To reach them and convince them to attend this conference, you will need to roll up your sleeves and seriously promote the upcoming event. Otherwise, it will remain just a nice idea…
We offer you 10 steps to prepare a successful marketing campaign. Now, you just need to implement them:
- Identify Participants
As with any marketing campaign, your first step should be determining the audience – simply put, who is the event for? It is crucial to know whether the conference is targeted at niche or broad specialists, young or established professionals, and whether it has national or international participation. By asking the right questions and defining the profile of your potential participants, it will be much easier to focus your efforts on informing and attracting them, rather than “shooting in the dark.”
- Create a Website
Start by creating a website for the conference. The website is the face of your event, a place where you can upload useful information, sell tickets, and create SEO-optimized content. The website also allows you to fully brand your event. A strong brand will help you stand out and make it easier for your audience and participants to identify your content when they see it.
Once you create this webpage, you can start creating content that will attract people to your event. A blog post about the event, your speakers, industry news, or any relevant topic will allow you to use more keywords organically and effectively. Blog content gives people a reason to visit your site and increases your traffic, also supporting your SEO optimization.
- Use Social Media
Social media is a powerful tool for promoting events, especially if used in a targeted and effective way. Here are some ideas:
Facebook Remarketing/Retargeting
When it comes to purchasing decisions, sometimes people just need a little time. Visitors to your site, social profile, or ticket sales page might need to think a bit longer before deciding to attend the event.
Retargeting ads is a way to stay top of mind while people consider your conference. Essentially, when someone visits a specific page on your site, a pixel is installed in their browser. While surfing the internet, the pixel signals retargeting platforms to show them specific ads based on the pages they visited on your site.
Create and Share Videos with Footage or Photos from Past Events
To attract participants, you need to convince them how great they would feel by sharing footage from past events. Videos are an increasingly powerful tool for engaging the audience, as they have the potential to go viral quickly.
If you cannot shoot a video, you can use good photos. Images of happy people enjoying themselves or engaged in an interesting scientific conversation are a great way to show your target audience why it is worth attending the upcoming event. People also love to tag and share photos they are in, which helps spread the word about your event among their friends.
Collect and Share Testimonials from Past Events
Positive testimonials from past event participants are the best advertisement. Find a way to collect comments and reviews and use them in posts or short videos. The excitement and gratitude of past conference attendees will attract the attention of potential new participants.
Create a Unique Hashtag
Social media users love to use hashtags, so be sure to come up with a unique one for each event. Use it on the materials you promote the event with – posts, email newsletters, brochures, posters, tickets, etc.
Create a Facebook Event
By creating an event on your Facebook page, you can invite people and keep them informed about all the updates regarding the event. Facebook has also introduced a “Subscribe” button, allowing page fans to subscribe to all its events and receive instant information when a new event is created. In the events, you can share useful and interesting information, photos, videos, engage your followers, and remind them that the event is approaching.
Create a LinkedIn Event
Since LinkedIn is recognized as the “most trusted social media platform,” it is no surprise that executives rate it as the best channel for finding professional content. Therefore, if you want to connect with your audience, it would be appropriate to take advantage of LinkedIn’s features. Here’s how LinkedIn Events work to reveal your event to more audiences: organic discovery on the page, sharing and notifying page followers about your event, personalized recommendations through the “My Network” tab, a unique frame to make the event stand out on LinkedIn, and personalized recommendations to users via email.
If you are still unsure about using LinkedIn Events, here are some facts to convince you: LinkedIn events are a free and effective way to make your upcoming event noticeable. They are easy to create, allow you to integrate an external link to your landing page or ticket sales website, and encourage viewers to make a purchase by sending personalized invitations to your contact list. LinkedIn allows you to post events from your profile or from an organization’s page.
And yet, remember that the best results come when you use a mix of all the tools of social networks suitable for your business.
- Email Marketing
When it comes to promoting an event, good old email marketing is still incredibly strong. Email marketing does not require large investments on your part and can provide an incredible return.
Instead of just sending mass emails to your entire contact list, it’s best to segment it into smaller groups to target specific elements of your audience more carefully. Consider dividing the list into the following groups:
- Those who attended last year/previous edition
With this group, you can work on the principle of a “soft sell.” They already know what your conference offers, are familiar with your brand, and are more likely to attend again. Use some of the videos and images you collected from the previous event to remind and re-engage this audience.
- Those who signed up for the event in the past but did not attend
For some reason, these individuals missed the previous conference. Take some time to familiarize them with what they missed. Again, use videos and images from previous years to highlight this.
- People who have shown interest but have not yet registered
These people will need more finesse. They are obviously interested in your conference but might need a little convincing. Again, use content from previous editions, as well as exciting and relevant information.
