However, we know many associations freak out at the thought of receiving negative feedback. But, addressing negative feedback can be a positive way to express your brand (who you are and what you stand for).

If there are issues within the organization, take a page out of Domino’s book. When faced with negative feedback, the President of the company addressed the comments head on. In YouTube videos and TV commercials the President tells consumers how Domino’s is listening to what they have to say and how they are going to make a change.

Its quite uncommon in the association world, where everyone tries to hide the dirt under the rug, to see this kind of transparency. They think that by keeping negative comments close and internal members won’t talk about it. But, members are already talking about those issues and communication like this can make members feel like….well, members, instead of random consumers.

To gather feedback from members about the conference and association, but to never address it is very disrespectful to them. And, it’s only a matter of time before they realize they are not being heard, which will cause them to loose trust in you and decrease your credibility.

Stop worrying about what members might be saying and instead practice honesty and courage in addressing whatever feedback you receive from them. That is what will drive retention and conference attendance.

Curious how Domino’s handled the disgruntled customer in their recent commercial?

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.

That sense of motion creates a much stronger impact than still images alone. When executed properly, it conveys information simply and seamlessly, especially for people who don’t have the time or inclination to read big blocks of text.
In fact, we believe every offer should include video or motion graphics.

These moving elements make your offer feel current and relevant. With the popularity of YouTube.com, it’s easy to distribute viral videos through your website and social media channels. And programs like Dragon Stop Motion simplify the process of creating high-quality animation. These graphics can then be incorporated into a variety of marketing pieces, including email campaigns, web pages, and in-person advertisements.

Videos and motion graphics are a highly effective way to distribute information. In fact, a recent study conducted by comScore and VideoEgg found that rich media video ads were more engaging and more successful at tipping the sales needle than traditional banner ads. No surprise there, but it’s interesting to note that the study also found that this was true regardless of the context in which the ads was displayed.

However, the old adage “less is more” certainly applies to motion graphics. Try to do too much in a single motion graphic and it can detract from your main message, creating confusion. With each motion graphic, we focus on what that graphic should achieve. Will it entice? Educate? Or complement and enhance the surrounding text?

We predict that motion graphics will become even more prevelent as part of marketing campaigns in the future.

WIRED magazine contributing editor Jeff Howe coined the term “crowdsourcing” in the magazine in 2006, and the concept has been picking up steam ever since. “Unconferences,” where the conference agenda is driven entirely by attendees, are one example of crowdsourcing in action.

Even if your association isn’t ready to completely hand off the reins, you can still use crowdsourcing to collect suggestions and get members excited. The thing to remember is that crowdsourcing needs to tap into passion. If people are passionate about what they’re being asked to contribute, whether it’s a new product idea, a catchy slogan, or a user-generated video, then they’ll do it.

Healthy competition can help your association. When members see colleagues brainstorming or creating, they’ll want to get involved, too. However, prizes or incentives needn’t be expensive. Think about something of value you already have as an offer. Maybe it’s recognition at your conference or a cool new product from one of your sponsors.

Here are a few ways your conference can tap into crowdsourcing:

• Create a virtual conference room where people can brainstorm. This could be a forum on the conference website that allows visitors to vote on topics for panels or suggest ways to improve the conference experience.
• Set up a physical space at your conference where attendees can exchange ideas. It could be prototypes for new products, designs for a new logo, or something else entirely. However, remember that it’s not really about creating products, it’s about exchanging ideas.
• Use Twitter to solicit questions for panelists. Audience Q & A’s are an old school form of crowdsourcing, but now users can contribute without even being in the room.

The great thing about crowdsourcing is that it allows you to create a better conference than you might otherwise have. And when members are engaged and excited, they’re more likely to attend your conference again and keep renewing their membership.

The overall conclusion was that social media will continue to gain influence and play an integral role in marketing campaigns.  If you haven’t jumped on the bandwagon, time to do so; it can have a lasting, positive influence on your organization.  According to the survey, social media can help build brand awareness, enrich professional relationships, generate additional media coverage, boost event attendance, and increase sales. For companies concerned with generating a strong return on investment in their marketing efforts, that last bit is critical.  After all the goal of marketing is to increase sales, right?

It was a bit surprising to learn just how many people are using social media in marketing.  Of those surveyed, 66% use it, and almost half (49%) spend 1-5 hours on social media every week.  That figure sounds about right.  Those (18%) who spend less than an hour on it are probably not feeding and watering their social media efforts enough, while about a third of respondents who are spending more than 6 hours a week might be investing a little too much time.  Unfortunately, the survey did not compare time spent on social media with quantifiable results of those efforts.  However, if they are seeing the results, then their time is well-spent.

Of those who are not using social media in marketing, 22% said they lack the time and 20% said they lack the know-how.  These arguments are not surprising, but they are also disingenuous.  As stated above, one need not devote vast amounts of time on social media to integrate it into your marketing efforts.

The excuse of not knowing how to properly use social media is almost as bad as that old chestnut “the dog ate my homework”.  There are numerous resources for learning how to use social media: online webinars, books, workshops, and even private tutorials.  Find a way to learn how to use social media and then embrace it with open arms, because it is not going anywhere.  Those who continue to ignore social media do so at their own peril, because it will be the marketing tool within a couple of years, tops.   Survey respondents agree:  90% say it has moderate or limitless potential for exhibit or event marketing, while 76% say social media’s importance will increase strongly or somewhat in the coming year.

Another unexpected finding of the survey is that marketers continue to use the biggest social media sites.  Gravitating to the biggest and best known sites makes perfect sense, of course.  Go where the people are!  Most of those surveyed are using Facebook (between January and July 2009, the number of Facebook users grew by 70.8%!), LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, and internal and external microsites and business blogs.  These sites are being used for general marketing (57%), exhibit marketing (31%), and event marketing (24%).

