How can you build a relationship with people who object to registering for your event based on your credibility? Here are a few suggestions on improving the way your prospects view your event.
The Power of Credibility
When your event is either completely new to the market or you are trying to reach out to a new audience, establishing up front credibility with your audience is important. Even if your event is well-established, re-enforcement of its credibility will help boost your attendance.
Establish Who You Are
Create credibility by establishing a unique identity such as an "Institute" or "Center" along with a description of your mission. For example, the "Center for Personal Finance" or "The National Institute of (fill in the blank)."
Use any industry or high-profile connections to establish and promote an advisory board. Use "big name" speakers or co-chairs along with their photos on all of your promotional materials. Your prospects will feel safer registering when they see familiar or official-sounding entities.
You’re in Good Company
Find yourself a reputable sponsor or co-sponsor and then shamelessly promote your partnership. If you have not yet established a reputation, "borrowing" someone else's can give you a tremendous attendance boost. You're smiling to yourself, but it's true!
Prominently promoting individuals and/or companies that have participated in past events can also launch instant credibility. Do you have notable speakers?
Or promotable sponsors?
More importantly...are you promoting them?
The Meeting Planner's Online Advantage: The #1 Myth about Online Registration Systems
We hear it over and over again. It's the number one myth about online registration systems that keeps many meeting planners from making their lives easier and their events more successful.
The Meeting Planner's Online Advantage: 6 Ways to Reduce 55% of Your Daily Workload
Industry-expert Corbin Ball estimates that only 20% of meeting planners are using online registration to its real potential. Meeting planners that are managing registrations using paper, emails, basic web-forms, in-house systems or installed software are doing 80% more work than they really need to be doing.
The Meeting Planner's Online Advantage: The Trick that Doubles Client Satisfaction by Doing Less
We all know that communication is the most important component in any relationship; and that can be applied to business as well. The more timely the information provided to your clients, colleagues and suppliers; the smoother your event will run and the happier everyone involved in your event will be.
