Event & Conference Registration Campaign Guide

Conference and event registration campaigns are most impactful when the experience of registering is as seamless as possible for the recipient. These campaigns should generate excitement about the event, ask whether the recipient plans to join (providing an easy way to register when they say "yes"), and uncover any hesitancies to registering (providing solutions where available). 

Finally, event and conference registration campaigns let you know who has zero interest in registering for the event so you can focus your efforts on those who are more likely to register. Like most PropFuel campaigns, it's all about understanding intent and driving action. 

Once someone registers, you should consider adding them to a separate campaign to engage and excite them leading up to and during the conference, asking questions like "What are you most looking forward to learning at the conference/event?" These conference and event engagement campaigns are also a great use case for SMS. Check out the full Event & Conference Engagement Campaign Guide for more.

PropFuel event and conference registration campaigns meet your contacts where they are, via email or SMS, and provide a quick and easy way to register.

A few things PropFuel can do better than traditional email marketing include:

• Driving faster registrations by making the next step easy and offering a way to act right from the email. 

• Gathering more context around the individual's intent, by simply asking them.

• Triggering other questions based on the individual's answer to capture further insight around their decision.

• Automating further actions based on the individual's answer, such as: alert the right person to follow-up with a phone call or email, auto-respond with an email, drive the individual to register or find out why not.

• Supplementing emails with SMS messaging.

• And most importantly, PropFuel  campaigns can be designed and deployed with minimal time and effort. And if you have new staff, your PropFuel Client Success Manager will help you build the campaign.

PropFuel is one tool in your tool belt when it comes to your communications. You may still send broadcast event emails outside PropFuel. Similarly, you could mimic what PropFuel does, using other systems, but "frankensteining" systems together is time consuming and rarely yields the desired results - from both a user experience and data analytics perspective.  

A PropFuel event and conference registration campaign generally consists of 2-4 check-ins, depending on how far in advance you're starting communications. The early bird registration period is a perfect time to send a first check-in. 

Remember: prompt text is important! It sets the stage for the question in 1-4 sentences and focuses on "what's in it for them?" This is your chance to tell them event specifics. Try to steer clear of hyperlinks in the initial email and instead save that for landing pages once they answer.  

Start with a question that asks their plans, instead of assuming they've already decided to register and attend. This opens the door for more personalized conversation based on what they tell you. This could be phrased as:

• Are you planning to attend?

• Will you be attending  _____ this year?

• Would you like to register now, before early bird ends and the price goes up? 

Some members may not have made concrete plans at this point, so it is a good idea to provide a "maybe, I need more time" - option.  

From there, you can ask them an indirect question meant to elicit a more emotional response. 

• Which of these conference/event topics is most intriguing to you?

• Which conference/event session are you most forward to attending?

• What’s your #1 priority this year?

These indirect questions are valuable because they provide insight into what your potential attendee cares about most so you can tailor event information based on what they tell you. Indirect questions do not generally see as high a response rate as direct questions, such as "are you planning to attend" or "would you like to register" but they're invaluable in capturing the voice of your member. We suggest "sandwiching" indirect questions between direct questions in campaigns.  

This question is likely the last (or close to last) question you'll ask in this campaign, so it should be all about uncovering any hesitations. Response options tend to be along the lines of value/cost, budget or approval by employer, schedule conflict, or something else - and be sure to include one option along the lines of “Oops, I'd like to register after all!” Generally this question is phrased as:

• Is there something holding you back?

• Why have you hesitated to register _____?

• Is there something we can do to help you register?

You may also want to consider adding an open-ended follow-up so they can give you some feedback in their own words.

Events and conferences are a great use-case for SMS, as text provides another channel to meet your potential attendees where they are. SMS messages can include: 

• Early bird registration for annual conference ends [date]. Register here now: [LINK]

• Planning to attend [event name]? Register now: [LINK]

It's a good idea to remove contacts from the campaign if they tell you they're not planning on registering. 

...they take action! That is, a "yes" is not an actual registration, so don't remove people from the campaign once they say "yes." Instead, use a suppression list to suppress people once they  register. 

Stick with direct questions, removing check-ins that have a softer, indirect approach. 

"Sandwich" indirect questions between direct questions. For example, ask the direct question, "Are you planning on attending?" followed by "What session topic are you most interested in?" followed by "Would you like to register now?"

Event and conference registration campaigns are a great use case for SMS. And, once they do register, you can continue engaging them via SMS all the way up to and through the event or conference! 

Consider adding  contacts to a separate campaign to engage and excite them leading up to and during the conference. These conference and event engagement campaigns are also a great use case for SMS. Check out the full Event & Conference Engagement Campaign Guide for more.

AAMFT is a professional organization that sent a member and non-member version of their conference registration campaign, changing the content slightly for each audience. 

• Are you interested in attending this year’s Systemic Family Therapy Conference?

• Which of these areas of focus is most important to your career right now?

• Which of these reasons motivates your participation in professional conferences?

• Would you like to sign up for the Systemic Family Therapy Conference?

Out of the 16,486 enrolled contacts, 1,224 members registered.

The direct, action-oriented question "Will you be joining us for the Systemic Family Therapy Conference?" yielded the highest response rate, at 12% (2,013). There was an 4% average response rate across the four check-ins. 

838 contacts provided insight on why they chose not to register.

VMUG holds numerous regional events throughout the year and used PropFuel to engage all contacts (members and non-members together), uncover intent, and provide an easy registration process for those who planned to attend. Contacts were automatically registered and sent a confirmation if they answered "yes, register me!" The campaign was easy to copy and re-use over again for each UserCon with minor changes. 

• Will you join us for the [Insert City here] UserCon?

• Why are you hesitating to register for the UserCon?

Out of the 17,844 enrolled contacts, 884 (5%) engaged with the campaign and more than 300 people registered.