Since the inception of the face-to-face marketing industry, show organizers and event planners have been challenged to increase attendance at events. Targeting appropriate prospects, connecting with them and converting these prospects into attendees have been fundamental obstacles in the industry.

Give a little, Get a little?
As the U.S struggles to bounce back from a recession, businesses everywhere look for ways to cut costs. This has a significant impact on the events industry as there is a clear correlation between a depressed economy and a decrease in travel. Attending a trade show or conference, any event, requires attendees to invest time and money. While the expense is definitely a factor in deciding whether or not to attend a show, many attendees, particularly in small businesses, are really more hesitant to lose work time. Another side-effect of a down economy is that fewer people must take on greater responsibilities, so time is an important resource workers are reluctant to sacrifice. Management is often judicious when it comes to leaving the office themselves or letting employees out of the office for an extended period of time. In the end, the only thing that will get people out of the office is to create an event they can’t afford to miss.

List Building – Challenges and Best Practices
A major challenge the industry faces today is list building; finding the appropriate people to target as potential attendees. Twenty or thirty years ago, it was fairly simple to obtain a list of prospects because trade show organizers and corporate event planners could go to a list broker at a relevant publication and rent the subscription information. With the demise of so many publications and the increasing segmentation of people’s interests, this is no longer a viable option. Event organizers must be creative with lead generation to find the needle-in-the-haystack attendees.

The Social In-Network
Social media has become a pivotal tool for attendee marketing. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc. provide event organizers with another level of outreach to attendees and an additional form of engagement. It allows you to reach beyond the people you know to the people they know. Your current attendees are the best source for identifying new, qualified attendees. It is important to note that social media is not a marketing tool exclusively for reaching young people, but should be used for audiences of all ages. The average age of an active Twitter user is 45, so all B2B event marketers should take advantage of the broad reaching capabilities of this platform.

The “Who”
When it comes to hard-to-reach attendees, there are two groups that are always highly sought after and always difficult to attract – VIPs and young professionals. Junior level staff members are an attractive audience because event marketers want to get them hooked from a young age, while senior level management is desirable because they control large budgets. But, why is it so hard to attract these audiences to events?

Some believe that marketing to young professionals is difficult because of a generation gap, but, fifty years ago, the industry experienced these same difficulties. If you really want to have junior level employees at your event, then you must convince their bosses to send them. It’s imperative to create collateral materials aimed at bosses that demonstrate the value of the event and how their staff can utilize the experience. By presenting a plan of attack that includes everything from a pre-set schedule of appointments to a variety of deliverables due upon return from the event, marketers can help supervisors justify the investment.

Separate strategies should be used to attract senior buyers to events such as niche programs. These attendees want VIP treatment with exclusives. These perks can be relatively simple such as an “invitation only” session with the key note speaker or a private tour of the trade show floor to an entirely customized experience with free travel and lodging and a personal tour guide and so they don’t have to lift a finger.

Attendee Segmentation
There are many different types of hard-to-reach attendees and many different strategies for reaching them. But, when it comes down to it, segmentation is the most important thing that any show organizer can do against any hard-to-reach attendee. Separate the event audience into several simple categories such as new attendees, regulars, locals or out of town guests. Once you have identified your different segments, it’s important to market to each one differently. A regular trade show attendee would be interested in different information than someone who had never been. Segmentation is a relatively simple and inexpensive solution that can have a tremendous impact on event success.

Melinda Kendall is the Vice President of Business Solutions at Freeman.

She will be speaking at IAEE’s upcoming trade show EXPO! EXPO! and sharing her expertise in the area of attendee marketing. Please join us for her presentation on December 7, 2011 from 9:30-10:45 a.m.