We work with a number of speakers who tap into the power of events and want to get more bums on seats.
The reality is, you could have the best message in the world, however if you don’t get people to show up, no one will hear it.
Whether you’re running a sales or a paid event for your customers, it’s still important to get registrants to attend.
This particular article addresses the point after registration to when the event actually happens and what you can do to help get more registrants present.
Create An Incentive To Attend
Someone has registered for your event, has registered for a reason. Not only is it important to remind them, but also add value and build excitement of why they must be there.
Continue to provide content/reasons for them to show up and why they can’t miss it. This could take the form of introducing content that will be shared, testimonials from past attendees, comments from others registered for the current event, video with preparation that they need to do to get the most out of the event and even outline bonuses that you’re be sharing with only those who show up on the day.
There are many ways to create incentives, get present to what’s really important to your audience and find a way to include that.
Event Reminders
Once someone registers, make sure you send automatic reminders so they don’t forget about the event. Ask the registrants to make sure the event is blocked out in their diary/calendar. Also don’t forget to send key details of the event date, time, duration etc. For live events, outline the venue details, location, where to park, how to get there etc. Make it really easy for your audience to be reminded and also show up on the day.
Promote At The Right Time
There is an optimal timeframe before an event to promote it. BUT it depends on the type, nature and duration of the event. Whether it’s a free or paid event, whether it’s online or offline, whether it’s an hour or a multi-day event. Free webinar events for example shouldn’t be promoted 1 month before it happens, typically within a week. For a paid multi day event, particularly when your audience may need to organize travel or accommodation a few months out might be ideal. Although this tip is related to the registration process, it’s important here to make sure you’re setting yourself up to succeed. The longer the time between registration and an event, the longer you need to make sure your engaging with your registrants to get them to show up.
Call Them To Confirm
Many of our clients have introduced this strategy to call registrants before the event and have significantly boosted their show up rates. This involves calling the registrant to remind them about the event within the week leading up to it. This helps to let them know you can’t wait to see (or have) them at the event and what they are going to get out of it and ask any questions. Some of the best pre event calls aren’t specifically a confirmation call, they are more about assuming that the registrant is coming, re-engaging and seeing if they have any questions etc.
The Hours Before
The final tip that’s working really well for our clients is sending a final reminder in the hours or minutes before an event. If you run a live event, 1-2 hours before the event starts, it is a good time to send an SMS. If it’s an online event, within the last 15 minutes or even at the time that the event starts, is a great time to say, we’re live now. Sometimes life gets in the way and we may forget, these final reminders can significantly boost attendance rates.
What else can you do between the time that they register to the start time of the event to further entice them to show up?
What actions can you take from this to get more bums on your seats at your next event?
If you need any help with automating your next event, let us know, we’d be delighted to assist, email us here – [email protected].
(NOTE: Want to get more bums on seats at your next event? Learn the top 10 ways are clients are using to boost attendance that you can implement today. Learn more now!)
