How do I boost event attendance?

You’ve sorted your event design, accessibility needs…what next? You need to get attendees to your event! Not just any attendees, but the right attendees. A half empty event is disappointing, but an event full of the wrong crowd with less enthusiasm than a slither of wet lettuce is every event planner’s tragedy.

We’ve got some of the best steps to encourage attendees to come to your event. At Haia we want to help you have the best event possible, and we’re here to guide you through.

Let’s dive straight in – you want the best numbers possible for your event, you want excited attendees there, you want it to be a success. So, read on for some advice to encourage your potential attendees to join.

Thinking about your audience will improve event attendance. According to the International Association of Exhibitions and Events – 92% of attendees list educational purposes as one of their main reasons to attend events and 76% say that networking is another main reason. Let them know what they might learn and what networking opportunities your event will provide.

Here’s a hint.. You can use a platform ( *cough cough* like Haia) that has networking built in.

How you should describe your event to attendees. Your event title needs to be inviting, exciting and the description should be clear, compelling and benefit driven. Include the topic, place, time, and indicate who should attend. Introduce your speakers and drum up some excitement before the event! Don’t leave it until the last minute and be sure to drop a few sneak peaks!

Making your event registration easy for attendees. Be sure to make your event registration easy. Keeping registration ‘in-house’, i.e. not sending people to another website to register for the event.
People are often understandably spooked when they’re directed to another website to hand over personal information. It’s worth using a platform that’s already covered this for you (and we don’t mean to brag but we’ve already thought about this). You should also keep compulsory fields to a bare minimum, let attendees choose how much or how little personal information they want to provide.

Now, promote that event! You’ve done all the hard work behind the scenes, now sell it! Get it out on social media, email marketing, word of mouth, create a hashtag. If you’ve got the time, you can create a promo video too.