Posts Categorized: Event Marketing

kchopson

How Tracking Your Live and Virtual Conference Attendees Can Help Your Bottom Line

Posted by & filed under Event Marketing, Event Rebels Blog, Meetings Technology, Online Registration - Keys to Success, QR Codes, Trade Show, Virtual Events, What's New.

Conference Attendees

In the mad rush to get ready for a conference, it is easy to ignore one of the most important metrics of show – namely, who actually attended. Planners often overlook this metric because the registration revenue is already in the bank so, in their overworked mind, it is not particularly important knowing who actually showed up. This is a major mistake because knowing your attendees from your no-shows is very important for your planning, marketing and bottom line. There are two things you should take into account when getting ready to verify your attendees. Know the difference between Attendance... Read more »

kchopson

Why your Beautiful Email may not be attractive everywhere

Posted by & filed under Email - How to Use Effectively, Event Marketing, Event Rebels Blog, Mobile Event Apps, What's New.

EMail

You just spent hours creating a beautiful Email with an important message. When you test sent the message to your Email client program, like Gmail or Microsoft Outlook, everything looks fantastic. Yet shortly after you send out the Email blast, people contact you complaining that it was hard to read. What happened? The key to understanding this problem is noting that the HTML that is behind your Email is not rendered the same on different Email clients. The main reason for this is the viewing of Emails is a different experience than browsing a website. For example, Email clients need... Read more »

kchopson

Six ways to Improve Event Attendance without Busting Your Budget

Posted by & filed under Event Marketing, Event Rebels Blog, Meetings Technology.

ways to improve event attendance event rebels

When tasked with boosting event attendance, planners often worry that a large budget is needed to reach new goals. Fortunately, there are many ways to deliver a big boost to attendance without breaking the budget. Many of these methods use tools you may already have or require just some minor shifts in how you think about your event. 1. Use Past Registration Data The data collected from previous year’s events presents a treasure trove of valuable insights. Perhaps the most useful way to delve into this data is to look for common categories of attendees. Not only can you group... Read more »

kchopson

Why Strong Email Campaigns Increase Conference and Trade Show Sales

Posted by & filed under Email - How to Use Effectively, Event Marketing, Event Rebels Blog, Meetings Technology, What's New.

After launching a trade show or conference, your next goal becomes increasing registrations and sales. Here’s a secret: To maximize your success, you need the right mix of event management technology. For starters, both a user-friendly online registration platform and a trade show exhibitor management tool ensure your show starts on the right foot. But beyond that, there’s one tool that’s missing from the event technology mix – an email marketing solution. Email is one of the most popular marketing channels in the U.S. – used by more than 42% of marketers, according to data from Statista. That means there’s... Read more »

kchopson

18 ways you can make a GREAT Online Registration Form for your Conference

Posted by & filed under Event Marketing, Event Rebels Blog, GDPR and Privacy, Meetings Technology, Online Registration - Keys to Success, Surveys, What's New.

Register Button

Have you ever had an online registration form that was both inflexible and unattractive? An inflexible registration form is one that does not allow you to control what fees and questions a registrant receives based on how they answered other questions on the form. An unattractive form is, well, ugly – such as a cheap looking invitation. If your online registration form has either of these qualities, you are diminishing the brand of your event and your organization. While building an event brand takes a long time of hard work, that impression can be brought down quickly by giving a... Read more »

kchopson

How to get started with Conference Management Software: Part Six – Successful Event Email Marketing

Posted by & filed under Email - How to Use Effectively, Event Marketing, Event Rebels Blog, Meetings Technology, What's New.

This series has been reviewing how event technology can be employed at various points in the lifecycle of an association’s annual conference. After you have opened online registration and your online trade show sales, you can now start using event technology to drive revenue. In particular, targeted Email communications still remains one of the best ways to get companies and individuals to sign up for your conference. Event technology can help you communicate with potential attendees in a number of different ways: Scheduled Email Campaigns. Great event management software will let you plan out your marketing campaigns in advance through... Read more »

kchopson

How Verifying Your Conference Attendees Can Help Your Bottom Line

Posted by & filed under Event Marketing, Event Rebels Blog, Meetings Technology, Online Registration - Keys to Success, QR Codes, Trade Show, What's New.

