The Value of Marketing Your Event to the Most Relevant Audience

relevant audiencesWe are all limited by time and money, and event marketing is no different. Without limits to your target audience, you will be spread too thin to effectively use your marketing spend. You must use your time and money wisely, and focus on filling your event with as many of the right people as possible – the people who will actively engage with your speakers, learn from the sessions, network with each other, or purchase products your sponsors offer.

Speakers

Knowledgeable and influential speakers drive registrations. These types of speakers are usually known for their specialty, whether it is discussing proper treatments for heart disease, opening new doctors’ practices, or presenting the health benefits of long distance running. These gifted speakers have a following and it benefits you to market your speakers to the audience with whom their specialty resonates help you prmote your conference app.

Pro tip: Be sure to include them prominently on the event website, within email communications, and include their Twitter handles or tag them in social media posts when possible.

Press Release

There will be newspapers and blogs that will cover your event just because it is a local event. Having a target audience in mind allows you to spend your time pitching the niche blogs, magazines, and publications that those potential attendees pay attention to. Most importantly, it allows you to focus and hone your pitch for those niche targets, increasing your success rate and decreasing the effort spent on PR.

Pro tip: When pitching your event to journalists or other online publications focus on the specific benefits your event will have on their readership. Tailoring every message for each publication with you event app will take time but that extra effort is what will make you stand out from every other request they get reading “For immediate release.”

Social media platforms

Only very few brands or topics span large groups of people. Most likely, your potential audience is interested in a particular niche, and is well connected within that niche. When you can excite people about something very specific and particular, you can tap into the networks they’ve formed around those interests. We’ve written how building a social buzz is imperative for the success of your event – find your target audience, tap into their conversations on social networks, and make it easy for them to share the information you want them to share.

Pro tip: Use sites like hashtags.org or Twubs to see what hashtags are most commonly used for your audience on Twitter and incorporate those into your messaging. Caution: don’t go overboard—use only one or two hashtags per tweet—as using more will make your tweet hard to read and less likely to be clicked on or shared.

Sponsors

The companies sponsoring your event have products targeted at specific audiences and you will best serve them by making sure those people are at your conference. Likewise, when you approach sponsors for your event they will want to hear that your target audience matches theirs.

Pro tip: When attendees sign up for your event have them fill out a short survey providing in your event planning app you with demographic and psychographic data. Many larger sponsors want proof that your audience from past events matches the audience they want to reach. Keep surveys short – up to 5 questions. This will keep attention spans focused and advance ticket sales/registration completions. In app surveys are another great way to get audience feedback during your event and often have high completion rates.

Paid Online Advertising

Paid search (also called SEM for search engine marketing or PPC for pay-per-click) is a powerful tool when used well. When attempted without a specific target audience in mind, however, you can quickly burn through a very large budget without much to show for it. Identifying your most relevant audience, and the keywords they are likely to search, puts your money to its best use. The targeted ads on Facebook and remarketing ads on Google are also very powerful, and when you use the right lists or criteria, you can attract a very specific group of people. These tools allow you to be hyper-specific, and you should be.

Pro tip: Having a clearly defined target audience will help put you in their shoes and allow you to think of the phrases they would search on in order to find your event. Remember, with search (paid or not) it’s all about the user, not you. Paid search is a specialty in its own right so be sure to consult with an expert in this area. The money you spend on promoting mobile event app with a pro will likely save you money in the long run.

Too broad a target audience spreads your efforts too thin. Focus on the people who are looking for the information you offer and the services you sell.