Online event marketing for non profits

ONLINE EVENT MARKETING FOR

NON-PROFITS

Copyright © 2011 Constant Contact Inc.

Agenda

Plan Setting Objectives

Using Objectives

Ask for information you need

Promote & Communicate Promote to the right people

Let the people you know promote for you

Leverage Social Media and Mobile

Be found on the web

Engage with attendees Registration

Acknowledge and communicate

Before Event

During Event

Post Event

Measure your success Reports

Feedback

Extras Worksheets

2

Plan- Setting Objectives

What do you want to accomplish?

Determine the ultimate purpose of the event and why

are you hosting.

Type of event

Right content

Right people to attend

What action do you want from them

What will participants take away? Learn more about the organization

How their support helps those you serve

The effect of your fundraising

How to measure success-Return on Investment You want a return so you must calculate how much to invest and create a budget.

Will attendees be a referral engine if they leave satisfied?

Free event vs. Free admission

– avoid last moment discounts to attend.

3

Copyright © 2011 Constant

Contact, Inc.


For the attendee, what do they want?

What is in it for me?

-The tangible benefit for spending my time/money.

What motivates for participation? What do they learn?

Networking

Making a difference

Create a Top 3 attendee take-away list

What are the different messages and “hot button issues” for discussion?

Copyright ©

2011 Constant

Contact, Inc.

4


What they want?

Freshen a stale fundraising

event

Fundraise for Sindney M.

Oman Cancer Center

What attendees want?

Something interesting to do

while giving back

Attending an “It” event

Results- Setting Objectives

What was achieved:

7,800 attendees

250 volunteers

profit of $150,000

Increase engagement

What attendees got:

A good time while doing

something good

New wines and a way to be

involved

Motivation & resources for

next event

“…I used your Event Marketing tool to promote a

wine festival to benefit charity. We ended up

attracting 7800 attendees and raising $150,000 for

cancer research. With Constant Contact, this cost

me $30. If I‟d done online registration with the other

guys, I (or my attendees) would have paid

thousands of dollars in fees – instead, that money

is going to fight cancer. It was a no-brainer to

choose you.“ – Roland Davis, Chesapeake Virginia

Wine Festival

Plan- Using Objectives

7

Are you not sure what to plan? Ask!

Use the Event Planning & Feedback section of the Survey tool to gather data.

From a two-minute survey you learn:

■ The type of event

■ How to promote

■ If the event should be public

■ The right audience for the right events (matching objectives)

■ What the audiences considers a success/valuable

Copyright ©

2011 Constant

Contact, Inc.

Ask the uncomfortable question about a previous event:

“What didn’t you like about our last event?”


Sample Questions to try

How much do you expect to pay for an event?

Which types of our events have you attended in the past?

What is your primary reason for attending an event?

What is the most convenient time to have an event?

What types of events would you be interested in attending?

Which generation are you? (Gen Y, Gen X, Baby Boomer, etc.)

-Actual questions from Downtown Woman’s Club

8

Copyright ©

2011 Constant

Contact, Inc.


For a successful event, identify your audience’s goals, as well as your own

Considerations for attendeesTime of Day

Age 55+ prefer mornings

Parents prefer lunch

Singles prefer evenings

Location

Traffic

Public transportation

Parking

Wheelchair access

9

Audience Goal Your Goal

Size of Event Participate, but not faceless attendee Increase attendance

Value of Event Make connections and learn Organizing and Loyalty

Content Focus Learn from experts Correctly set level of intensity and delivery of content

Copyright © 2011 Constant Contact, Inc.

Other community events

■ Can you piggy-back off something else?

■ Be sure your event is not scheduled at the same time as another

Event execution

■ Assign a back-up person and have contingency plans

■ Prepare staff in case of questions or issues (Fire Drill)

■ Include enough breaks in the agenda

■ Provide WIFI if not already available

PROMOTE AND COMMUNICATE

Are you promoting to the right people?

Who do you want to come?-create an “ideal” attendee profile of those both new and familiar with your

organization and know why they come.

Demographic

Past giving behavior

Age , Geography

Industry, Educational background

Influence in networks (local and social)

Where do they spend time?

Online: Social Media, industry blogs, websites, virtual trade-shows, etc.

Offline: Social groups, cafes, Meet up, Chamber meetings, etc.

Print: Newspapers, trade publications, magazines

Where do they look for information about events?

Local calendar listings, local media outlets (wickedlocal.com, craigslist.org)

List in your own event calendar on your site

Get included in radio or TV listings

“Forward to a Friend” Invites

Word of Mouth

Search Engines and Social Media

11

Use the Event Planning & Feedback section of the Survey tool to gather data.

