Sponsorship is the most powerful form of marketing. When done well, it can change participants’ attitudes and behaviors about a brand. Banners, ads, signs and enhanced listings shouldn’t be lumped into the same category — they don’t make that emotional connection. Recently I’ve received invitations to attend webinars and download industry research reports and articles all aimed to help conference and show organizers grow sponsorship revenue. Problem is, when you dig into these resources, you … [Read more...]
Beguile Potential Conference Attendees
Want to spike your conference registration? Try an emotional call to action. It captivates fence sitters and potential first timers. The only reason anyone does anything is to change the way they feel, says Tony Robbins. With the right emotional call to action, you can help potential attendees begin to experience those feelings right now. And continue those emotional feelings at your event. Feel-Act-Think According to True Impact Marketing (TIM), a Canadian neuromarketing research and … [Read more...]
Feeding Our Need For Community And Connection
We're living in a time where we've never been more connected with others than we are now. Yet most of us feel pretty disconnected from our personal and professional networks. Why? Because we were not hardwired for digital connection. We are wired for face-to-face connections. Maslow Had It Wrong: Connection Is A Primary Need You’ve probably heard of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. It’s a psychology theory that states people are motivated to achieve five basic needs. It starts with … [Read more...]
Conference Growth Is Connected To Unique Attendee Experiences
If you want to grow your conference, you need to annually create a unique conference experience. You also need to create an emotional bond with your registrants. We have to remember that our registrants are people too. And your conference experience should help them solve the issues that are keeping them up at night. Our paying customers buy conference registration with a trust that we will deliver what our marketing materials say we will. And, never, ever forget that they also want a fun, … [Read more...]
How To Create An Entirely Unique, Clangorously New Conference Experience
The conference market is saturated with commoditized information-driven attendee experiences. Most conferences are nothing more than status-quo, average, predictable information overloaded experiences. They reek of sameness. After you’ve attended a conference for the first time, it loses its freshness and excitement. It feels too familiar. Focus On Creating The Attendee’s Experience So how can a conference set itself apart from other commoditized experiences? Reconnect with its … [Read more...]
From Strangers To Friends: Bridging Attendee Loneliness With Conference Community
Everybody needs to know Somebody who cares. Just a friendly face You can trust to be there. Are you afraid to be known And not be a stranger? Everyone’s connected but no one is connecting The human element has long been missing Tell me, have you seen it? Have you seen it? Alone by Armin Van Burren (feat. Lauren Evans) Watch the Alone video. Are Your Attendees Alone? How often do the above lyrics apply to your attendees’ conference experience? What will it take for … [Read more...]
Using Emotional Targeting In Your Event Marketing Materials
Logic makes people think. Emotions make people act. Often our event marketing simply over-intellectualizes everything. It emphasizes the number of education sessions, the number of qualified attendees, the hours of continuing education credit, the technology applications available, the years of experience of the speakers, the economic data of the attendees and the like. But are those the right things to emphasize in your conference marketing materials? It's An Emotional Choice Why do you buy a … [Read more...]
Mapping The Emotional Highs And Lows Of Your Event
Do you as an event or conference organizer plan scream machine roller coaster event experiences? Or ho-hum, obligatory amusement park train rides? What do your attendees want in their conference experience? Do you even know what they want? Do your attendees want a plain vanilla, flat-line experience? Or do they want something unforgettable with unexpected emotional twists? Or maybe they want a Golden Corral smorgasbord all-you-can eat buffet experience? So what type of emotional experience … [Read more...]