One aspect of social media in marketing that this survey did not cover is the importance of using social media as a two-way form of communication to build your brand.  The unique and powerful thing about social media in marketing is that it allows companies and organizations to actively and regularly engage with their clients and constituents.  You can start a conversation, respond to a question or comment, and get instant feedback on a new product or service.  The possibilities of using social media in all aspects of marketing are indeed limitless.

PURL’s
Personal URLs are perfect for potential attendees to interact with the marketing materials. For example, as you send out your save the date postcard, you can send along with it a PURL for the recipient to log on to. On their personal page, you can have them register early, fill out a questionnaire, or have them choose or suggest topics that they would like to have covered during the conference. By allowing the attendee to participate during the pre-conference stage, the conference value and attendance will increase.

Twitter
During the pre-conference stage, you can begin to setup #hashtags for your conference on Twitter. Invite possible attendees to follow your conference twitter account to receive instant updates about the conference and to begin conversations about what they would like to see at the conference and to start networking with other attendees.

Twitter can be used during the conference as well to let attendees provide their own personal views on subjects and to strike up hot topics throughout the conference. Have the speakers setup their own accounts so they can get involved with conversations through twitter.

For more information, check out our newsletter on Twittering your Annual Conference.

Facebook
Setting up a group on Facebook for your conference is a great tool. As you add friends to the group, you can gauge the potential for attendees at your conference. Utilizing the upcoming events tool, the group will be notified about key dates for the conference.

Check out this blog post about using Facebook for your organization.

Registration Offers
Who does not like a discount or special offer? Why not offer a discount for early registration using PURL’s? Provide special offers to your Facebook Fans who participate in discussions. Conduct contests through Twitter during the conference where you provide information or clues only seen through your Twitter updates.  Providing more options for early registration and participation in pre and post conference sessions will encourage members to take advantage of the situation and in turn it will help with conference attendance and late registration because we know “it’s not just a trend, it’s a fact.”

By incorporating these personalization tools, you will help with the overall value of the conference, but more importantly it will help increase your attendance.

“We cannot adjust the wind… but we can adjust the sails.”  Unknown

This marketing plan package equips association and non-profit executives with the tools and knowledge to fill the empty seats. This package is especially designed for:

• Associations and non-profits with a limited staff
• Organizations not meeting their attendance goals
• Organizations with an In-house marketing team that needs a fresh set of eyes to review currents strategies

We are only offering this special package in the first quarter of 2010. If you want to reach your conference attendance goals for next year, then check out the details and special price for the workday sessions and remote guidance provided in our exclusive Marketing Planning Package.

When it comes to meeting conference attendance goals or fundraising goals, we know that sometimes you feel like the champ, but there are also times when you’ve taken a hard hit.

The competition can be tough as you battle for your audience’s attention and commitment. Many associations are finding that marketing plans that have worked in the past are now producing poor results.

Remember the classic game Rock’em Sock’em? The hours of fun spent knocking off the block of your tough opponents? And, the strategy that went into moving your red or blue robot into position, throwing punches at the perfect time – and most importantly, to try again after defeat.

Association marketing can often feel like today’s adult version of Rock’em Sock’em. You take those hard-blowing punches when e-mail blasts give less-than-desired results, or few members are jumping on board for early-registration.

It’s times like these that you simply have to pick yourself up, and keep swinging. Think on your feet and keep an open mind to new possibilities. If the same old punches aren’t working anymore, learn some new ones. Strengthen the impact of your conference marketing with a finely tuned logo. Improve membership retention with better communication through social media. Re-think your event marketing plan.

Keep rockin’ and sockin’ to discover those block-buster punches, and celebrate with that beloved gotcha victory cry!

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To compliment our recent Whitespace Newsletter about conference marketing success by integrating direct mail and social media, we put together a few tips for our nonprofit friends who are slightly more interested in fundraising.

We’ve put together 4 easy tips to help nonprofits:

• Engage previous supporters
• Find new prospects
• Convert prospects to donors
• Raise more money without greatly increasing your budget

Tip #1

Let supporters know about your presence on social networking sites. In addition to finding supporters on Facebook and LinkedIn with your current email list, you can also inform them about connecting with the nonprofit through these channels with short blurbs on direct mail pieces, emails and the organization’s website.

Tip #2

Respond to feedback from social networking sites, and share it with supporters who are likely keeping up with the organization through direct mail or email. The nature of social networking is that it allows users to provide instant feedback – the good, the bad, and sometimes the ugly. We’re not going to touch on how to handle the bad or the ugly, but we think you should sing the good feedback from the rooftops! Well, not exactly, but we do recommend you share it on direct mail pieces and emails, just like any other testimonial.

Tip #3

Integrate the campaign logo and theme across all mediums. Some organizations feel that their online marketing has to have a different “brand” than the rest of their marketing. This has potential to confuse the audience. We recommend using the same logo and theme for your fundraising campaign, despite how you are communicating with potential supporters. However, this does not mean you can use the exact same message, word-for-word on your direct mail piece as used on the nonprofit’s Facebook Fan page.

Tip #4

A popular trend (and useful tool) on Twitter is to tag posts with a hash tag (#), plus a keyword. This helps identify what the post is about, but also makes it easy to find when conducting searches. One of the most popular tags is #charitytuesday. This tag is used, you guessed it, on Tuesdays. Twitter users will post something about their favorite nonprofit and include this tag, hoping that the post will help raise awareness.

Alerting Twitter followers about upcoming direct mail pieces will peak their interest and let them know you need their help in raising awareness about the campaign. This is a great opportunity for nonprofits during a fundraising campaign with the potential to encourage matching gifts and referrals.