Solving Your Biggest Marketing Challenges Through Better Engagement. The Marketing Challenges Workshop (MCW) was created to address the hardest challenges, which marketing practitioners are facing. Given the tougher economy and difficulty in the attracting and keeping quality audiences for market leading conferences and expositions, marketing professionals have an urgent need to find timely solutions to hit market attendance goals. This is the presentation by Chris Justice.

1. Making
A
Posi,ve
First
Marke,ng
Impression:
Conver,ng
Website
Viewers
to
Event
A<endees

2. Agenda
• Overview
of
Event
Websites
• New
Expecta,ons
– A<endees
– Sponsors
– Speakers
– Exhibitors
• Timelines
and
Technology
• Top
60
Tips
for
Event
Website
• Summary
and
Ques,ons

3. Overall
Industry
Trends
• Satura,on
and
Shiny
Objects
– A<endees
are
overwhelmed,
informa,on
is
free,
events
are
not.
– Adver,sing
is
a
diluted
medium
and
more
people
opt-­‐out.
– A<endees
expect
exclusivity,
insight,
in,macy,
and
follow-­‐
through.
– A<endees
expect
to
be
marketed
to
and
discard
most
materials.
• Social
Media
and
Reputa,on
Management
– Complaints
are
easy,
compliments
are
rare.

4. Overall
Trends
Con,nued
• Localiza,on
– Regional
priori,es
and
approaches.
– Emerging
markets
will
require
more
marke,ng
spend.
• ShiTing
Priori,es
and
Analy,cs
– Highly
measurable
media
– Integrated
marke,ng
metrics
– Awareness
and
educa,on
vs.
promo,on

5. Expecta,ons
for
A<endees
• Current
informa,on
(weekly/monthly)
• Benefits
for
registering
early
• Free
informa,on
and
industry
news
• A
reason
to
return
and
contribute
• Pulse
communica,ons
• Cost
jus,fica,on
and
convienence

6. Expecta,ons
for
Speakers
• Speakers
expect
organizers
to
promote
them.
• Call
for
speakers
process
must
be
transparent.
• Nego,ate.
• Recording
and
rebroadcas,ng
–
a
must.
• Affiliate
registra,ons
and
merchandizing
for
speakers.

7. Expecta,ons
for
Sponsors
• Fact
sheet
and
detailed
a<endee
demographic
metrics.
• Nego,ate
early
and
decrease
flexibility
with
par,cipa,on.
• Document
everything.
Or
the
sponsor
will.

8. Points
to
Remember
• Your
speakers
and
sponsors
are
your
most
effec,ve
marke,ng
channel.
– They
cost
the
least
and
have
the
farthest
reach.
– Compensate
them
well.
• One
free
a<endee
is
worth
five
paid
a<endees.

9. Event
Website
Tips
Top
Tips
for
Building
A<endance

10. Tip
#1:
Build
for
Mobile
First
A"endees
Demand
It
• Schedules
• Changes
and
Urgents
• Venue
logis,cs
• Upsell
opportuni,es
• Direc,onal
informa,on
• Include
link
to
full
experience
• Do
NOT
use
Adobe
Flash
• Unidirec,onal
scrolling
• No
pop-­‐ups
• HTML
5
no
WAP

11. Tip
#2:
Simplified
Mul,-­‐Part
Registra,on
• Condense
,cke,ng
process
and
remove
registra,on
steps.
– Collect
payment
–
• Addi,onal
booking
steps
aTer
ini,al
,cke,ng.
– Customizable
experience.
– Reduces
abandonment.
– Lower
cost
of
development
and
integra,on.
– Adapts
to
collect
more
detailed
a<endee
profile
data.

12. Tip
#3:
Event
Archives
• Snapshot
of
all
Event
Content
– Speakers,
sponsors,
presenta,ons,
pricing.
– Include
all
data
from
past
events
and
a
“slice
in
,me”.
• Search
Engine
Rankings
– Maintain
old
vanity
URLs
for
3-­‐5
years.
– Cross
linking,
speaker
promo,on,
planning
content,
contacts,
etc.

13. Tip
#4:
Integrate
Staff
Services
• Provide
log
in
for
volunteers
and
staff
– Keeps
them
looking
at
your
site
– Include
private
chat,
directories,
email,
file
upload
• Distribute
support
to
groups
– Include
individuals
including
volunteers
on
group
lists.
More
informa,on
is
be<er.

14. Tip
#5:
Affiliate
Registra,on
Marke,ng
• For
high
a<endance
events,
provide
methods
to
compensate
a<endees
with
merchandise,
future
discounted
rates,
giT
passes.
• Applies
to
a<endees,
speakers,
sponsors
and
adver,sers.
• Easy
to
implement
– Online
form,
refer
a
friend,
link
tracking.

15. Tip
#6:
Contests
and
Awards
• Provide
a
method
for
community
par,cipa,on
and
nomina,on.
– Simple
email
forms
– Any
relevant
topic
• Innova,on,
design,
growth

16. Tip
#6:
Inbound
Linking
• Inbound
links
increase
search
visibility
and
increase
ranking.
• Inbound
link
sources:
– Conference
directories
– White
papers
– Blog
posts
– Speakers,
sponsors
and
adver,sers

17. Tip
#7:
Video
Opener
• Single
most
reusable
marke,ng
element.
– Easily
syndicated,
viral
and
inexpensive.
• Record
a
minimum
of
20
hours
of
sta,onary
camera
video.
• Create
mul,ple
videos.
• Invest
in
targeted
communica,ons:
– A<endees
– Sponsors

18. Tip
#8:
Syndica,on
• Ensure
all
news
and
blog
posts
have
XML
and
RSS
feeds
AND
they
are
published.
– Feedburner
• Ensure
all
resource
libraries,
white
papers,
data
sheets
and
materials
are
in
the
feeds.
• Ensure
all
materials
are
op,mized
Adobe
PDF
files.
• Social
linking
and
social
media
are
expected
so
provide
short
URLs.

19. Tip
#9:
Educa,onal
Workshops
• Cri,cal
for
extending
the
value
and
crea,ng
• Sessions
should
include
technical
and
non-­‐
technical
topics.
• Provides
cost
jus,fica,on
for
a<endees
and
valida,on
of
importance.

20. Tip
#10:
Technology
is
Easy,
Content
Isn’t
• 100-­‐100,000
a<endee
events
can
be
easily
served
through
any
hos,ng
account
and
content
management
system.
• Wordpress,
Drupal,
Joomla,
Expression
Engine
and
many
others
are
easy
and
free.
• Registra,on
does
not
need
to
be
complex
and
a<endees
expect
to
self-­‐serve.
• Cri,cal
Event
Content
(CEC)
should
be
complete.
Do
not
orphan
the
site.

21. One
more
thing…..

22. Tip
#11:
Include
a
Job
Board
• Let’s
face
it,
please
go
to
events
to
learn,
mingle
but
they
are
always
looking
for
opportuni,es.
Give
it
to
them.
• Distribute
resumes
to
sponsors
and
adver,sers
if
requested.
• Events
are
conduits
not
faucets.

23. Conclusion
• Event
a<endees
are
demanding
more
for
less.
– Feed
them
informa,on.
• Exhibitors
are
demanding
more
for
more.
– Be
generous,
be
transparent
and
be
flexible.
• Speakers
are
demanding……
– Quality
is
key,
ask
for
proof
and
reach.
• The
event
industry
is
growing
in
value
and
shrinking
in
volume.
That’s
good
news.