There's no way to say this except to be blunt: Attendees have choices in how they spend their time and money. So to boost attendance, your conference has to be the best choice.

Eight times out of ten, when an event has declining attendance it's because the content is no longer relevant to attendees or the marketing strategy is ill conceived. The ninth time is when you have an unattractive venue. The tenth time is when your dates follow a catastrophe.

What's in it For Me?

The question every attendee asks himself when deciding to attend a conference is: "What's in it for me?" Marketing is all about answering that question. So look at the program content as objectively as you can. If that's the problem, fix it. Create content that's actually going to get your audience to say, "I can't miss this."

Obviously when putting together an educational program, the goal is to create sessions that will appeal to the largest audience possible. But sometimes a program can be too broad. Don't deal exclusively with big-picture issues, because universal topics do not change that much. Unless a conference has a lot of turnover, the audience will tire of them.

The other option is to present timely content. Attendees always need solutions for their daily challenges. But focusing on the here and now presents a new challenge. You run the risk of not being timely enough. If your program committee is developing content based on today's problems, by the time the conference occurs these problems may already be yesterday's news. It's best to strive for a balanced program of sessions that address universal topics, daily challenges, and forward-thinking issues that are a little ahead of the curve.

Message Not Delivered

If the program content is meeting the needs of your industry and you're still not getting any attendees, then marketing is likely the problem. There are several ways a marketing effort can get derailed. Here are just a few of the main culprits:

1.Your lists need cleaning or you need to augment them with qualified third-party lists.

2. Your marketing message isn't clear and/or enticing.

3. You're not spending enough on direct mail.

4. You're not spending enough on advertising or you're advertising in the wrong vehicles to reach your audience.

Market Factors

It is quite a different issue if your entire industry is declining. It is hard to imagine that all the meetings in a particular field are failing in their marketing efforts. The most probable cause is that the target audience can no longer afford the cost of attending. This cost can be measured both in T&E dollars and in time outside of the office. Another reason could be the issues facing your industries. Have these issues become too "hot" to be addressed in annual events? If the answer is yes, you should consider shifting the format to more frequent, single-topic events that address these hot issues.

But whether cost, time, or issues are the factors driving your attendance down, the first thing you need to find out is where your past attendees are now going to get their continuing education. They could be going to narrower meetings outside the traditional meeting/association spectrum, to regional meetings, or online. This information will help you assess whether your current format is appropriate for the educational needs of your audience.

Perhaps your members' needs would be better served by the co-location of two or more meetings so that they do not have to choose among several events. Would educational content improve if the various organizations focused on their respective strengths and stopped trying to be all things to all potential attendees?

Taking Action

Of course, if there is a change in your marketplace, your event marketing plan has to change. There are many things you can do to fix these problems, but avoid gimmicks.

If any of the preceding scenarios sound familiar, you've got to assess your current marketing plan and tweak it or draft a new one. When you draft a new plan, make sure it is in alignment with your organization's strategic plan. To do this, define all of the stakeholders and make sure that they are in agreement with the purpose of the event and the target markets. Then analyze your market segments. Uncover the industry trends affecting these segments and measure how effective your communication strategy has been in delivering your message.



Rich Westerfield is president of The Westerfield Group, a trade show consultancy based in Pittsburgh. He can be reached at (412) 833-4764, or visit www.westerfield group.com. Tony Maiorino is an exhibit manager with Scherago International, a meetings management firm based in New York City. He can be reached at (212) 643-1750 ext. 22, or visit www.sherago.com. This page is protected by Copyright laws. Do Not Copy