Social MediaSend personalized invitations with a personal appeal

Create a unique event homepage

Engage those following you to boost attendance and awareness

Make sure to include:

Important event information To ask recipients to forward the email to friends and familyA list of upcoming eventsEncourage to talk about event in Facebook and TwitterLinks to register-automatically done for you with Event Marketing


Information about the event, topics and guest speakersRegular updates on the homepage, with our easy to update homepageA “Join my Mailing List” box, to keep the connectedUse the “Attend my Event Widget” to promote upcoming events on your website


Updates about the event (Examples: new speakers, discount offers, etc.)Link to registration for the event from all posts and tweetsEncourage those who have registered to post or tweet they are attending-automatically done for you with Event Marketing

Let them know and they’ll show!

make your event a hit! marketing tips for a successful turnout

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