Events allow your association's members to come together to learn, get to know each other, and build their professional networks. However, before you can pull off a successful association event, your members have to know about it!
That's where an airtight marketing strategy comes in, and it all starts with your association's website, the hub of your organization's online presence. Using your website, you can easily spread the word about your event and drive more traffic to your registration page, ensuring that you'll have a great turnout on the big day.
Whether you'e hosting a ritzy fundraising event or a virtual conference, your website will be a critical component of a winning marketing strategy. Let's jump into four ways to effectively use your site to promote an event.
1. Create a dedicated event website or landing page.
The first step to using your website to promote your association's event is to create a place that can serve as the one-stop shop for all event information and registration tools.
This may be an "Events" page on your association's main website, where you store information about all your upcoming events. For larger, recurring events, your organization may find it valuable to create a standalone website or microsite.
You may have an event management platform that offers website or landing page-building capabilities, or you may opt for a popular content management system (CMS) like WordPress or HubSpot.
However you decide to create your event's online home, you should keep these best practices in mind:
- Design the page or site to match your organization's brand.
- Keep any registration or donation forms short and easy to fill out.
- Make sure the page or site is optimized for mobile so that members can use it from any device.
- Include all important details, such as the venue, suggested attire, registration pricing, and parking information.
- Incorporate photos or testimonial videos from previous events to give members an idea of what the event will be like
Additionally, after your page or site is live, remember to regularly maintain it, especially if you'll be using it again. According to Cornershop Creative's website maintenance for nonprofits checklist, you should check to make sure that everything works, that your information is current and accurate, that visuals are appearing correctly, and that the page or site is secure. By keeping a pulse on these elements, you can ensure this online asset will be useful for both your organization and your members well into the future.
2. Write attention-grabbing CTAs.
To direct your website visitors to your events page or website, you’ll need to leverage the power of well-written calls-to-action (CTAs). A CTA is a simple statement that encourages someone to act. These simple statements can make all the difference when you're promoting an event and trying to drive up your registration numbers!
Place CTAs in prominent places around your website, including your homepage and other relevant high-traffic pages, with clickable buttons that link to your events page or website, and pay close attention to how you word them. They shouldn't be long, and should have a little more flavor than simply saying, "Register now"or "Sign up".
Here are a few examples of effective event CTAs:
- Join us at our next networking event. Spots are limited!
- Help us take down cancer by registering for the annual gala today.
- Our global conference is in just two weeks. Sign up now!
Remember, the goal of a CTA is to get someone to take action, whether that means registering for a fun run or a skills-sharing workshop. To avoid having members think "I'll do that later", instill some urgency in your CTA statements by emphasizing how important it is to act now. This can help you secure more registrations!
3. Add social sharing icons to your website.
One of the great things about associations is that they’re inherently social organizations. After all, associations bring together professionals, leaders, and experts to share knowledge and harness new opportunities.
Lean into the social nature of your organization by adding social sharing icons to your website. This is a top-tier nonprofit web design best practice because it encourages your members to connect with you on social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. It's also a great move for growing your association's community and encouraging other people to come to your events. When your members can easily share to social media that they're attending your event, they'll essentially be marketing the event to their own networks, encouraging fellow members or potential members to check out your event and register themselves.
Social sharing icons can also be useful for empowering website visitors to share other web content with their personal networks so be sure to spread information about your event to other spots on your website. For example, you might post an interview with an event speaker on your blog or share pictures from past events in a photo gallery. When your members share this content, they'll still be plugging your event to their networks‚ just in different ways!
4. Use other tools and strategies to reinforce your website marketing strategy.
Of course, your association's website is just one of many tools that can help you effectively promote your events. To really boost your efforts, make sure you're leveraging other tools and strategies that can help send more visitors to your event pages and get more people RSVPing, "Yes"!
Here are a few ideas for what to add to your toolkit:
- A learning management system (LMS): Chances are, your association likely already relies on a robust LMS to offer courses, certifications, and evaluations to its members. So, why not use it to drive better event attendance? With the right platform, you can create your event website or landing page, offer seamless registration, set up a virtual event portal, and then take care of all post-event follow-up activities.
- Direct mail: Direct mail isn't dead. In fact, NonProfitPRO reports that direct mail has higher response rates than other channels, likely due to its personal and memorable nature. Try using direct mailings to announce your events. You can even add a QR code to physical materials that directs recipients to your online registration page.
- Search engine optimization (SEO): Don't let all of the work you've done on your event landing page or website go to waste! Once your page or site is live, leverage SEO to drive more traffic to it. Cornershop Creative offers SEO tips like improving your website's user experience, targeting specific keywords and optimizing page content for those keywords, and producing high-quality content regularly.
- Email: Email is another excellent tool for generating more interest in your event and driving more registrations. To make your emails more likely to be opened, focus on writing eye-catching subject lines to help your messages stick out in your recipients' inboxes. Additionally, remember to include links to your events page and registration form!
In addition to these tools and strategies, your association might use a YouTube channel with animated explainer videos, email newsletters, or even physical flyers and posters to supplement the marketing work you're doing with your website. Regardless of the specifics, you should make sure that whatever you're doing to promote your event resonates with your association's members.
As you prepare for your association's next event, don't overlook the potential of promoting your event on your website! Using these tips, you can ensure that word of your event reaches the right people who will be excited to register for and participate in the event. You can do this!
