1. Informing and assuring, but not inspiring.

Organizations are doing a good job of informing their members about the conference, and their websites and direct mail pieces are great for reassuring the intent. However, the images and wording in the marketing messages lack inspiration. Content and imagery used in marketing materials, including direct mail and websites, must inspire the member to want to register for the conference.

Opportunity for 2011:
• Answer the question “Why should I attend?” with every message and image.
• Build excitement through imagery and words.

2. Over reliance on email communications.

If we only had a penny for every time we heard an association executive say, “I’ll just email that info to our members.” Email marketing has become a central part of communications for many organizations. However, with an open rate of under 20% and a click thru of 3% – email marketing is not the most effective tool for reaching the membership.

Opportunity for 2011:
• Compare email marketing strategies to current best practices (segmentation, personalization, engaging subject lines, interactive content).

3. Lack of segmentation for marketing.

Most associations have their membership broken down into segments, however unique marketing messages are not created for each segment. Instead, one-size-fits all messaging is created for everyone – but in reality, it doesn’t fit all. It’s more likely not going to fit anyone.

Opportunity for 2011:
• Collaborate with the membership team to identify segments.
• Play up the differences in each segment to create personalized marketing messages.

4. Poor analysis of conference survey results.

Many associations are missing out on great information, testimonials, marketing messages and ideas for the event because of poor strategies for reviewing attendee surveys.

Opportunity for 2011:
• Surveys need to be analyzed by someone in marketing.
• There is greater potential for an honest look by having someone outside the organization analyze the results.

Additional trends

Marketing team dropping the ball.
Attendee survey results show that annual meetings provide members with tools and information that assists them with their daily activities and larger challenges. It is the responsibility of the marketing team to create messaging about the conference that informs members of how the content at the event will affect potential attendees.

Missing word of mouth.
Marketing has changed dramatically. Word of mouth and conversations are very important for consumers when making a purchasing decision. Associations are missing out on this opportunity by not using testimonials and social media to the fullest extent.

Late registration.
Attendees do not need to register early for various reasons. Marketing teams need to combat this by having a marketing push towards the end of registration time. Two areas of control for you to leverage: money and availability.

Attempting social media.
Associations of various sizes are tip toeing into social media and attempting to use it to supplement conference marketing. However, few are seeing conference attendance numbers to be affected by social media because the content being shared over social media platforms tends to be very informational. Also, there is a disconnect between the social media strategy, overall marketing messages and the members actual needs and wants.

The Big Picture

Low attendance is a symptom – not the problem. The problem is that organizations have a weak foundation because their three most important elements do not connect:

1 – Brand Guidelines
2 – Strategic Plan
3 – Conference

It’s a constant battle for organizations to ensure they align strategy, identity, and capacity with vision, mission and values. And, members can sense when they fail to do so. Low attendance is simply a symptom of a larger problem – the disconnect between the strategic plan, brand and conference.

The 2011 Solution

Dust off the organization’s strategic plan, create branding guidelines that define what the association stands for, and remember to incorporate the conference into the strategic plan and brand.

6 Principles of Conference Marketing: Follow the golden rules for golden results

These essential truths will keep your organization on target for fulfilling your mission and goals – while navigating trends, social media, economic changes and cultural shifts. Here are two bonus principles to prep you for the others to follow:

We should adapt our marketing plan based on past history, current needs and future goals.

We value impact and success over tradition. We will develop new means to work within industry trends and cultural shifts to remain relevant and vision-focused.

Trends come and go, cultural shifts occur, communication methods evolve and the economy is in a delicate place. With so much change happening in our day-to-day life, how can the same marketing plan from last year (or five years ago!) be relevant and effective?

Yet, we know many associations that execute marketing plans that were developed in previous years. Some try to “keep up with the times” by slapping on a Facebook page or  a text messaging campaign to the plan.

That strategy will guarantee the only thing in the world that won’t change is the continual decline in conference attendance.

So, what do you do?

Will you expand beyond your current membership base by purchasing an email list, sending out an email and hoping for a 2% open rate? Or, launching a Facebook page that is updated once or twice a week?

No, that’s not going to cut it. You’re wrong to think that you are the only, or the first association to think of that. You have competition. You are challenged with wooing potential attendees, and that is only going to happen if you learn to adapt your marketing plan each year.

Tips:

• Talk to potential attendees as people first (professionals/members second). People who change from year to year and have different needs over time.
• Listen to your target audience before acting.

We will have a vision of growth for conference attendance and commit the energy to implement necessary changes.

We will not accept excuses or utter the word “can’t” when faced with a challenge. Instead we will be flexible towards change and open to learning for the sake of growth and success of every single conference.

Keep up motivation and energy throughout the entire marketing campaign. As soon as you get in a rut, the look and feel of your marketing pieces change and the members can sense that vibe.

So, what do you do?

Be positive about your event. It is the largest, in-person gathering of your members. It has the potential to be the living representation of your mission. You should express that at every chance you get.

Tips:

• Review our previous newsletter about positioning your conference for greater attendance.

Sometimes we run into some great blog posts with good tips about the frequency, design or purpose of email marketing – but just like many things online, we also run into some horrible, misguided information.

Recently we came across a blog post criticizing the efforts to make email, print and online communications consistent. The author claimed that consistent branding leads to readers ignoring the message because everything looks the same.

This is obviously someone who doesn’t understand how to develop a strong and effective brand.

“For example, a certain association holds a lot of webinars and classes, and they send out a lot of marketing messages about them — each of which follows the exact same template, with the exact same look, written in the exact same style. I get them and before I even read them, I know exactly what each email is about. And I delete every single one.”

He doesn’t realize it, but his example is a great sample of how consistent branding works. Yes, he may delete the emails now, but at some point he read them. Every single one of them, and we know this because he confesses to knowing the association’s brand. He knows the look, feel and tone of their emails. And, more importantly he knows they offer educational courses.

What he calls a failure in email marketing, is in fact, a great success.

Conference Marketing to Younger Members
A Field Guide to the Millennials.

How do you market a conference to a generation that has been bombarded with advertising their whole life and grown immune to hyped sales pitches? Millennials are a difficult group to reach with traditional marketing techniques. Follow along with Gary as he walks through some effective tips for personalizing and segmenting your conference marketing campaign to get better results.