Organizing a national roadshow at short notice? Running intimate dinners for top execs? Delighting conference attendees with personalized experiences? This is all in a day’s work for an events pro. But despite being excellent at your jobs, there’s often one weapon missing from an event marketer’s arsenal: demand generation tactics.
Okay, okay, we know you’re not on the demand gen team, and that your KPIs are (sometimes) one step removed from revenue targets. But event professionals who incorporate demand generation tactics into their plan of attack will not only see more registrations, but also get more firepower out of the content they produce before and during their events.
We know it’s not always easy to learn from demand gen teams. They’re busy, you’re busy, and your teams are often siloed. So we’ve done the research for you. We spoke with:
With their insights, we’ll walk you through demand gen tactics to drive people to your event registration page and maximize conversions.
Don’t worry, we’re not going to give you a noob explanation here. But marketing is full of buzzwords, so it’s good to align on definitions upfront.
So here we go—demand generation is the process of creating and capturing demand for your products or services. As a function of marketing, its objective is to drive net-new and expansion business by getting the right offers to the right audience through a variety of marketing channels.
Demand generation brings together and engages audiences via:
And when we’re talking about demand gen, we’re talking about human connection. As Nick says, demand generation is “all about putting people first.” The best demand gen focuses on making meaningful relationships.
Good demand gen strives to create awareness and interest in products or services through the channels listed above; great demand gen focuses on addressing the real needs and interests of the audience. That’s what makes it such a good fit for event professionals, who already have a people-first focus.
You may be thinking that demand generation sounds like it’s related to integrated marketing campaigns. While it’s true they have some aspects in common, like the focus on driving revenue, there are differences too. We recommend digging into our explainer on integrated campaigns to understand the relationship between the two activities.
OK, now we’ve got the dictionary definitions out of the way! Next up—tips, tactics, and strategies to drive traffic to event pages, increase sign-ups, and decrease no-shows.
People won’t register for your event if they don’t know it exists. Tap into search (organic and paid), social media (organic and paid) influencer partnerships, and email campaigns to drive people to your registration page.
When you’re promoting an event, you should implement organic and paid search marketing when you have a long runway. You need at least six months before an event to allow your search campaigns to gain any traction.
First, use tools like Ahrefs and Semrush to develop a basic keyword strategy. As Molly says, “The words on your page are tools for getting Google to understand what your website is all about—so the words have to be the right ones that people are searching for.”
Ahrefs and Semrush will help you develop a quick list of keywords that you’ll likely want to sprinkle throughout your landing page content. Focus your search on relevant, but low difficulty keywords that don’t have a lot of saturation. This is important for both organic and paid campaigns.
Then lean into what’s already working. If organic is showing good results for you, put some money behind it. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!
One of the biggest social media tools at your disposal for events is Instagram. Molly says, “For events, it can be one of the best channels you can tap into.” With Instagram’s focus on visual content, it’s a great channel to give prospective attendees a taste of your events and let keynotes and discussions (literally) speak for themselves.
It’s a good idea to promote your event through your company’s social channels, but also through stakeholder channels. Molly says, “People don’t follow brands, people follow people.” Getting internal support from someone in leadership who already has a built-in audience will go a long way to help you reach potential attendees.
However, when it comes to promoting paid social, Mitch says, “There’s a big difference between running a paid social campaign to try to get someone to book a demo, and trying to get someone to sign up for an event.” So don’t get discouraged if your registrations aren’t taking off right away. Just lean back into what’s already working organically—personable, authentic promotions—and give it a budget.
You already have potential attendee emails in your customer relationship management software (CRM); now get them to your site to inform them about the event. Email is great because it’s a channel your organization “owns” and you can segment mail-outs in several ways, including:
When you reach out to prospective good-fit attendees, remember to tailor your email copy to the audience you’re targeting. The goal of your email should be to explain why the event will benefit them, specifically.
“There’s audience segmentation getting them there, and audience segmentation to keep the anticipation for the event,” Mitch says. You can segment your audience further once you see what individual registrants are excited about and the type of content they’re engaging with.
When using email as a promotional tool, you want to make it as easy on the recipient as possible. This means you should use known data—pre-populate form fields with their name or any other relevant information—to help with easy sign-ups (conversions). Then you can use reminders and alerts to keep them interested and keep driving demand from the time of registration until the event.
As Molly explains, “No-shows are a big problem right now in the event space. There’s a lot of competition for events.” So again, make it as easy as possible—as few clicks as possible—to get a potential registrant from point A (opening the email) to point B (signing up for your event).
Identify subject matter experts (SMEs) and professional influencers—those with built-in communities—and partner with them to promote events.
“The first step,” Nick says, “is to understand your audience deeply.” Figure out the key topics and trends that resonate with your audience and use this information to help craft your pitch. Research influencers who are experts in these topics and trends—who also have a strong following among your target audience—and make a list of these people. Then you can edit this list down further by seeking out those who: 1) are known for their authenticity; and 2) actively engage with their followers.
There are two kinds of influencers (both of whom can also be audience members at your event):
Once you get them on board, give them direction on how to approach this partnership. For internal influencers, limit the guidelines you give them for how they speak about the event. They’re already familiar with the context of the content and your products and offerings. So they can speak to it from an authentic, personal viewpoint.
