Why great association programs still need to be sold
Coming up with a program that will genuinely appeal to an association’s members is no small feat.
Some members will attend almost any event for the opportunity to network. But there is usually another, particularly desirable segment of the industry that is far more selective. They won’t give up two or three hours of their day simply because an association is hosting an event. They need to believe they will gain insight, knowledge or perspective they can put to use in their workplace.
That’s the audience your programming should be designed to attract.
If you can identify what matters to these professionals, develop content around those issues and convince them that they need to be in the room, something else happens. Others will register because they want the opportunity to meet and network with that audience.
In other words, great content doesn’t just attract attendees. It attracts the attendees everyone else wants to meet.
The “What” Isn’t Enough
Too often, associations promote programs with little more than a title, date, location and the names of the speakers. Then they leave prospective attendees to decide, based on a title and perhaps a speaker they may or may not recognize, whether the event is worth their time and the cost to attend.
Where’s the sizzle?
There’s no teaser about what attendees will learn. No intriguing question that will be answered. No indication of the challenges that will be addressed or the insights that will be shared.
The promotion tells them what the event is. It doesn’t tell them why they should care.
Why should someone attend? What will they know when they leave that they didn’t know when they arrived? What problem might they be better equipped to solve? What perspective will they gain that could affect a decision they’re making at work?
Think of event promotion as an elevator pitch. You have only a few seconds to capture someone’s attention and convince them there is something here worth exploring.
Sell the sizzle.
A Title Isn’t Marketing
This is a common problem among nonprofit associations, and you don’t have to look far to find examples. Consider a program promoted simply as:
“Facility Tour of XYZ’s Corporate Training Center”
Why should I attend? What makes this facility worth seeing? What innovative approaches, design solutions or operational strategies will I discover that I can apply elsewhere?
Or consider a program targeted to commercial real estate professionals with a title such as:
“Global Affairs and the Changing Business Landscape”
It could be a fascinating program. But why should a real estate developer attend? How could changes around the world affect capital, construction costs, supply chains, foreign investment, interest rates or demand for commercial real estate? What will the speaker tell developers that could influence the decisions they are making today? Those connections may very well be part of the presentation. But if the promotion doesn’t make them clear, the prospective attendee is left to figure out the relevance.
The relevance may be there. The marketing shouldn’t make the attendee search for it.
In both examples, the program itself may be excellent. The problem isn’t necessarily the content. The problem is that the promotion makes the prospective attendee work too hard to discover its value.
The title identifies the subject. The marketing needs to create the urgency.
You’re Competing for More Than Registrations
In major markets around the country, associations face intense competition for their target audiences. Calendars are crowded with conferences, luncheons, webinars, networking events and programs from competing organizations. Sometimes simply finding an event date that doesn’t conflict with another industry organization can be difficult.
But the real competition isn’t another association’s event; it’s the attendee’s time. Every prospective attendee is asking, consciously or unconsciously: Is this worth taking two or three hours out of my day? Your event marketing needs to answer that question, and answer it quickly.
So how does an association develop the reputation that its programs are the ones people don’t want to miss?
1. Ask your desired audience what keeps them up at night.
Don’t assume you know what matters most to them. Ask. What challenges are they facing? What decisions are becoming more difficult? What issues are generating conversations inside their organizations?
2. Develop programming around their pain points.
Provide answers, perspectives, case studies and insights they can actually use. The best programs address issues the audience is already thinking about before they ever see your event announcement.
3. Write a compelling title.
Keep it concise, ideally nine words or fewer. A title doesn’t need to explain everything, but it should give someone a reason to stop scrolling and want to know more.
4. Sell the event.
Explain what attendees will learn, why the subject matters now and what they will take away from the experience. Don’t make them figure out for themselves why the program might be valuable.
5. End with a clear call to action.
Once you’ve established the value, make the next step obvious. Register, reserve a seat or learn more.
Give Them a Reason to Be There
Associations spend enormous amounts of volunteer and staff time developing programs, recruiting speakers, securing venues and managing event logistics.
Don’t let all that effort culminate in a promotion that simply announces: Here’s our next event. Give your audience a reason to believe: I need to be there.
That’s the sizzle.