Seminar & Conference Offers to Get People to Respond Now

1

Ralph Elliott, PhD

Vice Provost and Professor of Economics Emeritus

Director, Seminar Marketing Institute

Copyright 2009 -2014 All Rights Reserved

Chicago Annual 2014 Conference

Best Practices to Get People to

Respond Now!

22

Three Response Objectives

Clients Customers

Inquiries/Leads

Prospects Suspects

.

1. Drive Traffic to Your Website

2. Convert Inquiries Into Customers

3. Convert Customers Into

Clients

3

Test the waters with a trial offer

Guarantee job success

Refund after the program starts

MBG with positive presentation

Offers to Get People to Respond Now

4

Free Test Trial

5

Code Fellows Guarantees a Job

6

Job at 60 to 100k or Tuition Back

7

72 Hrs

Have a Positive

Guarantee

8

9

MBG with compensation

Register now & pay at the end of the program

MBG plus take another program free

Offers to Get People to Respond Now

1010

11

12

MBG Plus Another Program Free

Build trust among those who have never attended your programs by offering a unique money-back guarantee (MBG)....such as, “We will refund your registration fee and give you a 100% credit for another program.”

By bringing the person back to another program, you turn a potentially unhappy advocate into someone who sings your praises.

Early-bird discount

Extension of early-bird discount

Extension of the hotel room block

Delayed billing

13

Offers to Get People to Respond Now

14

Early Bird

Early-Bird Discount Combined With Team Attendance

15

Extended Early Bird

16

17

Extend the Room Block

Mention # Rooms Left

18

19

Offers to Get People to Respond Now

User-friendly cancellation policy

Personal Pledge

Limited enrollment

Include a ‘call me now’ option

Include a ‘live chat’ option

20

21

Include a Pledge/Personal Guarantee

22

23

2424

2525

2626

27

Get a Commitment Early in the Promotional Cycle

On an undecided live-chat caller, use the tentative “no obligation registration technique” to convert the person into a sale

Essentially, you allow the person to register without paying but note that payment is due a week or so prior to the start of the program 

Alternatively, you may offer to accept a purchase order or a letter of intent

Offers to Get People to Respond Now

Questions the boss/partner needs answered before granting approval to attend/enroll

Testimonials of participants at the last sell-out session

A ‘virtual advisor’ to answer questions

Tentative no-obligation close

Team discounts 28

29

30

31

32

33

Testimonials From Happy Customers

34

Virtual Advisor

35

Stress Team Attendance in Your PDF and

Emails

36

Offers to Get People to Respond Now

Show that a class is sold out

Create a standby list to maintain urgency

Show some sessions/sections are sold out but other sessions are available with limited seating

Include ‘QR’ codes on your registration form for easy response

37

38

39

4040

Scan

41

Offers to Get People to Respond Now

Show picture of certificate to build credibility + payoff to attending

Include ‘virtual’ advisory board listing

Provide social links to engage

Breakfast with your big-name speaker to induce early booking

4242

Show Your Advisory Board

In addition to providing advice, a prestigious Board will “create a barrier to entry” by discouraging others from entering the market since you have all of the key players on your Board

Consider creating a “virtual” advisory board with no physical meetings…all contacts by phone, email, or meeting software

Start with a well-known Chairperson, and others will be more willing to join

43

4444

45

Provide Social Links to Engage

First 50

46

Offers to Get People to Respond Now

47

Offer a ‘sit in & see for yourself’ option

Offer to present the program ‘in-house’

Provide a ‘personal consulting’ option

Create an annual award for your major event

48

4949

5050

51

Offers to Get People to Respond Now

52

Give a ‘test drive’ option

Offer the web visitor a ‘walkabout’

Provide the optimal lead time to promote your offer

Limit the number of sessions to reduce indecisiveness

5353

54

55

Optimal Lead Time (Two-Day Regional Program)

Seminar Lead Time

Relative Response

Weeks ahead of first date that first promo is received

0 4 6 8 10 12 14 16

56

Impact of Multiple Sessions on Response Rate

0 5 10 15Number of Dates/Locations Shown in Promotion

ResponseRate

per 1,000

2

1

Total Response

2.29

2.03

1.64

Offers to Get People to Respond Now

Use psychological pricing

Bundle or de-bundle your offer

Build credibility with price

Offer several pricing options to market segments that need help

57

58

45

50

245

250

595

600

95

100

295

300

695

700

145

150

395

400

795

800

195

200

495

500

895

900

Use Psychological Price Barriers

• Recommendation # 1 . . . Charge just below the barrier; for example, $45 instead of $50; $95 instead of $100; $145 instead of $150.

• Recommendation # 2 . . . When you break one barrier, go to the bottom of the next barrier; for example, if you break $50, go to $95; if you break $100, go to $145; if you break $150, go to $195.

