Of all the tasks and responsibilities on an event planner’s plate, ensuring the event is well attended is one of the most important. After all, with no attendees it’s hard to claim success!
Low registration rates have a big impact on the satisfaction of attendees, event sponsors, guest speakers and, of course, the ultimate revenue of the event. Here are several ways to improve uptake:
Tailor the registration process to different attendee types
To capture as many people as possible, planners often spend considerable amounts of time writing copy and promoting their event. Whilst this is obviously important, not all of the target audience require a lot of convincing. Therefore it’s a good idea to set the registration process up in the most appropriate way for each audience type.
First divide the types of attendees into those who have decided they want to go and those who know little about the event and are unsure.
The first group generally includes those who have previously attended the event or who have been referred. These people aren’t likely to wish to be targeted with pages of copy persuading them to attend. A simple link for registrations on your landing page makes it easy for them to register. A reminder email with a clear calltoaction
is also useful for this audience.
For those who require convincing, provide detailed, concise information on your landing page. Offer several reasons as to why the event would benefit them and what advantages attending the event can bring. Describe the benefits in as few words as possible don’t overload the audience with information. When writing copy, less is definitely more.
Develop partnerships with industry influencers
Creating a partnership with an influencer is one of the best ways to reach a large audience of your target demographic. Companies with a hightraffic blog, websites, and industry leaders with a large following on social media will all facilitate you gaining a greater reach for your event.
In order to get these influencers on side, it goes without saying that you need to offer something of value in return. Perhaps free tickets in exchange for promotion of the event – for use in a giveaway or competition which will promote their company.
Create a sense of urgency
How many times have you gone to an event, seen a product or service and been intrigued but yet not committed to registering or buying? This is the problem with event landing pages that create interest but not urgency.
The easiest way to achieve this is through altering registration buttons and ticket types. A button which says nothing more than ‘Register Now’ isn’t likely to be effective. ‘Claim your spot before we’re full’ for example, creates urgency and drives the audience to make a decision.
Having a variety of ticket options is another good way to improve attendee numbers. For example, early bird tickets giving a discount if registered before a certain date – provide an excellent incentive to register well in advance.
IF ALL THIS SOUNDS LIKE A LOT OF WORK, FOR HELP IN ORGANISING AN EVENT THAT NOBODY WOULD WANT TO MISS, EMAIL TOOLSHED
