What is Conference Marketing?
The success of an event heavily relies on a winning conference marketing strategy.
It involves thorough research, audience engagement, a fantastic customer experience, creating promotional materials, and utilizing various channels for conference promotion.
Effective conference marketing involves strategic planning, targeting the right audience, leveraging digital platforms, and creating engaging content.
Social media, email marketing, and partnerships are key tools. Building solid relationships with partners and influencers is also critical to generate buzz about the event.
A well-marketed conference can significantly boost visibility and attendance.
Why is a Conference Marketing Strategy Important?
Planning an experiential event strategy is a great way to create lasting memories and generate positive word of mouth. That is the future of marketing.
A well-planned digital marketing strategy can lead to successful outcomes beyond just profits.
Conference marketing strategy is important for overall digital strategy for several reasons:
It’s essential to ensure all attendees hear key messaging, which can be achieved through pre-event touches.
When audience participation is actively encouraged through facilitation, innovative activities, or memorable virtual experiences, the attendees benefit from the increased engagement that aids networking, knowledge sharing, and team-building efforts between colleagues.
What an excellent opportunity!
7 Winning Strategies: Marketing Your Conference
How can you ensure maximum attendance and reach for your next hybrid event? Use a combination of marketing strategies:
- Content marketing is essential for your conference marketing strategy
- Highlight key aspects of the event through content marketing
- Use ads on digital channels such as radio or television
- Highlight attractive features of the event to introduce prospective attendees
- Use social media platforms for increased outreach and engagement
- Leverage influencers’ networks to create hype around the conference
- Increase brand visibility organically for a long-lasting effect.
Let’s dive deep into how you can successfully market your next conference with tried and true conference marketing strategies. Boost your attendance and make a BIG IMPACT with your next event!
CASE STUDY: Website Design, SEO, and Marketing Drive Success for I Meditate New York
I Meditate New York, a nonprofit organization, needed to increase attendance for free meditation classes and promote the nonprofit’s campaign kick-off event at Lincoln Center.
Challenges
Solution
We & Goliath provided comprehensive services, including website design, logo creation, print design, SEO, and email marketing to support I Meditate New York’s goals.
Winning Results
SEO Success:
Increased Event Attendance:
Through a strategic combination of web design, SEO, and marketing efforts, We & Goliath helped I Meditate New York achieve remarkable success, including sold-out events, increased event sign-ups, and improved brand visibility.
The collaboration proved instrumental in creating a strong foundation for the nonprofit’s ongoing initiatives.
How to Market a Conference in 7 Steps
A successful brand strategy takes time. Start your marketing efforts 3 months before the event.
Develop a compelling promotion campaign to engage potential attendees and generate buzz. Follow these steps.
1. Identify Potential Attendees and Valuable Content
When marketing a conference, knowing your target audience is one of the most critical aspects. Identifying your target demographics and understanding their needs will help inform your marketing strategies and ensure you reach the right people.
It is crucial to identify the overarching demographic and any existing subsets.
How Do I Create a Big Impact Theme?
Creating a compelling theme for your hybrid conference this year is crucial to engage attendees and leaving a lasting impact. Start by identifying the core message and objectives of your event. Consider the current trends, challenges, and interests of your target audience.
Brainstorm ideas that resonate with your theme and develop a catchy and memorable tagline. Align your content, visuals, and activities with the theme to create a cohesive and immersive experience.
A compelling theme will generate excitement, drive attendance, and set the tone for a successful hybrid conference.
2. Craft an Effective Email Marketing Campaign
To effectively market conferences through email, one must target specific audiences with tailored messages. This means segmenting the email list and crafting personalized messaging for each group.
By doing so, the sender significantly increases the chances of their emails being opened and read by those most interested in the conference.
Targeted campaigns convey essential details such as dates, locations, special offers, and speaker lineups to attendees.
Take advantage of this opportunity to effectively connect with your audience and promote your conference. Use targeted campaigns for your email marketing strategy.
3. Implement a Social Media Strategy
Organizers must utilize the power of digital channels to reach a broader audience in their industry.
They can opt for paid advertising campaigns to ensure their conference is easily discoverable online or tap into existing communities through influencer marketing for rapid following and brand awareness.
Content marketing integration is imperative for a successful event, from pre-planning to post-action survey automation. Every organizer must leverage this powerful tool for maximum impact.
How to Create a Viral Conference Hashtag
Choosing the right hashtag is crucial for conference attendees to quickly find relevant discussions and vital information, such as industry trends and new product launches.
Keep it short and recognizable, and incorporate relevant keywords like the event name and year (e.g., #IndustryConference2020).
Avoid overwhelming your audience with too many hashtags at a time, as this can limit creative contributions.
Boost user engagement by creating online campaigns before and during the event, using techniques such as calls-to-action, contests, and prizes. These strategies are essential for success!
Use a Social Media Handle for Brand Recognition
Ensure you have a recognizable handle on popular platforms like Instagram and Twitter that remains consistent year after year to facilitate easy communication with potential attendees.
When developing the handles, use more generic names to increase brand recognition.
Once established, fill them with valuable content related to the conference, such as registration links, speaker bios, quotes from past participants, photographs of previous events or the setup location, trends in the industry, and blog posts by featured speakers.
Push promotional messages on Twitter and Facebook to lead prospects down a sales funnel.
Instagram can also be a powerful tool for promoting conferences by immersing potential guests in visual assets of past events or using creative ways to raise awareness of the occasion and remind guests why they should attend.
