Calendar
This article is part of a series, inspired by the publication "Top 21 marketing ways for subscription sites' written by The Membership Coach Amanda Nordcutt.
The entire collection can be found in a book
Marketing opportunities are numerous at exhibitions and conferences. Pay for display space, acquire sponsorships through the event's organizer, or host a spin-off event in conjunction with the event or conference in addition to many other.
If you are lucky enough to discover that someone else in your field is arranging an annual event where your target audience is together, it is your responsibility to be there.
In comparison to hosting an event of your own Participating in an event that someone else has organized is like hitting the easy button. If you just go to the event without having planned, it's better to avoid the event altogether.
There are often conference/event/trade show sponsorships available for purchase, booths, and other opportunities to get amplified exposure to attendees over what you can accomplish on a one-to-one basis. One of the Holy Grail of event engagement for an event of someone else's is speaking at the occasion. Speaking engagements will be discussed in a moment however, as awkward as you may feel at first, public speaking before your intended public is just the same as speaking in front of a gold audience. It's a great approach to increase confidence and trust, provided that your presentation is entertaining useful, relevant and valuable.
Assess sponsorship opportunities similarly to what you do with any paid advertisement. It should be measurable, and the responsibility lies with you with any event sponsorship. Your presence at the event, your branding the experience you provide as well as the calls to action are likely to be the determining factor in your achievement or demise of it. Your plan for the event must be planned ahead of time along with a plan for on-site and a follow up sequence. This is true regardless of whether you've got a paid sponsorship, though this will make it easier if you are a sponsor.
Preparation: If you can get access and be visible in the list of attendees before the event you will be able to get people into the sales pipeline more quickly. If you're a sponsor and organizer, talk to the organizers how you can maximize the value of your sponsorship. Ask for more than what is offered in the agreement for sponsorship. If you come up with a innovative method of providing attendees with value and help the event organizer look attractive.
If you do not have sponsors and you're not an influential figure in your field, it's unlikely that you'll catch the attention of event organizers in any way. Make yourself available on Twitter as well as Instagram and search for the right hashtags to discover others that are attending. Begin by meeting them. You could also think about having a happy hour or lunch, or off site mini-workshop in the days and times that coincide with the event.
The moment: Sponsor or not Find a strategy to attract leads. You can do this with a one-to one basis. You can do this by offering a useful resource or offering to anyone who might be interested to trade contact details or permission to interact with them via social media. Take note of the conversation and stay clear of selling or pushing. If you're able to assist anyone, let them know they can help and request their permission to send them an email. If you take a moment to compose an email to everyone so that you can send a personal follow-up email is sure to put the bar higher than people who send generic follow-up messages without personal data.
Make sure you follow the hashtags for the event on social media throughout and following the event and use it to promote your own use. It's a simple way to build your brand and make yourself visible to the those attending. It's also an excellent way to meet potential clients or influencers at the time of and following the occasion.
If you're exhibiting at a convention then you'll have think of ways to stand out. This isn't my area of expertise, therefore, get on Pinterest and find some concepts to help you in your process of creating. Make yourself known, and if your field is a good fit for some amusement and entertainment that is fun, be sure you are playing with the idea. A way to achieve this is to create the theme for your booth, and then have workers or assistants dress in as they'd like to dress.
A method I've seen well is having employees going around and asking attendees whether they'd be interested in attending an exclusive restaurant or club following the event. After that, they'll need to come to your booth, where they can learn about the services you offer and then sign (lead capture) to receive an invitation. If you decide to hold a party it is important to make sure that there is a pleasant group of people in your booth whom your customers would actually want to drink with. Find a popular bar area inside a popular restaurant and pay the tab at the conclusion of the night. This can generate a buzz (no no jokes intended) throughout the evening, gives potential clients a positive experience of your company, and essentially serves as a direct call-to-action.
Follow up Preparation and planning on site can be wasted in the absence of following up in the follow-up plan. Be aware that lead capture at the event is crucial as you may not have enough people to follow-up with. Oops.
