How to Generate Registrations and Attendees to Your Virtual Event

How to Generate Registrations & Attendees to Your Virtual Event
Dennis Shiao
dshiao@INXPO.com
08.11.2011
Twitter hash tag: #AMAAdobe

BRIEF INTRODUCTION

OUTLINE
Generating Registrations
Value proposition
Target audience
Finding
Communicating
Use of social media
Converting Registrations to Attendees
Content marketing
Networking
Game mechanics
Email reminders
“When you convert registrations to attendees, you get to ring the register”

(GENERATING) First Step: Develop a Plan
Value Proposition
One sentence
Find answer to “WIIFM”
Print, hang on wall
Ties into promotion
Target Audience
Precise
Quantifiable
Ties into sponsorships, success metrics
“Think before you act. For your online event, prepare before you promote.”

(GENERATING) Find Your Target Audience
Your own properties
Web site
Email lists
Customer / subscriber lists
Social media channels
Partner properties
Content sites
Community sites
Paid media
Email blasts, SEM, etc.
Image source: Wikipedia page for Christopher Columbus
“For events, finding your target audience should not be as challenging as Columbus discovering The New World.”

(GENERATING) Time for 10 Tips
Image source: sam_churcill on flickr

(GENERATING) Tip #1: Leverage Speakers
“If you select your speakers well, then your target audience already follows them. Ask speakers to promote your event.”

(GENERATING) Tip #2: Leverage Exhibitors
“Give your exhibitors unique URLs (for tracking) & ask them to promote the event. Reward those who bring in the most…”
Note: clicktotweet is a neat tool for distributing tweet-able messages to your exhibitors (http://clicktotweet.com)

(GENERATING) Tip #3: On Registration, Less is More
“Every new field you add decreases the likelihood of registration. Ask yourself, is each additional field worth it?”
First Name
Last Name
Company
Title
Email Address
Address 1
Address 2
State/Province
Country
Industry
Job Function
Company Revenue
Annual Budget
Purchase Authority
Purchase Timeframe
Favorite Food
Number of Kids
Zodiac Sign
First Name
Last Name
Company
Title
Email Address
LESS fields means…
MORE registrations
Key Point: You can ask for additional information during the event (e.g. require attendees to complete mandatory profile fields upon first login)

(GENERATING) Tip #4: Social Sharing on Registration Page
“Social sharing buttons on your registration page allow your target audience to promote the event on your behalf.”
Study which social networks your audience engages in to determine which sharing buttons to include

(GENERATING) Tip #5: Promotion via Syndication
“Provide HTML ‘embed code’, inviting others to promote your event on their web sites!”
Example: YouTube (above). YouTube did not reach billions of video views from YouTube.com alone.

(GENERATING) Tip #6: Start Early
Benefits
More inbound links
More search traffic
More opportunities for sharing
More time to measure, adjust and adapt

(GENERATING) Tip #7: Create a LinkedIn Event
Benefits
Takes 2 minutes.
Generate awareness via LinkedIn’s “social business graph.”
LinkedIn Events have a “This is a virtual event” checkbox.

(GENERATING) Tip #8: Promote on Twitter
Steps
Create a Twitter hash tag for your event.
Promote the hash tag on your event registration page.
Include the event hash tag in ALL tweets.
Tweet about your event’s value proposition, driving traffic to the registration page.
Tweet about your keynote speaker.
Tweet about sponsors who will be exhibiting.
Retweet other users’ comments.
“If you want to interest people in your ‘party’, be a friendly and welcoming host on Twitter.”

(GENERATING) Tip #9: Promote on Your Facebook Page
Tips
Post videos (related to your event).
Run a survey (via Facebook Questions) on what topics attendees would like to see at the event.
Got breaking news about your event (e.g. a confirmed keynote speaker)? Post it to Facebook.
Take pictures of your online event team and post them. Facebook fans love pictures.
Promote speakers and exhibitors in your posts and be sure to tag them in your post.
“Fans of your brand should become fans of your event. The key is to convert your Facebook fans into registrants.”

(GENERATING) Tip #10: Promote via Content Marketing
Tips
Write blog postings related to the event’s topics.
Ask speakers to write blog postings (or author guest postings) on their presentation topics.
Share interesting articles and postings that relate to your event.
Publish an edition of your e-Newsletter that highlights the event.
Publish a Press Release announcing your event.
Record short videos related to your event’s topics. Post them on multiple video sites.
Ask exhibitors to incorporate event promotion in their own content marketing.
“Remember that the end goal of content marketing is to drive traffic to your event’s registration page.”

CONVERTING
“Like shoppers in a store, registrants are less useful if they do not convert.”

(CONVERTING) Tip #1: Spruce Up the Confirmation Page
“The journey of converting a registrant to an attendee begins with the confirmation page.”
Tips
Embed a video with a “thank you “ from you.
Provide links to useful resources related to the event platform.
Allow registrants to see which of their LinkedIn Connections has also registered.
Embed links to add the event to registrants’ calendars (e.g. Outlook, Google Calendar, etc.)
Provide social sharing buttons [OK, this is to help with registration and not conversion]

(CONVERTING) Tip #2: More Content Marketing
“Guess what? You’re a media company. Your registrants are your readers. Make an impression to get them to attend”
Note: The period from registration to “live event date” is an OPPORTUNITY that should not be wasted.
Note: I didn’t say this would be easy.

(CONVERTING) Tip #3: Game Mechanics
Tips
Deploy single player games.
Deploy team-based games.
Deploy leaderboards.
Incent players and teams with prizes and recognition
If you engage registrants in this gaming activity before the event, your attendance (at the live event) will increase.

(CONVERTING) Tip #4: Automated Email Messaging
Tips
Week-before reminder email.
Day-before reminder email.
“Event is now open” email at the start of the live date(s).
Mid-day “Don’t miss out: second half schedule” email to registrants who have not yet logged in.
Next-day “Thanks for attending” or “Sorry we missed you” emails.

(CONVERTING) Tip #5: Facilitate Pre-Event Networking
“Allow registrants to network beforehand and any event, whether physical or online, will see increased attendance.”
Corollary: If I’ve had meaningful dialog with you prior to an event, I’ll go out of my away to attend live, so that the dialog can continue.

SUMMARY
GENERATE.
CONVERT.
ENGAGE.
Thank you.

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How to Generate Registrations and Attendees to Your Virtual Event

by Dennis Shiao

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