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23rd Annual HR Florida Leadership Conference
January 9, 2016
Jenni Stone, MHRM, PHR, SHRM-CP
Program & Conference Promotion
HR Florida Leadership Conference Rosen Shingle Creek- Orlando, FL
Marketing and Promotion
Before you start developing your marketing materials you must differentiate between “Features versus Benefits”
A Feature is what your product, service or event has or does. It is a characteristic that is a quantifiable, indisputable fact.
Example: This program offers ten time management tips
A Benefit is something of value or usefulness that helps your target audience with solving problems or improving their personal or professional lives
Example: The program offers you tips on how to efficiently manage your time so that you can focus on high priority tasks
Determining the Benefits
Every feature typically has a benefit, so the question is how to identify the benefit?
Start with a list of all your features
Then ask some questions:
Why does this benefit matter?
Why problem does it solve?
How does it improve something?
What’s In It For Me (WIIFM)?
*If you find yourself describing features, listing product or program attributes, insert these two words, “So that” and finish your sentence with the benefit words.
The program offers ten time management tips “so that” you can prioritize your time and use it more effectively
Identify your target audience…and
reach them!
Identify Your Target Audience
How Do You Reach Them?
Website
E-Mail Blasts
Calendar of Events
Flyers and Brochures (Printed and on-line)
Posters
Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.)
Your Promotional Materials
A Great Headline
Use visuals and something that will grab your
audience
Meeting title, dates, location and contact details
Who should attend and why
The Benefits – This is about them, not you
Session Description, Speakers and Bios
Registration Information (how-to, deadline and fees
if any)
Where to go for more information
Your Website
Where are your events?
Website
Eventbrite
Calendar
How do I find them?
On the home page?
How many clicks?
Is it easy to register?
How may clicks?
Are all the details there?
Who, what, when, where, why
Email Blasts
The Subject Line:
Invite the email recipient to gain a benefit. They aren’t going
to open your email, unless they know that there’s something
in it for them. So, don’t be vague! One great benefit you can
include is an educational opportunity.
Avoid cliché email marketing terms. Common ones include
“act now”, “limited time”, “free” and “special offer”. These
words will do one thing – land your email in the spam folder.
Aim for 50 characters or less. Any more, and you risk part of
your subject line getting cut off.
Email Blasts
The Subject Line:
Don’t use too much punctuation. Steer away from
exclamation marks, all capital letters, dollar signs
and other cluttering symbols.
Make clarity a priority over cleverness. You want to
make sure that your subject line reflects the
content of the email. Otherwise, people who open
it may feel disappointed. Or they may not open it
at all, because they can’t find the benefit in all of
your creativity.
Email Blasts
Content:
Include a default if you are using dynamic content. Dynamic content varies by recipient. For example, you may include the first and last name of the email recipient in your message. Unless you want to scare your audience away with Dear [FIRSTNAME] [LASTNAME], include a default such as “Valued Member.”
Include a call to action. Set goals before you draft your email. Ask yourself, “What do I want the recipient to do with this email.” The answer may be that you want them to go to your website or sign up for an event. Whatever it may be, make your call to action eye-catching and vibrant, and only include one call to action.
Email Blasts
Content:
Don’t write an encyclopedia. Make your email
brief. People are only willing to give you so much
time out of their days.
Don’t forget to include the reader. The e-blast
should be about your audience and the benefits
they can receive from you – not all about yourself.
Make sure they know who the email is coming
from and communicate a genuine personality, but
don’t lose sight of the recipient.
Email Blasts
Layout:
Don’t design your email to look like your website, but
make sure there isn’t a disconnect between your email
and website and that people can easily redirect to your
site.
Don’t change your layout every other email. People don’t
like change, and you want to create long-term loyalty.
Don’t exceed 650 pixels wide. Most email clients are
capable of displaying emails up to 600-650 pixels. Unless
you want part of your email cut off, restrict the width to
these parameters.
Email Blasts
Images:
Include the basics in text format. Many email clients
display emails in plain text format by default. This
means that your images won’t show up unless the
recipient requests that they do. You want to make
sure that all of your vital information is viewable
without images.
Maintain a good ratio of images to text. Many spam
filters catch emails with an unbalanced ration of
images to text. So make sure your email is neither all
text nor all pictures.
Email Blasts
Images:
Don’t use large images that take forever to load. People
will likely leave the email rather than wait for your images
to load.
Don’t design your entire email as an image. Again, many
email clients show emails in plain text format by default. If
you design your email as an image, some recipients may
think you are sending them a blank message.
Don’t use stock photos. Using stock photos in an email
campaign is impersonal. Distract from the content.
Images should complement, not distract from, the
content of your email.
Email Blasts
Sending:
Choose a logical time to send your email. Most
business emails are best sent on Tuesday and
Thursday mornings, but every business is different.
Don’t send it from donotreply. Create engagement
with your members by sending your eblast from an
email address that will communicate with anyone
who replies to the eblast.
Don’t rush the process. Give yourself time to prepare
your email. Leaving it to the last minute invites all
kinds of mistakes and stress.
We’d love for you to attend our
conference. There will be 2 dishes, 3
snacks, 15 colors of napkins, seating
for 75, and two buffet tables. 30
sponsors, five speakers who will
present for 60 minutes each, while
you watch in amazement.
I bet you can't wait!
It’s about them, not you.
Carefully check your copy. Focus on the
member. It’s not that you assembled 25
education sessions, but rather the tangible
benefits that participants will gain — getting
answers to problems they have. If you want
to talk about your organization, use
testimonials.
