Online conferences and events can take a lot of time and resources to plan. You want to make sure all the effort is worth it, and you get a high rate of attendees and exhibitors. Here are a few tips to make sure the right people know about your online conference.
Get in touch with last year’s attendees and exhibitors. Who came and who exhibited last year? If this isn’t your first event, you already have a pool of people who proved their interest last year by being involved. Get in touch with them and offer them a discount for early enrollment this year.
Offer tiered pricing. You can boost enrollment by offering a discount to those who sign up early. Urgency is a proven way to get people to buy. You can also offer different types of pricing for tickets with different features and perks.
Use social media. Keep mentions up about your event on social media. Host a countdown, highlight vendors or exhibitors who you know will be there, and keep your audience posted on ticket discounts. Be sure to advertise heavily just before your early purchase discount expires; this often brings a boost of purchases from procrastinators.
Get help from exhibitors. Your exhibitors have a vested interest in promoting your event as well. When exhibitors and vendors sign up, give them a guide for planning their own promotions around their appearance. This could include blog posts, email blasts, discount deals for past customers, and social media activity.
Write a press release. Press releases can still get you publicity in the right hands. Find websites, magazines, or journals that cater to the same audience you serve, and write a press release announcing your event and providing dates and a link to the website. Be sure to make links in press releases “no-follow” so you don’t get penalized in Search.
Form connections with industry partners. Are there professional organizations in your industry that align with your audience? If so, get them involved. Many of these organizations will be happy to let their audience know about your event.
Get your event sponsors to participate. Your event sponsors also have a vested interest in getting the word out. The easier you can make promotions on them, the better—give them a guide that includes discount codes, copy templates, and other tools to help them get the word out to their audience.
Overhaul your website. Your website should have a dedicated landing page for the event that explains the benefits of attending and allows visitors to easily sign up. Once you’ve built the page, send traffic to it from other sources, including search, social media, and elsewhere on your website.
There are plenty of ways to market your online conference. Finding out which one will work best for your audience often involves a certain amount of experimentation, but be sure to offer a dedicated landing page for the event and promote it through social media, SEO and content marketing, and offline marketing initiatives. In addition, be sure you’re reaching out to the right people by offering discounts to past attendees and exhibitors, spreading the word through professional organizations in your industry, and getting event sponsors and vendors to promote their own participation. If you do, you should be able to get the word out effectively—and bring in a high number of attendees.
