A seminar, conference or meeting preparation is an ordinary part of office life. There are many ways to get ready for these events. But all the preparations would go to waste if the attendance is a failure. Building attendance at seminars or meetings should be backed up with the proven methods of promoting or advertising.
Here are some of the techniques that have been used to fill a conference room:
1. There should be ample time to promote the meeting or seminar. Six months is good enough for a small seminar while a minimum of nine months is advisable for a bigger conference. These months of preparation would include the selection of the best speaker, making contact with the possible market, and efforts to make advertisements.
2. Make sure to assign the experienced staff in dealing with marketing and advertising efforts. Do not settle for those with limited knowledge.
3. Know your market, meaning, who will be your attendees? The contents of the conference depend mainly on who will listen to it.
4. Highlight the benefits that the attendees would be able to get out of the seminar. Make sure to point out what the clients would get out of the seminar and not what the business would get from the clients. Also, make the benefits feasible. Never make promises that the conference or seminar won't be able to deliver.
5. Do not use any technical jargons on any of your media. Make sure to advertise in layman's terms.
6. Whether the company will use snail mail or e-mail, it is always wise to notify those who will attend about 8-12 weeks in advance. Make sure to mail out enough invitations or leaflets to be able to hit the target number of attendees. Also, be sure to specify the start and end times for the seminar.
7. It is also wise to check for venues or locations for the seminar well ahead of the scheduled date. If the date is a holiday, it is better to advertise and market months before the seminar date.
8. Capitalize on what is digitally available nowadays. Make use of photos and some graphic elements to liven up any marketing material (whether that would be leaflets, flyers, or booklets).
9. One other proven technique to market the seminar is to highlight the speakers credentials. What has he accomplished so far and how can he help those who will attend?
10. Take note of the prime market and ascertain that a second mailing will be done for them at about 4 weeks before the seminar. The prime market could include CEOs, personal or training executives. These executives lead other people below them and once they are convinced of what the seminar would do for them, many others (their subordinates) are possible referrals.
11. Make use of the power of the media send out press releases through television, radio and newspapers. Paying for a hefty sum in advertising could be a bit heavy on the pocket, at first, but once a market is established, the revenues would be more than enough to cover the expenses.
12. It is always good to evaluate the critiques of attendees after the seminar. Ask questions or have them fill out a form that lets them express how they feel about the seminar.
13. Ensure the availability of coffee, tea or cold drinks for those who attend.
14. Make marketing calls and maximize the use of the company phones. Follow up on the possible market.
15. Also a good way to lure attendees is to offer any type of gift or bonus. People want freebies and any free sample from the seminar would make them feel good about the seminar (just make sure that the speaker didn't suck).
16. Also a good marketing strategy is giving discounts to those who would come in groups.
17. If a catalog comes with a tear-off business reply card (which is postage paid), then there are better chances that the one who gets the card will attend.
These are only some of the proven practices in getting the word out that an important seminar is about to take place. Making the market want your product or service often begins with visual enticement. That is what most advertising firms have been busy doing, and they work, so jump on.
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