Ultimate Conference Blog

Originally posted on the Ultimate Conference Blog by Christine Hawks

If you’re producing a spring event, you’re likely in the midst of executing your promotional strategy to attract attendees to your event. Do you have an organized post-event marketing campaign?

When you succeed in delivering a conference that combines relevant learning experiences with quality networking, your attendees leave feeling energized and enthusiastic about your next event. As a result, attendees are searching for information on the next event long before you’re ready to formally promote it. Strike while the appetite for information is high and feed that post-conference enthusiasm! Here are six post-event promotion ideas to engage attendees after your event and encourage them to return for the next.

1. Photo Sharing:

Who doesn’t love seeing their photo on the big screen during the closing event?! Even better is re-living the conference and viewing those photos days or weeks later on a Monday morning when you’re not quite ready to jump into the workday. Post your conference photos to your favorite photo sharing site (flickr, Picasa,  Shutterfly and Instagram, to name just a few) and email, tweet or update your status to notify attendees where the photos are posted.  If you don’t have the budget or staff to capture the entire conference, select a few key areas to highlight such as a recognizable keynote speaker, awards recipients, first-time attendees, etc.

2. Create a Group on LinkedIn:

Though conference-goers tend to exchange contact information at an event, it takes some effort on their part to reconnect after the event. Keep those discussions going online by creating a LinkedIn group. Promote your LinkedIn group at the event and follow-up with email invitations to attendees. Then, post-event, routinely highlight blog post articles on popular topics from your event and encourage speakers, exhibitors and sponsors to post questions or share their expertise with the group.

3. Encourage Guest Blog Posts:

Anyone with a blog knows that creating new and fresh content can be a daunting task. Consider your event as inspiration for “writer’s block”! Much can happen over the span of a few days at a conference. Think like a reporter during those days and take note of those people and events that are newsworthy. Connect with speakers whose sessions were ranked highly, new sponsors and suppliers that are launching a product or service at your event and either interview them on a topic you plan to write about or, even better, ask them to author a guest post for you on the subject. If you have a few outgoing attendees, invite them to share a guest blog post about what they learned at your event and a few months later, a follow-up post featuring a case study on how they applied that knowledge. If your speakers, partners or attendees have noteworthy blogs, promote them on your blog roll.

4. Engage Speakers

Most conferences feature at least one speaker whose session is well attended and highly ranked either because of the subject matter, delivery or the notoriety of the speaker. Chances are, you know who that speaker is or what that session will be. Plan accordingly and when contracting with that speaker or panel, get their commitment to a few post-event engagements. Have a blog? Suggest the speaker author a few topics that would be of interest to your readers after the event. Host webinars? Feature a follow-up session to delve deeper into the conference topic or host an online session on a similar subject that was not presented at your event.

5. Involve Attendees in the Planning Process

If you’ve ever engaged your membership with a survey, you know that opinions abound! Capture those diverse interests by involving your past attendees in the planning process for your next event. For example, I recently received an email invite from an event organizer to nominate 3-5 speakers that I’d like to see at the next event. A few weeks later, I received another email with a list of potential speakers and topics (presumably the short list from all the previous submissions), asking me to rank those I’d be most interested in seeing and those I had no interest in seeing. For my participation in the process, they offered a chance to win a complimentary registration to next year’s event. Neither process took much of my time and I enjoyed the prospect of shaping next year’s program.

6. “Save the Date” landing page with social sharing options

Prospective attendees are searching for your event even before next year’s marketing materials are ready. As long as you have your dates and your location under contract, make sure those searching find something online about the next event. A “Save the Date” landing page can be an effective tool for communicating basic information about your next event until the formal site is launched. At a minimum, include dates, venue, city and state, and options for sharing with the viewer’s online network so they can encourage others to also “Save the Date”. Ensure that your show is considered in next year’s budget by accelerating the traditional marketing cycle.

The moral of the story? Begin with the end in mind for creating a complete event promotion strategy that includes engagement methods that target your audience after the event. The post-conference glow fades fast once we return to the hustle and bustle of our everyday lives. Nurture that enthusiasm by providing value that extends beyond the conference dates.  Your efforts will keep your event top of mind and create a compelling reason for attendees to return.