Foundation from those who know you

Get their attention with email invites for those who know your organization

Brand is important

-79% of respondents said they hit the "report spam" button when they don't know who the sender is.-Email Sender and Provider Coalition (2007)

Use Subject Lines that get you opened

Write a headline that captures and keeps attention

Show your personality

Personalize message to recipient –the same invite does not need to go to everyone on your list

How do they know you? Use this to make the invite relevant

Segment the content of the message

-56% of consumers consider marketing messages from known senders to be Spam if the message is “just not interesting to me.” - Q Interactive, 2007

12


Good Invitations cause interest and action

Include:

Why do I or should I care?

Simple step-by-step easy

registration or RSVP-How do I say yes or no

-If no, can I still donate to cause?

When and where?

How do I get there?

Is there a cost?

Who do they contact for more

information or to ask

questions?

Add list of upcoming events

Content is Share worthy

– “Forward to a Friend”-email

– Share button for posting social

media

13

Copyright ©

2011 Constant

Contact, Inc.

What about your invites? Do they do

more than ask people to come?

Goals:

Increase awareness

Improve activism/volunteerism

Improve performance of donor

base

Strengthen community relationship

How do you know if your invites

did their job?

Invitations cause interest and action

14



Success with Event Invitations

The Salem Athenaeum

Their challenge:

Maintaining support for the

organization’s mission

Attracting both new and former

attendees

With Event Marketing:

Send informative email invitations

Professional looking event homepage

Online registration to confirm

commitment

Their results:

Payment in advance encourages

attendance

Increased attendance meant more

revenue from the fundraiser

15

“Event Marketing allows us to gauge

registration numbers in advance.

I know how many people should staff

the event, if I am going to have enough

space for the attendees, and what the

audience expectations are for the

event.”– Jean Marie Procious, Director

of The Salem Athenaeum

Does this invite work?

What works

Headline captures attention

and sense of urgency

Visuals match event theme

What does not work

•No way to RSVP on line–Created sense of urgency but

no way to take immediate action

•Unclear how to sign up for

event

•No personalization

•No map for directions on how

do I get there

•No way to share–Missing out the power of word

of mouth and social media

marketing


17

Beyond one event invitation

Share upcoming events in your email

newsletters to increase awareness.

“Attend My Events” button

appears in the Insert menu

Clicking this option will feature:

–Event Name

–Start/End date and time

–Event Description (if given)

–Location

Event names link to Event

Homepage/Registration page

Track what readers are

interested in what events

Copyright ©

2011 Constant

Contact, Inc.

18

Leverage Social Media Marketing

Use Simple Share to promote

the event on Facebook and

Twitter at the same time

■ Customize the message

for each site

■ Include an image

(optional)

■ Easily share to all your

Facebook and Twitter

profiles

Expand the reach of your invitation

through social media


Get more attendees by sharing the event on Facebook & Twitter.

The Facebook post can contain a

custom message to

encourage attendance and

will include a link to register.

Establish a hashtag (e.g. #B2Bevent) to

track buzz around the event.

Tweet your event and watch how your

followers retweet the details.

Do not forget to ask them to retweet, asking

and saying “Please” really does work.

Whether you send an

invite or not, promote

the event on Social

Media! Here’s how:

Promote the event on a

schedule:

•Weekly

•The day before

•An hour before


FoursquareHow can you use it?

Do you have a venue? Create a location to check in.

Co-marketing with local business? Drive traffic to each other.

Leave a tip about your event

Leave a To Do about your event

Scavenger hunt around event-

– Hints in tips area

Understand interests of people checking in-profile info

Leverage Text Marketing

Copyright ©

2010 Constant

Contact, Inc.

Text to Join from Constant Contact:

Customer texts keyword to a short code

(similar to a phone number), receives reply

and is asked to submit email address;

added to your list

Ez Texting (Constant Contact partner):

Send group texts to give your customers

exclusive info on events, discounts or deals

Text marketing for events – Secret Cinema

250 million Americans are mobile

phone users, 56% of mobile

users, or 141 million people,

are SMS users. -Gfk/NOP Research

conducted for mobile entertainment community

Limbo

http://www.gfknop.com/

http://www.gfknop.com/

Get Started With Social Media


Go to www.socialquickstarter.com

and get help with:

Social Media 101

Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Blogs

YouTube

Location-based marketing

http://www.socialquickstarter.com/

Copyright ©

2011 Constant

Contact, Inc.

23

Built-in Promotions with

Social Media and Search

Engine Optimization

■ Help your event be found in online searches by using keywords

Topics, speakers, theme, location

■ Create an event hashtag to encourage conversation about the event

■ The hashtag is automatically featured in event communications


Can your event be found on the Web?

Do you have an event homepage?

Use homepage for more promotional details and drive desire to attend.

Match the branding and colors of your website to your event homepage.

