Make New Friends: How to Attract First Time Attendees

In some of our more recent posts we have provided ideas for changing up regular events. From unconventional venues to slowing down event pace, to changing the content delivered--we've found a lot of inspiration for how to make changes. One more change you can make is attracting new attendees. A new group of people will bring different perspectives and will view your content (be it old or new) with fresh eyes. So how do you find these new people? This article in BizBash provided some great ideas that got us thinking. We wanted to expand on some of the ideas that are most applicable to government events.

• Video guidance - provide quick, fun videos that give attendees a sense of what they can expect. These don't have to be fancy productions requiring production specialists. Using a smart phone you can tape an executive giving a quick overview of the event. Interview a past attendee or exhibitor to get their experience and advice for others. Provide some quick video footage of the venue, the parking. Rather than promotional, these videos should have a "how to" vibe to them - how to get the most out of the event. Any or all of these options will give people a better feel for the event than written words on a website ever could.

• Use what you have - Content marketing is a hot buzzword that tends to overwhelm people, but it does not have to. If you have an annual (or regular) event, look at the last one you held. Few people will sit through your archived video sessions. Can you boil down some of the presentations into a blog post, white paper, infographic, or power point deck? Assuming the content is still timely, showing what type of information was delivered in years past gives attendees a sense of what to expect.

• Stay on target - is there a certain demographic you'd like to attract? A certain agency, job type or title? Craft email or other marketing campaigns specifically for these groups, pointing out the value to them and their job. For emails, segment your mailing list and send these emails only to those targeted individuals. If you need to expand your list to reach these demographics, look at buying lists from publications or non-competitive events that target that audience. Have a subject line that speaks directly to them to make your email stand out in the mass of promotional emails they get each day. For other marketing strategies, look at holding a small, targeted event before your larger event near the agency building, making attendance easy and giving your target audience a preview of what to expect.  Contact office managers within the agency and see if there are places you could post promotional flyers or posters.

• Webcasts and smaller events - can you take some of the content from your upcoming event and present it as a webcast or as a smaller, more intimate in-person event? People who may not initially look at attending a large, multi-day event may attend one of these productions and could leave with a taste for more.

What about you? What tactics have been successful for attracting new audiences to your events? What would you like to see from event planners that would make you try a new event?

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