What is the point of organizing a seminar if nobody is going to show up? How can you guarantee that people will show up and that you will get the target audience that you want? Check out the top 25 tips that you can use to effectively market or promote your seminar.
Build attendance at your meeting or seminar with all the proven techniques that seminar promoters have used for years. Use the Internet to look them up or ask around.
- Allow yourself at least 6 months from “idea” to meeting date for a new, untried, small meeting or seminar.
- Allow a minimum of 9 months for a two or three-day conference for planning, speaker selection and contact, marketing efforts.
- Consider a separate pitch for each major marketing segment.
- Profile the prospective attendee who you want to register and then begin subject and content planning based on that information
- Boost in-house know-how with freelance talent – art, copy, and marketing; don’t try to make do with inexperienced staff.
- Decide what benefits or knowledge the satisfied attendee will go home with before deciding on content and format.
- In your brochure’s copy, give personal benefits first – before corporate benefits . . . agenda . . . speakers etc.
- Feature all of your locations and dates conspicuously.
- Price to match value don’t under-price.
- Say whatever you have to say without a lot of technical jargon whenever you possibly can.
- Write to give the prospect the ammo needed to sell the boss and/or the Training Director whose decision is needed to attend.
- Make the benefits believable and dont make any unreal promises that your session can’t really deliver.
- Consider overbooking to allow for no-shows.
- Adjust hotel and meal estimates for no-shows.
- Match the location and facilities with the audience-level and purpose of the meeting.
- Tell the whole story don’t try to save money and lose attendance.
- Mail enough to hit the total market – every registration after breakeven should be almost entirely net dollars.
- Make your cancellation and no-show refund policy perfectly clear.
- Link speakers to to/pics – avoid general “speakers include” lists.
- Specify starting and ending times clearly
- Use the media outlets around you as much as you can within your budget
- Offer attendant incentives so as to make your event more interesting
- Offer to affiliate some of your profits to a charity
- Most importantly do your research, and host a few surveys if you have to.