Conference Attendees

In the mad rush to get ready for a conference, it is easy to ignore one of the most important metrics of show – namely, who actually attended. Planners often overlook this metric because the registration revenue is already in the bank so, in their overworked mind, it is not particularly important knowing who actually showed up. This is a major mistake because knowing your attendees from your no-shows is very important for your planning, marketing and bottom line. There are two things you should take into account when getting ready to verify your attendees. Know the difference between Attendance... Read more »

kchopson

Ten Ways to Use Facebook Live & Periscope Streaming Apps for Your Conference

Posted by & filed under Event Marketing, Event Rebels Blog, Meetings Technology, Social Media, What's New.

Live Streaming Phone Apps

Live streaming apps have quickly been recognized as a terrific way to extend your meeting’s brand beyond in-person attendees. Twitter’s Periscope was the first to show the possibilities of live streaming events. However, the arrival of Facebook Live offers a chance to expand your show’s reach to Facebook’s giant ecosystem of over a billion users. The good news is you do not need to pick just one of these apps – you can use both! Since these free apps are a particularly good way to reduce expensive A/V costs, they will be particularly attractive to smaller meetings. Here are some... Read more »

kchopson

Use FOMO to Promote Your Conference!

Posted by & filed under Event Marketing, Event Rebels Blog, Social Media, What's New.

Have you ever experienced FOMO, aka the Fear of Missing Out? You may have gone through FOMO if your peers are about to have a great experience – and you may not be there. In fact, some studies have shown that millennials, in particular, are susceptible to FOMO. Largely as a result of social media, FOMO has become a widely discussed phenomenon. FOMO is not just about having fun. Fear of being left behind professionally by missing a great conference, for example, can have the same effect. The funny thing is that high quality face-to-face meetings, rather than being hurt... Read more »

kchopson

How New Twitter Changes Can Help Your Event Marketing

Posted by & filed under Event Marketing, Event Rebels Blog, Onsite, Social Media, What's New.

Twitter

Of all the social media channels, Twitter is one that is best suited for reporting live happenings and news-worthy items. In fact, breaking television newscasts often consist of journalists reading the Twitter feed on their phone. Because of this ability of Twitter to function as a news feed, the social media product has become a channel of choice for events. Many meetings now feature live social media posts, often tied to the event’s mobile app and social wall. Besides being a key part of the onsite portion of an event, Twitter is now a major part of the pre-marketing of... Read more »

Dreamforce: The Dreamboat Experience

Posted by & filed under Branding, Event Design, Event Marketing, Event Networking, Event Rebels Blog, Meetings, Travel, Venues.

Event Rebels Dreamforce

“The Love Boat promises something for everyone.” The Dreamboat may not have been the Love Boat, but Dreamforce definitely tried to have something for everyone! For the first time in Dreamforce’s 13 year existence, the 170,000 person conference chartered a Celebrity Cruises ship to provide lodging to 1,100 conference attendees. This is not the first time a conference has chartered a ship as a “floating hotel”, but it is probably the most mainstream example of lodging alternatives, even being featured on Forbes.com. In a time where conference attendees are searching for alternatives to the traditional room block, such as airbnb, Dreamforce’s... Read more »

kchopson

Why and How to Create a Great Conference Blog

Posted by & filed under Event Marketing, Event Rebels Blog, Social Media, What's New.

Talk to a marketing expert about your event, conference or trade show and almost certainly you will be told that social media needs to be a key component of your promotion. However, what is often missing is the advice on how to do have a great social media campaign. What do you tweet about? What should you post on Facebook? How do you get started? To answer these questions, it is important to reconsider a core principal of social media marketing. This concept involves the idea of a “spoke” – as in a bicycle tire. At the center of this... Read more »

Live-Streaming: Broadcast vs. Engagement or Meerkat/Periscope vs. Blab

Posted by & filed under Event Apps, Event Marketing, Event Networking, Event Rebels Blog, Social Media.

I’ve written about live streaming apps Meerkat and Periscope before. Live-streaming has been the new frontier of social media since Meerkat blew up at SXSW earlier this year. For the most part Meerkat and Periscope have been the go-to livestream apps, and they’ve been successful in terms of introducing the livestream to the mainstream. According to Salesforce, Meerkat currently has around 2 million users, and Periscope has around 10 million users. Neither app has taken the world by storm like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram have, however that may all change. There’s a new kid on the block, and it’s... Read more »

Recognizing Your Event’s Influencer Network

Posted by & filed under Branding, Event Marketing.