Bundle vs. De-Bundle the Offer

“De-Bundle” your offer and let the prospect take just one day or any combination

“De-bundle” by selling break tickets, meal tickets, and dinner tickets

“De-bundle” by charging for hard copies of the materials

Or “bundle” the registration fee and hotel room costs into one fee

59

Build Credibility with Price

Increasing the seminar price may increase perceived value and build trust

However, increasing the seminar price beyond the “psychological limit” may have the effect of reducing attendance

On the other hand, the revenue may increase with an increase in price. This is generally true for longer “multi‑day” seminars 60

Capitalize on Price Sensitivity with Different

Pricing Options

61

Offers to Get People to Respond Now

Offer last-minute seating

Give a ‘bring a friend’ discount

Sell a ‘season pass’

Provide a team attendance pass across multiple courses

62

6363

Last Minute

Bring a Friend

Annual Pass

Premium Pass

6464

Group Pass

Offers to Get People to Respond Now

Segment your communication by recency & frequency

Segment your emails by opens

Segment your Google ads by geo selects

Raise your ‘pay-per-click’ bid

65

66

Know Your Participants & Allocate Resources Accordingly

Know Your Participants & Allocate Resources Accordingly

High Recency Low

Moneta

ry V

alu

e/A

ctiv

ityHigh

Low

67

Segment Your Email Database by Those Who Open Your Emails

Create an "A" list of people who have opened one or more of your emails within the last six months

Create a "B" list of people who have not opened your emails from you in the last six months

Last, create a "C" list of people who have not opened your emails in the last year. Email marketing is not working for this segment of your database. Consider sending a direct-mail letter to "re-activate" this potential "deadwood”

68

I like the career guide download …great incentive to provide one’s

details

69

Raise your Pay-Per-Click Bids to Get to Third Position

Increase your bid on your Pay-Per-Click (PPC) program for your most profitable courses or product lines

MarketingSherpa reports that bidding on the top positions in search-result listings generates the highest ROI for search-engine marketing

70

More Responses on Your Landing Page

Opt-out option – Put a ‘No thanks’ button top right; it’s one of the first things the user sees

Simplicity – Ask for two fields. The simpler the sign-up form, the more likely it is that it will be completed

Confirmation CTA: Once the user completes the form, use the opportunity to spread the word via Twitter. This is great use of thank-you-page real estate

Offers to Get People to Respond Now

Promote your best tweets with Twitter ads

Promote your website or Facebook event listing with Facebooks ads

Complement your LinkedIn contacts with LinkedIn ads

Have 3-5 Pinterest boards related to your department

71

72

Promote Your Event Tweets

73

74

75

Offers to Get People to Register Now

Use ‘whole-brain’ communication

Consider a ‘feature & benefit’ box

Put your benefit checklist in the ‘right’ order

Use empathy and avoid fog

Remember the ‘rule of seven’

76

77

Touch On All Communication Styles

ANALYTICAL DRIVER

AMIABLE EXPRESSIVE

LOW RESPONSELOW

ASSERTIVE

HIGH ASSERTIVE

HIGH RESPONSE

78

79

80

8181

Put the best reason #1 and the second best #10

82

Check Your Empathy and Avoid Fog Index

Empathy Index helps you measure reader focus.

Them (You) – Us (We) = Empathy Index

The Gunning Fog Index helps ensure reader accessibility

(Average sentence length + number of hard words) x 0.4 = Reading Level Difficulty…most read at 6 to 8 level

83

Use The ‘Rule of Seven’ in Marketing

Offers to Get People to Respond Now

Promote the conference networking

Get snappy, benefit-oriented titles from speakers

Write multiple subject lines for your emails

Allow the visitor to see the logistical layout

Create speaker badges for speakers’ websites

84

85

Signs on Each Table for Networking

85

TITLE COPY. What are five snappy, benefits-laden titles for your topics?

1. 2.3. 4. 5.

Speaker Promo Copy Form

86

87

Show visual image of meeting

area, breaks,

reception, and

sponsorship area

88

Create Speaker Badges for Their Websites

89

Offers to Get People to Respond Now

Let site visitors create a training plan

Capitalize on the ‘bandwagon’ effect

Implement marketing after the sale

Provide a ‘can’t attend’ option

Send a ‘regret’ survey

90

91

Let Visitors Create a Training Plan

Easier to sell more to existing customers than to find new ones

Provide site visitors an opportunity to create a training plan

Provide a certificate once the appropriate number of courses has been taken…

92

93

Importance of Who Else Is Attending

CHIEF Marketer's survey on what makes a conference worth a delegate’s time and money… 

70% said that the experience level of their fellow attendees really mattered...

94

95

Eliminate Buyer's Regret/Remorse

Reduce cancellations/no-shows by marketing after the sale

Tell customers what they will receive after they register

Send follow-up thank you reminder notes/cards/emails

Contact accounts receivable

Provide link to a questionnaire

96

Provide a “Can’t Attend” Option ..Allows People to Listen

and View the Conference

96

97

Email a Regret Survey

Send a “sorry you cannot attend” link to an online questionnaire in your last email blast leading up to your event (sometimes called a Regret Survey)

Ask the non-responding person why he or she is not attending

List several possible objections on the survey and then leave some open-ended space for the person to list the reasons for not attending

98

Other Offers to Get People to Respond Now

Create circles and do handouts with Google+

Upload and share streaming video online with YouTube

Link your Instagram account with other social-media networks, such as Facebook and Twitter handles, to share photos with all of your followers and increase participation in your social-media accounts

Make it easy for people to find your Foursquare page: Link it with your Facebook and Twitter handles or other media apps

99

Other Offers to Get People to Respond Now

Create a conference SlideShare page

Use social media press releases

Use event Directories

Create a tweet for attendees

Socialize your ads

100

Growth Strategies Options

Present Market

New Market

Present Product

1 Market

Penetration

2 Market

Development

New Product 3

Product Development

4 Diversification

Questions? Comments?

Concerns? elliot@clemson.edu

Thank you!

101