How to Improve Event Attendance
Whether you’re planning your company’s summer social, hosting a conference or organising an evening of networking with potential customers, event attendance is a top concern for many businesses. After all, in order for your gathering to be a success, you need people to turn up.
Below we share some great tips which will help to improve event attendance so you can host a memorable occasion.
Send out invitations
It sounds obvious but a lot of people do nothing more than mention their upcoming event on their website and do the odd social media post about it. While these are both great ways to build awareness, if you’re only doing this, you’re limiting your audience to the people who are checking your website and social media pages on a regular basis.
Chances are that the majority of your potential and existing customers aren’t doing this which means you’re not reaching the hundreds or even thousands of potential attendees that you could.
If you have a contact list with people who have consented to receive emails from you, send them a virtual invitation. Using an email marketing platform such as MailChimp is ideal because it’s relatively low cost, there are templates which have already been created for you and you can see who has opened your email. If everything is done online, it also makes it much easier to manage your RSVPs.
It’s a good idea to direct recipients to a page on your website where they can find out further information about the event and register their interest. It’s important to let people know what to expect including how long it will last, if there will be any talks, demonstrations, a guest speaker or entertainment and whether or not food and drink will be provided.
Once you’ve sent out your invitations, you can also cross-promote your event via other mediums such as your website, social media pages, email signature, flyers and word-of-mouth.
Good guest speakers practically guarantee event attendance
A great way to improve event attendance is to sign up a guest speaker. Choose someone you think is capable of entertaining, engaging and inspiring your audience. If people walk out the door feeling motivated and uplifted, they’ll remember you for a long time and will be keen to attend future events.
While celebrity guest speakers are great at drawing the crowds in, they often come with a hefty price tag which many SMEs can’t afford. Signing up a lesser-known industry expert can be just as effective and a lot more affordable. As long as your speaker can add value by sharing insider knowledge, is relevant to your audience and can offer a new perspective, attendees will enjoy hearing from them.
Send reminders
Most of us are busy with work, running around after the kids, getting chores done and trying to maintain a social life. Things are easily forgotten so make sure you don’t end up with no-shows on the day by sending a friendly reminder a few days before and then on the day.
If you’re looking for help planning your next event, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with Caravatti. We can help with every aspect of planning and execution to ensure your day or evening runs perfectly.