Event Rebels: Recognizing Event Influencer Network

Your event is a representation of your brand. Whether you’re an association, corporation, or non-profit, the way you interact with your stakeholders and members is through your live events. Influencers are everywhere, and they are talking about your brand. When your social media managers (if you have them), are talking about “influencers”, they are really talking in terms of the valuable relationships your brand has on social media. Influence can be broken down into three pillars: Relevance, Reach, and Resonance. Relevance: The creation of content that is relevant to your brand, or relevant to a topic that’s important to your brand.... Read more »

The Decision to Attend Study: Phase 1

Posted by & filed under Event Design, Event Marketing, Event Networking, Event Rebels Blog, Meetings, Social Media, Surveys, Uncategorized.

Decision to Attend Study

The Decision to Attend Study, created in partnership by The Experience Institute, IAEE, and PCMA, has begun it’s Phase 2. Yesterday, Mickey Schaefer of The Experience Institute shared some of the key findings in Phase 1. We’ve taken the liberty of compiling those findings for you. Take a look at the major takeaways. Propensity to Attend The Propensity to Attend is High Across All Generations. 92% are likely to attend, with younger generations trending strong. Younger Generations Are Replacing Older Generation Attendees. As the older generations attend fewer events, the younger Gen X and Gen Y generations are filling the void. The... Read more »

Using Pinterest to Market Your Meetings

Posted by & filed under Event Marketing, Event Rebels Blog, Social Media.

Pinterest, like most forms of social media, has it’s own unique engagement strategy. However, the role of any social media marketing strategy remains the same; Raise awareness of your product (in this case, your event) and begin engaging your customer (your attendees). The first step to Pinterest marketing is to build relationships with influencers. Every social media platform has influencers within their industry. Relationships with those influencers can benefit your meeting. Identify influencers by searching for engaged members who already use keywords associated with your meeting. Once you’ve identified some influencers, start following them and repining the content you like.... Read more »

kchopson

Trade Show Swag: What’s Hot for 2015

Posted by & filed under Branding, Event Marketing, Event Rebels Blog, Trade Show, What's New.

Design Rebel: Trade Show Swag

An intriguing thought crossed my mind as I prepared this blog on the benefits of trade show giveaways. Given the nearly universal appeal of tchotchkes I wondered whether anyone has proposed a doctoral dissertation analyzing the irresistible allure of ball point pens, pocket-sized hand sanitizers, disposable water bottles and tote bags emblazoned with exhibitor’s logos. As a veteran of scores of trade shows, I’ve seen well-dressed, affluent –looking professionals saunter over to a booth and scoop up a key chain, pencil, highlighter or a tiny box of breath mints. Generally, these items retail for under three dollars. Perhaps there is... Read more »

Designing Emotional Sensory Experiences

Posted by & filed under Event Design, Event Marketing, Event Rebels Blog.

What is Experience Design? Experience Design is about interacting your brand (event, company, product) with your consumer, allowing your brand to come alive for them. This creates a fresh connection between brand and consumer, in their personal world. These connections should be formed by experiences that are personally relevant to the consumer. It should be memorable for them, it should be interactive, and it should invoke emotion. The 3 Stages of an Experience Experience/Encoding – This is the stage where your consumer interacts with the brand message. During this stage your memory begins to encode the information it is receiving.... Read more »

Tech Tuesday: The Future of Event Websites – No Coding Necessary

Posted by & filed under Event Marketing, Event Rebels Blog, Meetings Technology, Uncategorized.

Event Rebels Tech Tuesday

Your event website can make or break your event registration. As the first line of offense when attracting attendance, your website is necessary to provide up to date information on your event, answers to frequently asked questions, and all the minor details one needs to know when deciding to attend your event like hotel, transportation, and the schedule of events. One of the biggest issues I encountered when working for an association was creating and editing our website. We just didn’t have the level of coding skill necessary. Even making basic changes required sending a request to our IT department.... Read more »

Improving Your Events with Technology and Nostalgia

Posted by & filed under Branding, Event Design, Event Marketing, Event Networking, Event Rebels Blog, Meetings Technology.

Event Rebels Tech Tuesday

Marketers have been using nostalgia for generations, utilizing old commercials and logos to help connect multi-generational fans and buyers. As most people experience nostalgia at least once a week (and nearly half experience it at three to four times that amount), modern marketers have quickly learned to harness the power of social media to accelerate the impact of nostalgia to drive their event campaigns. One application of nostalgia in our daily lives is Throwback Thursday, a campaign which began on various social media platforms in 2006. To put this trend into perspective, as of May 2014, the hashtag #TBT had... Read more »

Rebel Roundup: Amazon, Airbnb, AIPAC, American/US Airways Merger

Posted by & filed under Event Design, Event Marketing, Event Rebels Blog, Meetings Technology, Mobile Event Apps, Social Media, Trade Show, Travel.