“The homepage flexibility provides a fantastic outlet for other complementary marketing strategies such as posting for social networking and affiliates websites.”

-Shannon Beth Harrington, SB Cre8tive

24Copyright © 2011 Constant Contact, Inc.


Talk About Content

List the sessions offered/Agenda

Link to guest speaker bios, websites, book

reviews

Showcase new products or services

Enable Interaction

Provide event contact’s information for

questions

Feature testimonials of former attendees

Create and update a “What’s New” section

Display pictures from past events or featured

speakers

Join My Mailing List for future events

Include Fine Print

Post items for sale for fundraiser

State cancellation and refund policy (if

applicable) and make it fair and friendly

25

“It „s more seamless for people and easier for everyone. For

people signing up for the events they don‟t have to bounce from a

newsletter, to our website, to PayPal and back-it‟s so flawless and

easy. What we were hoping for is what we got and so much

more.”-Leslie Sturgeon, Women Inspiring Woman


Tips:

-Keep your branding consistent

-Make the page easy to share and be

found in Social Media

-Use the words that attendees use, not

internal jargon


26

Promote events on your website with “Attend My Events” Widget.

Providing a list on your website:

■ Increases awareness of your upcoming events

■ Helps improve attendance or increase the number of volunteers

■ Increase SEO value


Online Event Calendar

Sacramento Tree Foundation

Their challenge:

Getting the right number and type of

volunteers to help


Invitations provide information regarding

upcoming volunteer opportunities

Asking for best times/dates in invite

Their result:

Had the number of volunteers needed

for each project

Identified skill sets for a more productive

event

Able to support mission by fulfilling all

volunteer datesCopyright © 2011 Constant Contact Inc.

27

Boost attendance with promotional variety

Copyright © 2011 Constant Contact Inc. 28

Remember: communicate where your audience is listening!

Invitations Homepage Social Media

Send personalized

invitations with a

personal appeal

Create a unique event

homepage

Engage those following

you to boost attendance

and awareness

Make sure to include:

Important event information

To ask recipients to forward the

email to friends and family

A list of upcoming events

Encourage to talk about event

in Facebook and Twitter

Links to register-automatically

done for you with Event

Marketing


Information about the event,

mission, and success stories in

one place

Regular updates on the

homepage, with our easy to

update homepage

A “Join my Mailing List” box, to

keep the connected

Use the “Attend my Event

Widget” to promote upcoming

events on your website


Updates about the event

(Examples: new speakers,

discount offers, etc.)

Link to registration for the event

from all posts and tweets

Encourage those who have

registered to post or tweet they

are attending-automatically done

for you with Event Marketing

Let them know and they’ll show!

ENGAGEMENT WITH ATTENDEES

Step 1: Registration

Easy to use self registration

Decreases errors

Attendees register when and how they want

Centralized Information and Professional Looking

One place for all event information

Same branding for all event communications

Track and see the details registrant provide

Have a better event when you know who is coming

Time Saving

Manual registration = Hours of time vs. Online = time saving

One person can run the show

Easy for anyone to manage, even new volunteers


30

Copyright ©

2011 Constant

Contact Inc.

How registration engages

Allston Village Main Streets

Their challenge:

Difficult to get a proper headcount

Mixed expectations of events

Over-ordering or booking a location that is too small/large

Collecting payment from registrants


Easy to use online registration page

All information is collected in one place

Registrants pre-pay online through PayPal

Their results:

Knowledge what all the attendees expect

Saved time and money by knowing the right amount of

space and amenities necessary

Easier registration process for all involved

Event updates go out on time to the right people

31

“It takes the guessing out of

running good events.”

-Katie Reed, Executive Director

Step 2: Acknowledge and Communicate

Confirmation Message

Keep it short and concise

Include link to pre-event survey or poll

to understand expectations

Provide contact information for the

individual who can answer questions

Feature quotes from attendees in the

past to similar events

Reference the “Add to my Calendar”

feature

32Copyright © 2011 Constant Contact, Inc.

Confirmation

Landing Page and email


Copyright ©

2011 Constant

Contact Inc.

33

Ask registrants to share the event information. Jump start the word

of mouth buzz around your event.

Once

registered, attendees

can spread the word

about the event by

sharing on Facebook or

Twitter.

Note: Facebook users

have on average 130

friends**Facebook FAQ’s

Step 2: Acknowledge and communicate

Those unable to attend can still

show their support by donating.

Make giving easy:

Suggested donation amounts

Allow them to enter any amount

Simple payment process

After the event, send a special “Thank

You” email to those who donated!


Capture Donations

How many days/hours of notice and

registration time do they need?