Easy starting packages • Advanced options • Proven results
4. Design a High-Quality Attendee Experience
One of the most highly anticipated aspects of a conference is the interactive experience it provides.
Attendees expect to acquire new skills and connections and feel enlightened and enriched.
Experiences like a VIP complimentary lunch session, attendee networking events, interactive games based on the conference topic, or a one-on-one conversation with experts can be an effective tool to build excitement and engagement.
To ensure that your attendees have a truly valuable experience, it is crucial to incorporate engaging activities such as pre-conference workshops and training sessions.
Furthermore, interactive experiences cultivate a sense of connection among attendees and with the speakers, resulting in increased networking opportunities and potentially long-term relationships.
Hiring the Perfect Emcee
Organizing a successful conference is no small task; from the venue to the speakers to the general public outreach and dynamic marketing, it requires a Herculean effort on behalf of whoever is responsible for ensuring everything goes off without a hitch.
Another important factor in hosting a successful conference is hiring an emcee.
The primary role of a virtual event emcee would be to introduce speakers, keep the participants entertained between sessions and provide flowing transitions between acts – all of which can be difficult to do without some professional help.
Here are 5 tips to help:
- Look for experience in hosting hybrid events and engaging in-person and virtual audiences.
- Ensure the emcee has excellent communication skills, charisma, and the ability to adapt to different environments.
- Consider their knowledge and enthusiasm for your industry or topic to connect with attendees effectively.
- Seek references and testimonials to gauge their professionalism and ability to handle unexpected situations.
- Discuss their availability, technical requirements, and any additional services they can provide to enhance the conference experience.
A great emcee will engage your audience and make your conference an enjoyable experience. Take the time to find the right person for the job.
Keep Promotion Going Throughout the Online Conference
The key to successful pre-event conference promotion is utilizing all available platforms, such as social media, email campaigns, and public relations efforts, to generate buzz about your hybrid event.
This can be done through well-crafted posts that provide exciting content, such as quotes from experts attending the event or highlights of topics that will be discussed.
Live tweeting during sessions or panels can draw further attention and increase the engagement of those attending or following the event closely.
Use artificial intelligence tools and interactions to enhance the attendee experience and reach across social channels.
5. Invite Engaging Industry Experts to Speak
Partner outreach is a vital marketing tactic for virtual conferences. It entails leveraging the networks of other organizations and individuals to connect with potential attendees.
With partner outreach, an annual conference can reach the industry professionals their target audience respects, trusts, and follows.
By collaborating with these industry leaders, successful brands, and respected experts, industry conferences can provide valuable content directly appealing to their target audience. Leaders from multinational companies will love to be a part of your event.
It’s an opportunity for companies to reach a new customer base. Finding exciting speakers from multinational companies is necessary for any conference that wants to succeed.
How to Reach Out to Sponsors
Once you’ve got a list of potential sponsors and a solid proposal together, appeal directly to them, describing what value they could get from sponsoring your conference and listing the benefits they would receive for each package they choose to support.
When done effectively, cultivating relationships with potential sponsors can benefit both parties – allowing you to provide value and increase ROI for your sponsor while covering some of the expenses necessary for the successful execution of your conference.
6. Build a User-Friendly Conference Website
An effective conference website should begin with a simple and eye-catching landing page. This should include the finer details of the event, such as dates, location, speakers list, or agenda, along with engaging visuals to capture the attention of potential attendees.
Additionally, it is essential to create clear navigation pathways that allow for easy access to additional information via drop-down menus or easily visible tabs.
Streamlining the registration process is crucial to optimizing your conference’s success. By removing unnecessary barriers to entry, you can focus on enhancing other critical areas, such as dynamic marketing campaigns and promotional materials.
This approach will enable you to attract a larger audience and develop meaningful relationships with attendees, resulting in improved engagement.
By implementing these proven strategies, you can secure more interested individuals to attend your conference this year.
7. Analyze Data and Post-Conference Surveys
Post-conference surveys are a vital part of any event organizer’s toolkit.
They provide invaluable insight into how attendees felt about their experience and identify areas for improvement that could be implemented in future virtual conferences.
The data collected from these surveys can also help refine marketing plans and tailor upcoming conferences to ensure maximum participant satisfaction.
ROI and Your Conference
Evaluating the return on investment (ROI) for a hybrid conference is crucial for event organizers.
By leveraging data from the registration website, website app, and post-event surveys, you can gain valuable insights into the effectiveness and success of your event.
Here’s a detailed approach to evaluating ROI using these data sources:
Data from the Registration Website:
Data from Website App:
Post-Event Surveys:
Suppose you combine and analyze the data sets.
In that case, you can evaluate the success of your event, pinpoint areas that need improvement, and make data-based decisions for future conferences.
This thorough assessment allows you to showcase the value and influence of your hybrid event to stakeholders and sponsors while constantly enhancing and streamlining your conference strategy.
Are you ready to elevate your conference marketing game and take your business to the next level?
Attract new customers and strengthen your relationship with loyal fans alike.
Let’s make your online conference the must-attend event of the year!
Let We & Goliath help you with email marketing, postcard marketing, retargeting ads, social media platforms, and strategic promotional partnerships. Don’t wait. Let’s partner together for your next successful virtual event.
With our proven marketing ideas, you can succeed in a GIANT WAY and make a lasting impression on your audience!