5 Best Ways to Increase your Event Attendance

One time I was organizing an event that nobody turned up for. A nightmare is how I would describe it.

The subject matter was really interesting; cyber security and hacking.  But, the event had a wordy, vague title that would put anyone to sleep.  It was my job to market it, and the company did everything else.

They provided a 300-person space, ordered drinks and snacks, and put together these wonderful, insightful presentations. 

In the end, 20 people showed up.  Completely my fault. It was my own personal nightmare sitting there watching these presentations in a sea of empty chairs.

Since then I’ve realized quality content and a great event aren’t enough to drive people to attend. Also, it doesn’t matter how well-planned your event is; if you don’t understand how to get people to show up, it will all be for nothing.

How are people supposed to know it’s great before they show up?!

Now I always put as much effort into the marketing, messaging and communication as the logistics so the organizers get the audience they deserve.

What are some ways you can make sure to get attendees to your event, fill seats, and make it so as many people as possible can remember your event?

Here are five effective ways to increase event attendance.

1. Understand Why Your Audience Wants to Attend in the First Place

Focus on your event objectives and the key results you’re aiming for. What values are you promoting and what kinds of audience members would resonate with that message?

Imagine this nightmare scenario: you plan an amazing event designed to lead decision-makers at local businesses to purchase your product. On the day itself, your event is well-attended, and you’re sure you’re about to break all your company’s sales records.

But nothing comes of it.

You realize that your audience was made up almost entirely of retirees and college students; no one is in a position to buy what you’re selling. 

Understanding your target audience helps you define a plan for the event that matches their motivations. Use real data from past events, surveys, and interviews to determine a customer persona.

2. Provide a Hook with Valuable Details

Like most content, event content needs a hook. What is the theme of the event and why should one come? Often, this is done in the subject line and first paragraph of the email. As the hook draws clicks, answers to valuable detail questions should be provided on the event registration page: What time is the event? Who is speaking? Where is it located? How do guests register?

3. Offer Discounts

If you are charging for your event, the price of the ticket may daunt potential participants from registering. In such circumstances, offering discounts can be a great incentive. Early bird rates, referral promotional codes, influencer offers, discounts for more than one registration – there are a lot of ways to offer discounts to attract more attendees!

You can also consider giving sponsors or speakers a number of complimentary passes to distribute to their network to promote the event.

4. Share On Social Media

It is vital to promote your event on all social media channels, tagging those who are participating in your event through speakers, sponsors, hosts, the planning committee, the board, staff, and even registered attendees. Use appropriate hashtags, including one created for your event as well as general hashtags to help recruit those who might be interested in your topic.

5. Keep Attendees Excited

It’s essential to get your attendees excited about the upcoming event and keep them that way. Excite your prospective attendees with teaser emails hinting at more perks to come.

Build up the suspense and get them to eagerly anticipate additional information about your event as you reveal more details.

Finally.

Planning an event takes a great deal of time and effort, you don’t want to arrive on the day and find that your attendance is much lower than anticipated.

By making the effort to understand your audience’s motivations, offering incentives, and marketing your event on all the right channels to keep attendees excited, you’ll set your event up for success.

You can learn all these and much more on how to manage audience expectations by signing up for Event Management Course today!