Organizing a successful conference involves meticulous preparation, and the intricacies of planning a conference are often overlooked in discussions. While sending out invitations may seem straightforward, securing commitments from industry-leading experts to speak is a distinct and challenging aspect of the process. Setting up the place such as getting the right tier seating for the attendees. As a conference planner, it’s easy to lose sight of the goal amid the hustle and bustle of the event. These tips should help you figure out the best way to host a conference while still maintaining your sanity.
Use Personal Video Invitations
Hubspot notes that the cost of professional video production has gone down in recent years. Despite that, many event planners aren’t taking advantage of the better rates to use video for connecting with their invitees. Industry leaders will probably be inundated with emails, and yours needs to stand out. Instead of having them read a stodgy stock letter, you’d be better advised to employ a video to catch their attention and explain why you want them. In this industry, personalized approaches go a long way towards securing commitments.
Use Ads on Social Media
Once you’ve got the industry experts on board, how do you advertise to your core demographic? In the past, it might be something as simple as taking out a full-page ad in a magazine that you know the professionals you want to attend read. But who reads magazines these days? Instead, social media networks (mainly LinkedIn, which focuses on professional advancement) can be an excellent marketing method. As Influencer Marketing Hub notes, if you’re looking to target a broad cross-section of a profession, LinkedIn ads have the potential to connect with a lot of them at a reasonable cost.
Keep Your Sponsors in the Loop
The sponsors are the backbone of your event. Without proper sponsorship, your event will fail to kick off, and if it does, it’ll be profoundly underwhelming. You want to keep your sponsors informed of what’s going on at all times. Ideally, you’d send weekly updates on the progress of the event. If you’re hosting it in a conference center like the Venue at Friendship Springs, you should look into ensuring that your sponsors get proper placement for their advertising and products. It would be in your best interest if you supported their advertising efforts that incorporate your event. Produce social media logos and other marketing tools that you can use to promote the conference alongside their products.
Excellent Conferences Aren’t Accidents
To allow an excellent conference to come off without a hitch required being aware of what you want to accomplish. Conferences, at their heart, are about interaction, communication, and relationships. If you plan a gathering with sponsors and it works out in their favor, they’ll be more inclined to partner again with you later down the road. The same goes for industry leaders and influencers.
Finally, your conference needs to provide value to the audience so that they’d be willing to return the next time you host one. Developing an awesome conference takes a lot of time, effort, and planning. Things like booking a porta potty or Portable Toilet Rental for Events, or setting up the right AV system with led video walls will all contribute to the success of your event. When it does go off as a success, you realize that it’s all worth it.