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Planning an event requires a considerable amount of organizational skills. On top of organizational skills, there’s a whole different skill set required to promote an event. That’s where marketing departments come into play. Many marketers will tell you that you should provide an incentive, a call to action, to help get the message out. Today there is so much information flowing through our various social media accounts etc. that it can become very difficult to have your message stand out in a crowded marketplace.
A call to action can be described as: words that urge the reader to take action.
You’ve seen them on many TV commercials. They are the ones that offer a promo code, or a limited time offer, to purchase their product. By having a call to action, a company is able to determine the effectiveness of their marketing campaign on various mediums.
If you build it they will come. It’s a very common phrase but I’m afraid I don’t put much stock in it. Think about it. You go to all the trouble planning an event and then you don’t do anything to promote it. I’m sorry but that’s a recipe for disaster. I don’t care how elaborate the event is, if you do not get the message out there you’re going to be sorely disappointed.
3 Ways Call to Actions Get Results
- Sweetens the deal. Many meeting planners will have a call to action to help fill their hotel room block. Quite often there will be an early bird discount. Naturally this is attractive to potential delegates as they’re able to save simply by booking early. You could apply that same methodology to a stand-alone event. If the tickets are $100 per person, consider offering a 10% discount if someone purchases tickets by a certain date. This is a very helpful method especially if you have cut-off dates for your room block or caterer.
- Creates a sense of urgency. The person reading your information understands that they need to take an action by a certain date in order to save. All too many times I’ve received an e-mail for a conference or convention and have put it aside with great intentions to register at a later date. That’s not helping the meeting planner as he or she can’t read my mind and he or she doesn’t see me as a registered delegate until I purchase my event ticket.
- A great way to measure the event campaigns success. Often marketers will promote an event on different mediums. And naturally they want to know which method of reaching out to individuals work best. Referring back to those television commercials, a specific code provided which tells the marketer where, or which medium, the sales originated. This method is also very helpful if you have to promote future events as well. You know which social media channels, or other mediums, worked well and you eliminate those that didn’t perform to your standards.
You’ll also be interested in:
- How to Promote an Event Organically – A Tale of Two Experiences.
- From the How Not to Promote an Event Department
