Jan 12
19
It used to be, costly advertising was the only option to market your seminar, together with creating expensive brochures and direct mail pieces.
The advent of the internet and social media has made marketing much more economical. But should you still a save a place for advertising in your seminar marketing plan? As usual, the answer is: It depends.
Here are some of your advertising options:
Newspaper Advertising
When you advertise in the newspaper, even a small, local one, you are using the shotgun marketing approach. Since there are so many people reading the newspaper, it is hard to reach that perfect attendee.
Newspapers target men and women of every age group, profession and interest, and that makes it very difficult to cut through the clutter.
The percentage of your target market is low, while the cost is high. For most seminars, advertising in the newspaper is not a cost effective option.
Magazine Advertising
Magazines usually have a precisely defined target market, so it is easier to reach that perfect attendee. If you need to reach a special industry, industry magazines can be very effective.
The drawback is that many magazines have their deadlines months in advance and can be very costly. However, for the right seminar this can be a great option.
Pay Per Click Advertising
Pay per click (PPC) advertising on places like Google and Yahoo, can drive a lot of traffic to your registration page in a short time. The advantage is that you are only paying for people who like your ad enough to actually click on it.
A PPC campaign doesn’t take long to implement and you can see the results quickly. Great for reaching a local market if you have a low cost seminar with a proven upsell.
Social Advertising
Places like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter now also offer advertising. The great thing about social media advertising as opposed PPC advertising on places like Google and other websites, is that the social media networks know a whole lot about us.
We share without hesitation with them what we like, what we do, what are interests are, where we live and where we travel to. That is what makes advertising on Facebook and LinkedIn very attractive, since you can target your advertising very precisely.
Especially Facebook offers ads that incorporate social proof by adding the avatars of friends that have a relationship with you or your event. Like Google ads, social ads are mostly PPC although they also offer a pay per impression option. PPC social ads are a better option for driving traffic to your registration page than pay per impression. Social ads are a good option if you are know your ideal attendee intimately.
Is Your Registration Page Flushing Money Down The Toilet?
While advertising and especially PPC advertising on Google and social media can be very effective for driving traffic to your registration page, it can also be a very costly proposition. You have to know that your registration page can make the sale, otherwise every click that you pay for is flushing money down the toilet.
Unfortunately, many seminar leaders come to me only after they have spent thousands on advertising and have no registrations to show for it. Usually, I spot the mistakes they have made very quickly. There are easy fixes, but not 2 weeks before your event.
I am sharing the 5 biggest mistakes seminar leaders make that keep their workshop rooms empty on a free webinar on January 31st. Don’t spend another dime on advertising your event until you access this webinar.
Register at http://eventstrategysolutions.com/rock2012. It won’t cost you anything, but it can easily save you thousands of dollars.
For more strategies to fill your workshops and seminars without driving yourself crazy, you’ll want to pick up a copy of this free seminar marketing ebook.
Daphne Bousquet, CMP uses her 20+ years of event planning experience to create profitable event strategies and implementation for coaches, entrepreneurs, speakers and self employed professionals that want to grow their businesses with workshops and seminars. She is the creator of the How To Get The Butts In The Seats Of Your Next Workshop Or Seminar System, a unique digital course that teaches you how to fill your events with your ideal audience.