After the party Write an email to each person with your contact details that you took note of at the time of your meeting (you already did this do you not?) Make a connection to them through the preferred social media channel for a two-in-one combination. Be sure to not delay it for excessively long. You need to capitalize on event hype and the momentum. If you delay this for one week, you've probably not been able to capitalize on the hype. After you've sent the customized email, turn on the drip sequence you created automatically you created prior to the event. This can be done through your email provider (you are permitted to email them also, don't you?) and then move them along the sales funnel in the same how you would a person who visited your website. You've actually met this person in the flesh and the calls to action (CTAs) should be of greater significance (attend an educational webinar that is worth the price and sign up to trial, or even buy) rather than someone who are in the process of setting up your drip program when they click on the lead magnet that is on your site.
If you are only allowed to hand out cards but not take names or contact details due to an issue, you can create your own landing page and have a lead magnet that is exclusive specially designed for those attending conferences. Make a business card set created that include the web address for the landing page, as well as short descriptions of the no-cost downloads specifically created for them. Then have your form for capturing emails on the page to request downloads as well as to initiate an automated nurture program to adhere to.
There's an infinite number of possibilities to use this but the key point is that you must have an event prior to, after and plan for the time that can be measured.
Webinars
Webinars are 45-90 minutes worth of online training that can be shown live on the internet for an audience, or recorded, and consumed at any time. Webinars can be excellent, top-of-the-line resources as well as email list building tools However, they could also be used toward the conclusion of a marketing funnel to ask for the purchase.
Webinars are produced by yourself in a single event, or as a seriesof including a summit without guests, or you may be an invited guest at a different's. In any case, they can and should be used to demonstrate your knowledge, as well as establish trust and credibility within the particular field you work in. You can use them for a single time and you could also create permanent webinars - their content must be appropriate for the future twelve to 24 months.
If you run an open approach to your membership (meaning that you open your website to new members just a couple of times throughout the year) A single webcast or summit is an excellent way to seal the deal. I'd suggest offering the webcast live, and then mentioning a very special, exclusive and limited-time offer in the marketing materials. This offer will only be available for those who participated live following the webinar - not to those who view the replay. It is still possible to send the replay to people who did not attend the live event, however it is possible to increase your number of attendees who attended live and your closing rate to ensure that your audience members know there's something very special taking place during the closing.
Hosting a summit is one of the best moves you can make to become an authority/influencer. You must have an extensive email list to get guest speakers from other experts in the field however, if you are able to accomplish this you will be rewarded. This is a lot of work. I wouldn't recommend the process unless you are willing to invest to the time it takes to have your technology, summit promotion guests, guest lists, content plan agenda, follow-up and much more sorted out.
Participating as a guest in someone who is hosting a webinar and inviting your attendees to participate can be a fantastic opportunity to test your hand in the water and get at ease on the camera, without having to put on the work and effort needed to host your own. If you're working with other companies on cross-promotions, and you are using an influencer-based strategy that is organically implemented, you're likely to appear at the top of the list of participants for the webinars that are being held by the hosts of their summits as well as webinars.
As with fully taking advantage of the benefits of an industry-related conference or, creating a prior webinar marketing plan and strategy to follow up is essential. Since webinars and summits are an excellent source of knowledge for your group of customers (not to mention, a lot of effort on your behalf) be sure that you're recycling the material you gained from the conference to make it the form of a blog series, an ebook, podcast or video series on YouTube as a lead-generator, and on.
The key factor to remember whether you're hosting or guest is that you provide the most valuable service to webinar attendees. Do not be enticed to conceal your secret recipe. It's moment to show that you have the sauce as well as plenty of other benefits that are available behind the paywall for the membership.
Meetings in-person or meetings
Events and meetups on the ground could comprise one of the following: hosting a Happy Hour, classes in person, workshops, sponsorship of activities held in person in cities in which a significant portion of your participants reside , as well as any other place it is possible to connect people in person. These events could be for cost-free or payable or a bit educational, or just fun for building community.