5-6 weeks before the event: Send the personalized

invite “announcement”

3 weeks before: Send email “reminder”

-Include new offer/special discounts

-Feature any special guests who are attending

2 days before: Send final “don’t miss” email with

date/time/location

Tips:

One announcement and two reminders

Create messages and schedule sends before the event

Include the event info in your newsletter

Send a follow up to those that did register and also to

those that did not register

Sending Save the Dates and Reminders

35




Reminder communications

Increase % that show

Show count down until event

Include a link to a pre-event survey or poll, then near event start date or at start of event review results

Provide hints to guess secret guest speaker/feature

Tweet event information and include event #hashtag in the tweet

Share event details on your Facebook wall

Make it easy to share with “Forward to friend” link and Social Share button

36

Copyright ©

2011 Constant

Contact, Inc.

During the Event

Event Check-in

Display a list of registrants for any event.

"Check-in" your registrants to mark them as attended.

Email an individual event registrant by tapping their email address.

Easy attendance Tracking on your mobile phone!

Android iPhone

During the Event

Encourage attendees to tweet about what they are experiencing during the event under the event #hashtag.

People who are interested and could not make it can be part of event following a twitter feed.

Encourage attendees to post photos and videos from mobile devices to Twitter with tools like Twitpic

As of Dec 2010, 27% of all mobile phones are

smartphones, by end of 2011 over 50% will be

smartphones. -ComScore’s “2010 Mobile Year in Review”

Twitter has 165 Million Users – 50% of them use

Twitter Mobile. –Mashable.com, “Mobile by the Numbers”

During the Event

Consider using QR Codes to keep the interaction going

Direct to website information via mobile device

Get feedback via a poll or short survey that people can access via mobile device

Post video content that is complementary to the event objectives to view via a mobile device

Free QR Code generator sites:

http://www.qrstuff.com/

http://qrcode.kaywa.com/

http://goqr.me/

How do I build? -http://bit.ly/

Add- .qr at end of shortened url■ QR Code Section

http://www.socialquickstarter.com


During the Event

How can you use it?Watch how many and who has checked in.

– Know when the people you want to connect with have arrived.

Watch the comments, tips and to do’s left by attendees.

– Gain a clear understanding of what popular/trending in your event.

Watch for instant feedback.

– Negative comments about the food

– Problems with the facility■ Location-Based Services Section

http://www.socialquickstarter.com


During the Event

How can you use it?EZ Texting-Text Marketing

Attendees

Reminders

Real-time updates on schedules, weather delays

Staff & volunteers

Communication the day of your event

Send out real-time info: schedules, questions, staffing needs

POST EVENT COMMUNICATIONS

Post event email and homepage

43

■ Thank attendees

■ Post quotes and photos from attendees

■ Provide links to materials distributed at the event.

– Consider hosting them via Slide Share

■ Provide contact information for the individual who can answer questions

■ Give participants a way to stay connected through the “Join Our Mailing List” link or social media sites

■ Include link to post-event survey

Copyright ©

2011 Constant

Contact, Inc.

Collect Post Event Feedback

Use a Survey

Ask about satisfaction with

content, facilities, etc.

How likely are they to come again?

How likely are they to tell others

about your events?

Ask questions that get answers

you can act upon.

Example: “What didn’t you like

about our last event?”

Over 60 templates to start with to meet your objective

Includes good questions

You can edit, remove, add, and re-order questions

You can add your logo, colors and images

Collect Post Event Feedback

Review the comments and

conversations on your

Facebook wall.

Review the comments via Twitter

about your event by searching

under the event #hashtag.

Feedback and Data for next event

Leverage details from your

registration data to help identify

the right segments of people to

invite to your next event.

Use the information they have

shared to personalize your

future communications.

Details such as who paid, how

they paid, demographic, etc.

Did you meet the objectives?

Measure your objectives by:

The number of people who

attendee

Donations raised

Data collected via reports and

survey

Measure fundraising revenue

Measure attendee objectives by:

Conversations about event in

social media networks

Feedback in surveys

Show rate of individuals

registered

Best Next Steps

Try Online Event Marketing For Free

http://www.constantcontact-event.com/

Check out a Live Product Tour

Register for the live “Event Marketing Product Demo”

http://www.constantcontact.com/learning-center/webinars/live/index.jsp

Questions? You have a consultant here to help at 1-855-816-6508

48





FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA

49

On Twitter:

@ctctevent

Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/ctcteventmarketing


Share your story: Recent or Upcoming Event

Attendee Objective

Your Objective

Value and Content Focus of event

Audience Goal Your Goal

Size of Event

Value of Event

Content Focus

Are you promoting to the right people?

Attendees-Who is perfect for

your event?

Where do they spend time? Where do they seek event

information?

In common What is

different

Real Life Online Real Life Online

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

Attendee Worksheet:

Technology

Online event marketing for non profits