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How to Effectively Boost Your Meeting RegistrationNovember 22, 2024

Early-Bird Registration, High-Profile Speakers and Bucket-List Destinations Are All a Factor By
November 22, 2024

How to Effectively Boost Your Meeting Registration

Early-Bird Registration, High-Profile Speakers and Bucket-List Destinations Are All a Factor
Content is king when it comes to getting attendees to register. Courtesy of Diana Horn

Content is king when it comes to getting attendees to register. Courtesy of Diana Horn

Getting meeting registration numbers back to pre-pandemic levels has been top-of-mind for planners for many months. Things have vastly improved and in some cases, meetings are now exceeding pre-pandemic attendance. But even in the best of times, understanding how to increase registration is critical to successful meetings. We turned to industry experts to find out what strategies really work. Here’s what they had to say:

Drew Holmgreen, CED, chief experience officer with Meeting Professionals International (MPI), believes it’s important to focus on three key areas: Personalization, destination and value. “Personalization,” he says, “is a general strategy for effective marketing and heavily appropriate for driving registration. Find out your audience’s interests, go as individualized as possible and then show how your event delivers on those precise interests. Tailor communications to the individual level.”

Not surprisingly, the destination matters. “Drive appeal around what’s unique about the destination and how it impacts the event experience in order to make the whole package enticing,” he suggests. “Bleisure is a big thing … bigger than ever, so bring the destination into your experience. People have less time and want to bring family along more than ever. Find ways to merge the business and leisure experiences and allow the destination to organically reflect how the event meets personal and professional needs.”

Value, he points out, isn’t necessarily synonymous with budget. “Budgets are a thing, yet getting past the wallet can be achieved by providing value. Identify a perceived dollar value for the event in terms of personal and professional growth. This is no different than retail strategies; show the long-term ROI and it becomes easy math.”

Other elements matter, too. Holmgreen calls quality of meeting content and ample networking opportunities critical. In terms of content, he says: “Attendees need to have content that’s meaningful for their growth. That’s why they attend events, because they learn new things that can be pulled into their day-to-day. Second, there may be an ‘approver’ who validates that someone can spend the money to attend. In order to get approval, prospective attendees must show how they’ll grow and how that benefits the organization. Content gets you there.”

Networking, Holmgreen continues, has grown in importance. He says, “Data from MPI has shown a post-pandemic shift. People now attend events and get involved with associations more for connections than education. It’s a tight gap, but it is a shift and one that makes sense. Many people used 2020-2022 for education yet were deprived of face-to-face connections — Zoom is no substitute! We crave personal connections, and events that provide strong networking create interest and post-event FOMO (fear of missing out).”

The right speaker can also boost attendance, but the impact is likely minimal. “It’s more important that the content is relevant to the individual than it is to bring a big name with irrelevant content unless you’re simply looking for a ‘wow’ factor to drive interest,” Holmgreen notes. “I’m of the mind that big-name speakers can provide an assist but are not a key driver, unless the big name is very relevant from a content perspective. Will people pay a higher registration fee to accommodate a big name? Yes, but it would need to be a super roster bringing multiple big names as opposed to just one.”

How you market your event is unquestionably key, but what kind of marketing works best and how frequent should communication be? Holmgreen says it’s about relevancy and personalization. “Potential registrants want to know that your event identifies with them on a personal and emotional level. Use programmatic digital solutions for targeting purposes so you can build on converted audiences and key into look-alike profiles. This can happen in both general digital and social. Word-of-mouth is the best marketing. Use tools like Snoball and GleanIn that offer templates for your attendees and speakers to become ambassadors; give them their own promotional code and potentially a reward for being an influencer. And if you can mix in UGC videos through partners like Gather Voices, then you’re hitting all the sweet spots,” he says.

Deciding when registration should open is also key. Holmgreen says that opening registration or at least offering a guaranteed incentive rate should occur immediately as your previous meeting ends. “At our EMEC and WEC events,” he says, “we hold a ‘torch turnover’ on the final day and registration opens. We provide attendees with a massive early-bird discount, exclusive to them … and advise that the window closes fast so that it drives urgency.”

Yet it’s an open question as to whether early-bird discounting really increases registration. As Holmgreen notes, for some attendees, time is more important than a deal and they may wait to register for a variety of reasons regardless of early discounts. He says, “Recent research has shown that people book the events within a three-month window, oftentimes just six weeks out. They’re more concerned with recency on their calendars than they are with saving a few bucks — time is legitimately money. Many among our audience are individual contractors and have to balance their client projects with their own learning.”