For external influencers, their own “storytelling” is important, but you’ll likely need to guide them. If you’re reaching out to them directly to ask them to post on your behalf, provide them with sample social copy and sample content about the event topic. You can still give them the leeway to add their own “personality,” but you also want to ensure their communication is aligned with your company’s message.
You also want to make sure they’re using unique links so you can track what kind of traffic they’re driving to your site. And, as a final reminder, let them know it’s important that they tag your organization along with any partner company that may be part of the event.
You’ve done a lot of work to get people to your website, make sure they don’t leave before learning more about your event.
Demand gen is all about motivating people to take action. Try these tactics in your event content to get prospective attendees clicking and converting:
Focus on the first three to five seconds of whatever you’re creating (an event registration page, a promo video, whatever). Make sure you’re using this time and space to grab visitors’ attention.
Explain why your users “can’t miss” this event and the benefits they can expect to get out of it. Think about what your audience does professionally, but also consider what they do “off the clock.” This will help you draw parallels between your audience’s life and the event content.
For example, take someone who works in the industrial sector. They’re really good at their job, but they feel like they lack some technical skills they need to grow the way they want to. So on the side, they’re teaching themselves how to use Excel and manage their emails more effectively. If you can use this “hook” to connect the dots between what your event speaker is presenting, and these side tasks for this industrial professional, you can make them feel like what they’re doing “outside of work” is worthwhile and productive. And these connections will lead to more registrations.
Everyone wants to be a winner, so if you have a great event giveaway to share—share it on your site! But be careful. Some people will just sign up for the event if there’s a raffle—and this is just a numbers game for event professionals. But, as Liz says, “Numbers don’t shake out into revenue.”
So remember to focus on quality, not quantity. Promoting a good speaker is more valuable (in the long run) than promoting a good “prize.” Make sure your potential attendees can see on your registration page just how valuable your event will be, but keep in mind that some people just want free stuff.
Happy, positive customers coming to your conference is great social proof for prospects. Consider holding a round-table dinner ahead of your event. Use this dinner to invite your community (potential attendees), but also sprinkle in a few current customers. Allow them to eat and socialize, and—if your customers are satisfied (the ones you invite should be)—they’ll sell your event for you.
Take this a step further by hiring a professional photographer to capture candid moments throughout the dinner. People want to be able to share photos of themselves, especially on LinkedIn, because it’s always an algorithm booster. The more people are sharing these great photos, the more you can ensure your content is resonating with your audience.
You want to create the best user experience (UX) possible when promoting your event—and this goes back to putting “people” first.
Consider your site navigation and user journey. Include event call-outs within navigation bars and modules to make it easy for people to find the event and register quickly. You may also want to employ chatbots to drive people to your main registration page. And, of course, make sure event registration pages are mobile-friendly.
You also want to make sure you’re putting your most valuable content upfront—remember the “first three to five seconds” tip. If you have an event promo video on your site, make your point in the first five seconds. If you’re featuring a static graphic, highlight the ad copy that tells the user exactly why they need to attend your event.
Your work to get people to your registration page paid off. Now, here’s what you should consider to ensure someone actually completes registration once they get there:
Call-to-action (CTA) and form placement
Experiment with different CTAs and locations of event registration forms on your site. You could test this with different segments to determine which resonates most with users.
Copy and language
Your event information should be easy to skim. Visitors and potential attendees should be able to find the “Who? What? Where? When? And why?” quickly and easily.
Collecting user information
Progressive registration practices will help you remove friction during your event sign-ups. These processes hide non-essential event registration questions from users while they’re signing up, and then they’re prompted to complete them via email (sometimes weeks or months) later.
Along the same lines, you can use conditional logic to collect only the information you need. For example, if a registrant isn’t in a position at a company to make financial decisions, you won’t need to collect the same information from them as you would from a C-suite member.
As you know, the more form fields you require someone to complete, the more likely they’ll be to bounce out before actually registering. So aim to make it as painless as possible for them.
Demand generation marketers live and die by data. And the data you get as an event organizer can ensure your event is well attended and runs smoothly, even before day one. Here are a few demand gen best practices for using data in your event efforts:
Cross-reference your event registration list with your CRM to determine whether or not enough of your event audience includes your ideal customer profile (ICP). Look at the categories that define your ICP like job title and company size to get a percentage of registrants that are a good fit. If needed, work with your sales and marketing teams to identify different audience members who should be seeing your event messaging and quickly ramp up your efforts during event promotion.
Use data at your fingertips—registration data about in-person event attendees—to understand if you need to update your event execution plans (like additional event seating for a breakout session, more swag, or expanded happy hour guest lists).
After your event, share attendee feedback and registration numbers with decision-makers. Reach out to your speakers and ask them how the event impacted their own website or social traffic. This will help you illustrate the positive impact your event made and demonstrate potential reach for future events.
Leads and qualified leads are important, but not as important as pipeline. Your MQL to Opp conversion rate may be useful. And “open” opportunities are good indicators of a quality lead.
Your event management system should always be tied to CRM so your events, sales, and marketing teams are all speaking the same “language.”
You’re already great at what you do—and with a little help from our demand gen experts, you can be even greater.
Use organic and paid search and social media marketing, email campaigns, and influencers to help you drive more traffic to your website and registration page. Once you have them there, use website psychology and UX best practices to help them convert (sign up for your event).
Be intentional in all your promotional efforts—from the copy and CTAs you use, to the way in which you collect audience data. And then once you have that data, use that to power all of your event executions.