This week’s rebel round-up includes articles about Amazon, AIPAC, Productivity Hacks, American/US Airways Merger, Airbnb, and Waste Audits!  Enjoy! Is Amazon About To Disrupt The Hotel Industry? – PCMA (@PCMAhq) How a Conference Used Innovative Design to Serve Delegates – BizBash (@BizBash) 7 Productivity Hacks for Event Planners – Event Manager Blog (@EventMB) 9 things frequent fliers need to know about upcoming American/US Airways merger – Road Warrior Voices (@USATODAYtravel) 8 Steps to Improve Your Event With a Waste Audit – Event Manager Blog (@EventMB) Airbnb’s Revenues Will Cross Half Billion Mark in 2015, Analysts Estimate – Skift via Rafat Ali (@rafat) See you next week with more interesting articles for the event and... Read more »

Rebel Roundup: Apple, TED, Wi-Fi, Disney Magic Bands, and Marriott

Posted by & filed under Event Design, Event Marketing, Event Rebels Blog, Meetings Technology, Mobile Event Apps, Social Media, Trade Show, Travel.

This week’s rebel round-up includes articles about Apple, TED, Wi-Fi, Disney Magic Bands, and Marriott’s new digital travel magazine!  Enjoy! How Apple Is Changing The Attendee Hotel Experience – PCMA (@PCMAhq) TED Conference Photos: 18 Steal-Worthy Ideas to Inspire Attendees – BizBash (@BizBash) New Attendee Acquisition Benchmarks and Practices Study Released – TSNN (@TSNN_com_US) We can finally figure out real Wi-Fi speeds of hotels before we decide where to stay – Road Warrior Voices (@USATODAYtravel) Disney’s $1 Billion Bet On A Magical Wristband – Wired (@Wired) Behind Today’s Launch of Marriott’s New Digital Travel Magazine – Skift via Greg Oates (@gregoates) See you next week with more interesting articles for the event... Read more »

Tech Tuesday: Meerkat Explodes At SXSW

Posted by & filed under Event Marketing, Event Rebels Blog, Meetings Technology, Mobile Event Apps, Social Media, Uncategorized.

Event Rebels Tech Tuesday

“We’ve seen a lot of people taking it to conferences, streaming to more than 1200 people. Have you ever held your phone with 1200 people watching?” said Ben Rubin, CEO of Meerkat, the live video tweet app that has taken SXSW by storm. Meerkat lets users live-stream video over Twitter and interact with followers who are watching. “The mission of the app is to get live video to travel in the speed of tweets,” Meerkat CEO Ben Rubin said in an interview with USA TODAY broadcast over the app. Meerkat’s popularity is more proof that attendees of events and conferences... Read more »

Rebel Roundup: Great Ideas, Event Design, Hotel Perks & Fees

Posted by & filed under Event Design, Event Marketing, Event Rebels Blog, Meetings Technology, Mobile Event Apps, Social Media, Trade Show, Travel.

This week’s rebel round-up includes articles about Great Ideas, Event Design, Hotel Perks, and Hotel Fees!  Enjoy! 4 Great Meeting Ideas From Great Ideas – Associations Now (@AssociationsNow) What Event Pros Don’t Know About Event Design – BizBash (@BizBash) Catersource and Event Solutions Announces Winners of Prestigious Industry Awards – Event Solutions (@EventSolutions) The best new hotel perks for 2015 – Road Warrior Voices (@USATODAYtravel) Marketers’ Tastes In Social Media Are Changing – Forbes (@Forbes) Top Hotel CEOs Say the Industry Won’t Copy Airlines With Fee Frenzy – Skift via Samantha Shankman (@samshankman) See you next week with more interesting articles for the event and meeting industry! Follow us on twitter for more... Read more »

kchopson

Mobile Monday: What Google Analytics Can Do For Your Event Apps

Posted by & filed under Data Analysis, Event Apps, Event Marketing, Event Rebels Blog, Mobile Event Apps.

Event Rebels Mobile Monday

Odds are pretty high that your organization’s website uses Google Analytics to track the traffic to your site. Google Analytics is the most popular tool in the world for measuring website activity and figuring out what pages are getting attention and which ones are not. The reporting allows you to find out important data about your audience, how they are browsing your site, and whether they are doing what you want them to do. Marketers, in particular, love Google Analytics as it provides valuable insight into how best to improve your web presence. Did you know that you can also... Read more »