Holmgreen adds, “Having a dedicated event website allows you to control the conversation, make updates and track success for optimizations.”

Planners and organizations ultimately have to decide which strategies work for them and what to concentrate on. They don’t want to miss out on incredible speakers, bringing in top education presenters or that blow-your-socks-off ‘wow’ closing event, yet food and transportation costs have increased significantly while budgets have stayed stubbornly stagnant. Raising registration fees is an option, but rarely optimal.

“It may seem obvious, but the best way to be cost conscious and maintain reasonable registration rates is to have a strong sense of partnership with potential vendors and bring solid negotiations to the table,” Holmgreen says. “Find vendors who act like partners, who are willing to provide in-kind because they can benefit from your audience as well as provide a valuable experience. MPI does very well by this; we have partners who use our events as large-scale demos, for example. In that, MPI benefits from cost savings and gains a strong experience while our partners get new business. Classic win-win.”

Content and networking opportunities are a factor

Eduardo Arabu, CEO of the non-profit National Hispanic Corporate Council, lists providing advance notice of a meeting and “building up” notice as important to boosting registration but says all the factors already mentioned matter. “The destination is critical to boosting registration,” he adds, saying popular “bucket-list” cities, as well as second-tier or less popular cities, can work.

When it comes to meeting content, Arabu suggests planners offer multiple levels of content. He says, “You should offer beginner, intermediate and advance levels of learning and development. You can offer opportunities to prepare the next generation of leaders. And consider an orientation session to equip attendees with the best experience at the meeting and post-event engagements.”

In addition to educational content, Arabu says, “Networking opportunities enhance the overall experience. Networking engagements should be offered as stand-alone and embedded sessions. You can also incorporate team building or icebreaker activities.”

He believes discounted registration rates, either early-bird or tiered pricing, can positively impact registration numbers. “To deal with hotel attrition and to better account for headcount for logistical purposes, advanced registration is important, and you can offer discounted rates to achieve that,” he says. “Depending on your audience/membership, you can be inclusive by offering tiered pricing for students, professional levels, first-time attendees and so on.”

Even though he believes high-profile speakers can boost attendance in some circumstances, he’s not a strong advocate of booking expensive speakers. He explains, “Typically, the audience doesn’t have interactions with such speakers; however, it may be a deliverable or benefit for sponsors or incentive programs.”

Like Holmgreen, he mentions FOMO. “To boost attendance,” he suggests, “I recommend investing in the overall experience [action stations, F&B, etc.] and capturing it appropriately to sell the ‘FOMO’ for future events.”

As for marketing, Arabu says that strategies depend on the organization and its audience. “Traditional and non-traditional methods are encouraged with advance notice and frequent follow-ups,” he says, recommending always including a reminder and call-to-action to prepare to attend. Moreover, he says, “You should close out the previous program by announcing the next or upcoming events. Send out a save-the-date message, follow up frequently, engage via social media platforms, even send mailers when appropriate. Leverage and activate the staff, governance, speakers and even past attendees. Finally, you should also identify strategic partners that can tap into their networks.”

Diana Horn, meetings and membership manager for the Association of University Research Parks (AURP), says that they send out printed marketing materials and use social media and “calling trees” from other active AURP members  to help boost registration. “It’s successful with every event we hold as members are being encouraged to attend by their peers,” she says.

Horn lists the destination as only “fairly important” in terms of boosting registration, while the quality of meeting content, speakers and education sessions are “very important.” And ample networking opportunities, she says, are in the “extremely important” category. While she believes early-bird discounting can encourage registration, like others, she says her organization still sees more registration right before the deadline.

As a nonprofit, Horn says AURP typically uses speakers within the network that don’t require a fee. However, if they do, she tries to offset it by raising sponsorships instead of registration fees.

Peer-to-peer sharing and ease of travel are key

Association management company Kellen is highly invested in helping its association clients maximize meeting attendance and has a comprehensive view of how to do that. Kim Chhabria, group vice president of shared services, shares her thoughts on strategies planners can use. Chhabria lists three core strategies for increasing registration: Peer-to-peer sharing, convenient location and providing what members want.

