RSVP? How to get people to come to your events

When you’ve put your heart and soul into creating an event, it can be demoralising if people don’t show up to appreciate it. Not to mention a poor return on your investment. But, when it comes to creating show-stopping corporate events, what you do on the day is only half the battle. And, getting people to RSVP “yes please!” can be an even bigger challenge. So, how can event professionals create occasions that people can’t wait to attend? Here are our top tips. Create an experience In today's, multi-sensory world, expectations are high. And, when it comes to creating events, hosting a traditional conference, roadshow, expo etc., often isn’t enough. You have to provide something over and above. Something that people feel is worth giving up their precious time for. To create a buzz and get people interested in what you are doing, consider shaking things up with collaborative event formats, cutting edge tech and inspiring guest speakers. Create a content strategy Ensuring the right content is crucial when it comes to shaping your agenda and finding the right messages to attract and influence your audience. The best way to appeal to attendees is to identify subjects that are of real interest to them. One way to do this is to find existing content that they are already engaging with. You can do this by looking at industry media, listening to your sales team and other experts, and searching social media to find out what people are talking about. Make it personal Personalisation is very much in vogue, as businesses everywhere try to reconnect with customers on a one-to-one level. Surprisingly, however, while personalisation is a priority for 82% of event planners, and 97% believe it has the power to change a delegate’s perception of an event, only 27% are regularly using it to promote and manage their events[1]. To keep ahead of the competition, put the individual at the heart of your event strategy. Invest the time to find out what your target audience wants from an event and what topics are likely to be of interest to them. Then, in your very first email (or another form of communication) let them know why the need to attend. What’s in it for them? Don’t lose them at hello Once an individual has confirmed their attendance, don’t give them a reason to pull out. Keep them updated about all the great things that will be happening and let them know that you are on hand to answer any queries they may have. It is worth working with a trusted event partner like Apex if this sounds like too much for your team to deal with. You should also pull out all the stops to make people feel special. So, when providing guests with information, think about what you know about them and use this data to personalise their pre-event experience further. For example, if you know someone is coming from overseas, what can you do to make their trip a smooth and enjoyable one? Show them they are in good company Regardless of advancements in tech, people still come to events to network. It’s the one thing that just can’t be adequately replicated online. And, by showing potential attendees who else is going, they know they will be in good company. But a word of warning, in doing this you will have to make sure you don’t fall foul of data protection regulations. You can’t take matters into your own hands and publicise a list of guests. But, what you can do is run some pre-event incentives and competitions on social media to encourage people to share that they will be going. You can also use an online networking tool to enable people to set up meetings in advance of your event. And of course, if people have meetings in their diary they are far more likely to show up. Put your online registration in the hands of an expert Automated event registration is nothing new to seasoned event profs. But, even the best online registration software requires a degree of management. And, when you have a million and one things to do, that can just seem like too much work. So, to make sure your software is working hard to deliver the attendee numbers you need, outsourcing your event registration is often the smart move.

For more information on RSVP? How to get people to come to your events talk to Apex.co.uk