The majority of the sites that we collaborate with offer members an online community that is an element of membership. At the end of the day, it's about community. is the biggest differentiators between a membership and an class. If you're able connect your group by bringing them together in person, then organize events that your participants (and the future members) enjoy and then give them praise online it will increase the number of sales, conversion and cLTV rate, as well as overall effectiveness as a community.
These kinds of events are a great place to let members currently or prospectively to mingle and talk. Allow your existing members to do the "selling" for you to prospects through casual conversation. If some members from your current group appreciate your membership in such a way that they're talking about your membership in person, they're likely to make it a a natural part of the discussion.
In the case of trade shows , you must prepare prior to the event, and then make sure that the conference be a success as compared to what was expected Then, you must have the ability to follow-up. How you prepare and how you follow up will depend on the type of event you're hosting.
If it's a workshop, you're likely charging people to attend, and will need to prepare marketing materials, and then the workshop details themselves (workbooks, handouts, a slide deck, your presentation, guest speakers/instructors). Follow-up materials should comprise the survey that attendees completed as well as bonus materials along with an opportunity to purchase something else. If you've had the pleasure of meeting people in person, and earned the trust of these people use the experience into a profitable upsell opportunity.
If you're hosting an event like a happy hour, only a little preparation is required. You must choose a good spot, offering food and maybe drinks, as well as making sure people attend. When you're there, interact with the other attendees, and make sure there's nobody absent. The idea of inviting members who have already been present to invite a person that is like the group can be a good way to improve your attendance , too.
Even though it's true that a Happy Hour isn't the best opportunity to make sales when you're inviting potential members You should have a method to make sure that you follow up with the people who you invite. Lead-capture strategies could involve taking them to a competition to win an unrestricted membership and other products. It could also be that is more subtle, like offering individuals cards with the promotional code specific to them.
If you're hosting an event ensure that you've got a plan for lead collection and follow-up with attendees who might be interested in joining. As your materials for marketing regarding memberships must match what paid members get when they pay the paywall, the promotion for the event will need to align with the content you're capable of delivering in person or else you're in danger of getting a bad name on social media. Make sure you have raving people who support your event rather than naysayers so that you're able to successfully host the next event. It is the perfect moment to apply the under promise, overdeliver rule.
Speaking engagements
It's possible that this could cause more anxiety than direct sales to some individuals. However, this can be extremely effective when done in the right way as well recorded, documented, and applied. If you're not familiar with public speaking, don't be concerned about the process. Things like blog posts, hosting guest podcasts as well as being a guest in webinars, creating videos, etc. All of these are great practice for public speaking.
There's no need to set your sights on the stars in the beginning. Find a local business association and give a talk right there and then or run an individual workshop for small groups. There is even the option of going to an area in which you do not meet anyone else and delivering your talk, if you truly wish to reduce the stress. Begin small and, as your experience and skill develop, progress to bigger tasks.
Offer to lead breakout sessions at conferences, arrange a casual breakout session before or after any other event or conference (in the most honest way obviously). Once you've done those things successfully, start to harness your organic influencer, guest blogging/podcasting/webinar hosting strategies to move further up the speaking ladder. If you're able to access interesting speaking opportunities as an active member of a group and have taken the effort to establish the social capital within that network, you're many times more likely to take part in a speaking slot even if you're not a well-known celebrity.
Speaking engagements with a higher profile can become as lucrative as writing your own novel as well as holding a convention or even an event with other experts from the field in terms of influence and impact. No matter the size of your speaking engagement, be sure that you make the most of your presentation through repurposing it to various other media. Be sure to capture high-quality footage of your talk or presentation. Upload your presentation to your website, both before and behind the paywall. Put it up on YouTube and make use of the video to create a blog series, or podcast topic, and engage in discussions in your free and paid communities Include an embedded video on your site's "About" as well as the "Resources" tab of your site.
Make use of the video recording to apply for other speaking opportunities. When you've established yourself as an effective speaker, and you've promoted yourself appropriately using recorded video of your speech and social evidence (positive comments from your people in the audience) then your public speaking experience will be significantly easier.
This post was first seen on here