“Asking our organizing committee, speakers, sponsors and exhibitors to help spread the word about the conference always draws more attendees. People like to hear from their peers as a trusted source,” she says.

The second strategy — easy travel — simply means choosing a destination that’s a single flight or drivable for the majority of potential attendees.

The third strategy seems like a no-brainer but achieving it may not be so cut-and-dried. “Some associations want plenty of private networking time for industry deals. While others make sure the focus is on education, learning and sharing.” And, Chhabria adds, “Providing updates about the events adds greater visibility around why someone would want to attend. The more details we provide about the actual learning and takeaways, it usually correlates with our registration numbers.”

Also dependent on a meeting’s specific goals is the decision on whether a high-priced speaker may be worth the money. “It depends on the audience and conference goals,” Chhabria says. “Are you trying to incentivize attendees to action with a motivational speaker? Are you offering attendees a unique opportunity? Have you polled attendees regarding how they value high-profile or high-cost presenters?”

There are multiple event marketing tools available, and Chhabria encourages planners to use a variety of them. “An integrated marketing plan with digital and traditional methods is critical in achieving your registration goals. Email is still one of the best ways to increase participation, but mentions in your organization’s e-newsletters and other emails should be part of your mix,” she says.

“If you hardly send emails, don’t start blasting people every day with event marketing,” she advises. “Your marketing cadence should fit your organization’s style and you should make sure you’re highlighting the right things — the things your audience cares most about.”

She adds, “A dedicated website for an event offers several advantages and plays a crucial role not only in effectively promoting the event but managing it as well.”

Here’s how:

Information hub: A dedicated website serves as a centralized hub for all event-related information. It allows organizers to provide detailed, up-to-date information about the event, including the schedule, speakers, sessions, venue details, registration information and any additional resources or materials attendees may need. Having all information in one place makes it easy for attendees.

Branding: A well-designed website or event landing page gives the event a brand and cohesive visual identity. A professional appearance instills confidence in potential attendees, sponsors and partners, leading to increased participation and support.

Marketing and promotion: The website for your event is often your most powerful marketing tool. Organizers can optimize for search engines, use social media integration and employ various digital-marketing techniques to drive traffic. Creating engaging content such as blog posts, speaker interviews or event teasers will generate interest and attract attendees.

Communication and engagement: A dedicated website facilitates engagement. Setting up contact forms, providing FAQs and even integrating live chat or discussion forums to address inquiries and provide support are great ways to get people excited pre- and post-event, fostering a sense of community and enhancing the overall event experience.

Post-event resources: Even after the event is over, your website can serve as a resource. You can share materials such as session recordings, speaker presentations, photos or summary reports. This allows attendees to revisit the content, reinforces the event’s value and extends the event’s impact beyond its duration.

Timing can also impact registration. Is there a best time to open it? The short answer, Chhabria says, is “far enough in advance to achieve revenue goals.” She adds, “Opening registration equals incoming revenue. How badly does the organization need the revenue? How soon is the association ready to open registration [regarding the conference budget] and have you estimated the impact, or cancellation and refund factors into this decision as well?”

If you open registration earlier than it would historically be open, she adds, “Are you offering an incentive to pay early? Discounts are effective for increasing registration on the front end but not necessarily overall.” And while tiered pricing can work for registration purposes, Chhabria discourages tiered hotel room rates.

Although many meeting costs are increasing, raising registration fees shouldn’t be the first line of defense; that can actually deter registration. Chhabria suggests other avenues, such as sponsorships. “Just about anything can be branded and sponsored,” she notes.

Another option she offers is to offset costs by reducing meeting expenses. Some ways to do that include the following:

  • Choose a less expensive destination.
  • Change your conference pattern to meet a hotel’s “needs,” dates or meet in off-peak season.
  • Reduce the meeting space. This will allow the hotel to charge lower F&B or rental. Instead of classroom seating, use theater; consider fewer breakouts, or use the general session for breakouts.
  • Seek competing bids for all services. “Your preferred vendors should not be offended by this,” Chhabria says, “as it allows them to prove to you the value they add by using them year after year.”

Planners have a bucket of tools that can drive meeting success and attendance. Knowing which to use depends on the goals of the meeting, culture of the organization, and makeup and location of potential attendees. Planners should use as many as needed. Boosting attendance isn’t a one-and-done strategy. How to best achieve it may even change over time as goals, membership, technology and economic climates change. | AC&F |  

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