It is quite difficult, if not impossible for any event marketing team to ensure that the registrant list was as they had desired and the conference hall was full in attendance but to their despair it never actually happened, despite the fact that the team informed its target audience well in time as a strategy to gain visibility, they invested in Google ads and Facebook ads. They promoted the event to their database posted the event on the website and issued print advertisements.

Hmmm… Agreed that that’s the flip side of marketing an event but on the brighter side there are learning’s which can be gathered during the course of organizing an event. Through a series of blogs I will share some of my learning’s in this journey; my first blog is dedicated to the process of event description.

The tradition of writing event descriptions is to tell the reader what the event is all about without even thinking about the most basic rule of marketing i.e. before presenting a prospect with surplus information we must make him identify the problem and then provide him with a solution. Take this blog as an example; I didn’t start it with giving tips on marketing an event rather I presented a challenge that is faced by anyone who hosts events.

Therefore, the description for an event should start with a problem experienced by the target audience for the event. The first, at most the first two paragraphs should explain the issue, or problem to the reader. Then the solution portion of the description should be taken as an opportunity to explain to the reader the knowledge that will be shared during the event, especially that knowledge which will help him solve the challenge he had been presented with above. It should be clear, concise, and action oriented. Energy words like action-packed, hands-on, powerful, interactive, etc. should be used. While writing the description we should also be mindful of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) as it will help search engines to increase the event’s online visibility.

The traditional event description usually has a section presenting what will be the takeaways of the event but it is not necessarily an effective way to drive delegates to register for the event. Instead, we should consider telling them what they will be capable of, immediately after the event, something that they aren’t capable of now. This approach will create action and energy. It allows the reader to visualize a positive future scenario.

Another very important aspect is to build credibility for the event. Unless your company is an established name, credibility is a critical requirement for the event. Without that, you will not be able to ensure participation. In most cases, there are thousands of people who hold similar events. Since time and money are involved, the reader needs to know that you are an expert on this specific subject and others can vouch for you. What needs to be answered is: "Of all of the people in the world they should choose you?”

There are two components to establishing credibility. The first is to present, in a few sentences, what makes you an expert on this specific subject matter. It is specific to the topic of this event. Why are you passionate about this subject? Passion sells! The second is the use of testimonials. Testimonials are critical for converting those who don’t know you into registrants. Use testimonials that vouch for you as an expert on this topic and how attending your events has helped these people dramatically.

With the above elements taken care of the best suggestion is that once you have created your description, test it on colleagues. Do they see the value? Would they be motivated to attend? Once they approve of it and polish it, you are ready to drive registrations and attendees to your event!

Contributed by : Richa Kapoor, Knowledge Buddy, External Relations, Milagrow