Share Photos
Of actual conference attendees in all your
communication pieces. This allows you to
convey the diversity of your attendees in
terms of age, gender, and race. Let the
potential attendee see someone like them in
your photos. Never, ever use stock
photography.
Link to Critical Stuff
Attendees want to scan, bookmark, or print several
things: a schedule at a glance, a list of who else is
coming, and pricing. Don’t make any of these
difficult to find.
No one wants to read a 500-word email. Keep your
messages succinct and your headlines tight and
strong, with only one goal or call to action per
communication piece. Trying to communicate too
many ideas in one message is a surefire way to
disenchant or confuse the reader.
And now the fun stuff…..
Social Media Marketing!
Tips for Building a Marketing Plan
Develop a strategy by identifying your objectives and your audience. Ask yourself what you want to achieve:
Are you branding your chapter?
Are you promoting events?
Are you looking for new members?
Determine your audience by asking where your supporters congregate online: Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, texting or e‐mail?
What do I want to achieve?
Social Media Audit
Consistency
Are you using them? Last post?
How many followers, likes, friends?
Growth
Engagement
Tips for Building a Marketing Plan
Launch an initiative designed to achieve your
objective and reach your target audience.
This could a Facebook page, a Twitter feed or a
YouTube channel, to name a few.
Be creative and original, but also look at what
others are doing and adapt it to your needs.
Don’t be afraid to experiment.
My initiative will be….
Tips for Building a Marketing Plan
Feed and nurture your initiative. Find the
people in your chapter that can generate
content to power your initiative.
My Social Media Team includes…
Tips for Building a Marketing Plan
Measure and evaluate your initiative. What
worked and what didn’t.
How much time did we spend on it?
Did it have an effect?
My measurement includes…
Blogging
Only once or twice a month
Program or conference summary
Article written by speaker
How the topic/program relates to your
audience
Twitter Post Ideas
Event info: date/time/topic/registration info
Topic/Speaker/registration info
Blog posts
Key fact or statistic about monthly program topic,
registration info
Link to speaker’s blog, website, registration info
Last call for registrations •
Tweets during programs (photos, data nuggets)
Discussions (Create 1/week can tie in to
program topic)
Monthly program events posted
Monthly program events posted
YouTube video clips from events
Photos from every event
Blog link
Media Releases about events
Create a Highlight Reel from Previous
Events
Remember your intended audience. Your video
should convey the value of your event to
prospective attendees. Make the benefits of
attending crystal-clear.
Host on both YouTube and Vimeo. Each platform
has different strengths, so take advantage of
that. YouTube is the #2 search engine in the
world and the most used video platform on the
Internet. Vimeo, though smaller, offers more
control over your brand and no distracting
banner advertisements.
Create a highlight reel from previous
events
Leverage it everywhere. Video can be shared
almost everywhere: your website and/or event
landing page, in your newsletter, in articles,
with affiliates and on social media, including
15-second clips on Instagram.
Facebook loves video. Uploading native video
maximizes your exposure in the news feed.
Harness the Power of Visual Testimonials
Do you have great comments in the exit surveys from previous events? Maybe you’ve interviewed attendees or speakers and captured statements of excitement about specific sessions, speakers or your event in general. Don’t let those nuggets go to waste!
Create a template with branded images and a consistent color palette to help unify your marketing efforts and make it easy to share testimonial quotes.
Empower Affiliates, Fans and Attendees
With Shareable Assets
Make it easy to share your event. Provide a
web page with branded downloadable
resources that fit any platform.
For attendees: Capitalize on their excitement!
Provide a button to immediately share a
tweet or post when they land on your thank-
you page after registering.
Tip: ClickToTweet makes it super-easy to
create a simple, pre-crafted tweet.
Empower Affiliates, Fans and Attendees
With Shareable Assets
For affiliates/fans: Make it easy for them to share
your event by providing a variety of
downloadable content: audio, video, an article,
graphics, updates, email/blog posts and
blurbs/newsletter updates.
Provide options to accommodate different
posting styles as well as the image requirements
of the various social networks. For example,
rectangular images work best on Twitter, while
square images look best on Instagram.
Use Photos of Attendees in Social Updates
If you have a repeat event, leverage those fun photos you took at previous events. Even better, share user-generated content on your social accounts.
Take a flattering, fun picture of some of your attendees and create a status update. Identify the people in the picture and be sure to tag them if you can. This gives people an opportunity to comment and talk about how much they learned or what a great time they had and how much they’re looking forward to attending again.
Create One Unified Hashtag for Use Across All
Social Channels…and mention it EVERYWHERE!
By using an event-specific hashtag, you’ll
make it really easy for people to find not only
what you’re sharing, but what other people
are saying, too!
This is also a great way to create and
participate in an engaging conversation with
attendees and interested parties.
Don’t forget to add it to the Bio (About)
section of each of your social accounts.
Share Pictures of Speakers With Quote
Overlays
• Exposure for
speaker
• Glimpse into the
speaker for
potential
attendees
• Visual!
Leverage the Influence of the Speakers!
If some of your event speakers have a
significant social media presence, ask them to
promote your event on their social platforms
before, during and after the event. This can
go a long way toward generating buzz and
driving visits to your event website.
During the event, encourage speakers to take
pictures with event attendees and engage
with them on social media.
Add your event to your email signature
Have you considered how many emails you send
and receive on any given day? Each one of those is
an opportunity to spread awareness for your event.
Simply add a hyperlink and/or graphic to your
signature line.
Jenni Stone, SHRM-CP, PHR
HR Director, Partner
I want to see YOU at HR Florida State Conference!