No matter who you are targeting, make sure you do not spam recipients and always include all important relevant details. Not only where and when the event is taking place, but also who will be speaking and what participants can hope to gain if they attend. Here, blog content or other assets created for your website can be useful. Remember to remind people to buy tickets or register if needed (do not forget to include links to these pages).
- Engaging and Interactive Content – Involve Participants
Conduct Contests on Social Media
Generate more online activity by holding a series of contests on Instagram, LinkedIn, or TikTok. Ask participants to answer questions, take part in an online quiz, or share a photo of their time at the event to have a chance to win a prize.
Offer Practical Workshops
Whether you are holding a conference, festival, or small meeting, practical workshops give participants the chance to get involved. You can conduct these smaller, more intimate interactive events alongside the main lecture program to increase engagement and create a personalized experience for each participant. For example, you can offer workshops on website audits at a digital marketing conference or have participants build their own mini garden at a sustainability event.
Role-playing can be a great way to distill complex topics and give participants the chance to gain more knowledge – especially if your event is focused on training. Encourage participants to team up and perform real-time scenarios. For instance, at a customer experience conference, participants can be paired up to recreate a conversation between a customer service department and an angry customer.
Conduct AMA (Ask Me Anything) Sessions
Q&A sessions are often the only interactive element of an event. While they can be a great way to engage the audience, you can go further with an AMA session. Ask participants to submit questions before and during the lecture – the catch is that they can ask anything. This allows the audience to explain their unique situations and get advice based on that.
Conduct Interactive Polls
Panel discussions are one of the most interactive event ideas, as they encourage audience participation – in fact, they only work thanks to audience involvement. The idea is to gather a number of experts on a specific topic and encourage participants to ask them questions on particular subjects. The Q&A element keeps participants engaged while directing the discussion in the most useful direction.
- Promote the Event within the Industry
Encourage participants, sponsors, and partners to spread the word about the event through personal recommendations. By providing an exceptional experience, delegates can become advocates of the event through their social circles and networks.
Attend industry-related conferences, seminars, or community gatherings to network with potential participants, sponsors, and partners. Engage with a presentation, ending with a few slides promoting your upcoming event.
Create visually appealing and informative flyers, posters, and billboards – strategically placed at industry events can attract participants to your conference.
- Use Influencers
Or, and this is probably the most appropriate way, use your main speakers as influencers. They have great authority in the industry and likely have celebrity status in their field. So, ask them to promote your event using your hashtag. Speakers can even create their own promotional videos talking about their role in your conference and encouraging their followers to attend. Using speakers this way potentially puts you in front of a wider portion of your target audience.
- Advertise the Venue
Often, the venue itself is a draw for participants and is just as enticing as an interesting program. Your marketing campaign can only benefit if you take the time to promote the venue.
Offer a Virtual Tour
In recent years, we have become accustomed to doing many things from the comfort of our couch. Why not add a virtual tour of your venue, allowing potential participants to explore the site and see everything you have to offer? This is a great way to attract participants from outside the country who are excited about the destination.
Highlight the Amenities
Some of the most sought-after amenities that hosts will look for in 2023 include various room sizes, branding options, large and bright rooms, well-equipped restrooms, experienced staff. If you offer free parking, be sure to mention it.
Use Real-Life
Photos and Videos
When advertising your event, use photos and videos of your actual location rather than stock photos. Real-life footage of your venue will build more trust among potential participants. Moreover, this gives you an opportunity to use content from previous editions, allowing your audience to see the venue filled with participants.
- Work with the Local Community
Involve local authorities, the public, and cultural communities. Get support from local authorities to help promote the event and gather people who may be interested in participating. Seek collaboration with public and cultural communities to increase interest and spread information about the event.
Organize networking sessions, interactive activities, and competitions during the event to encourage active engagement and interaction among participants.
Engage local businesses, entrepreneurs, and professionals in event-related activities, providing them with the opportunity to showcase their products, services, and expertise.
Promote the local heritage, cuisine, and culture of the host city as part of the event experience to attract international participants and tourists.
- Post Event Coverage
Lastly, don’t forget to take advantage of the power of post-event coverage. After the event, be sure to capture your content with images, videos, interviews, and written summaries of key moments and presentations. If you’ve had a hashtag, gather all the user-generated content and repost or retweet it.
This is an excellent way to show potential future participants the value of your conference. After all, seeing how well you executed the event and the enthusiasm of past attendees can be the final nudge someone needs to commit to attending the next one.
In conclusion, marketing an academic conference requires a blend of traditional and digital strategies. By understanding your audience, leveraging the power of social media, creating engaging content, and fostering community involvement, you can ensure your event is a resounding success.
