Multichannel Strategies to Boost Event Attendance Acquisition

In today’s dynamic business conditions, events remain a vital strategy for B2B companies seeking to engage potential customers, cultivate valuable relationships, and drive business growth. Whether these gatherings take place in-person venues, virtually, or in hybrid events, their success hinges on a critical factor: the ability to attract and secure event attendees. This process, known as event marketing, has evolved significantly.

In an era where potential attendees wield unprecedented control over their information consumption and decision-making journeys, relying on a singular, isolated approach to event promotion is no longer sufficient. To maximize reach, cultivate meaningful engagement, and ultimately, drive event attendance, B2B companies must embrace multichannel event marketing strategies.

Why Multichannel Marketing

To truly grasp the importance of multichannel marketing to event attendee acquisition, it’s helpful to reflect on our daily habits. We seamlessly interact with information and connect with others across various platforms – from email and social media to websites and chat interfaces. Potential event attendees mirror this behavior. They navigate multiple channels, each playing a distinct role in their discovery process and influencing their decisions.

A multichannel approach recognizes this inherent diversity. It’s about strategically positioning your event across the digital spaces where your target audience spends its time, delivering consistent and relevant information through their preferred modes of communication. Adopting this strategy amplifies your event’s visibility, captures attention from multiple touchpoints, and cultivates a richer, more engaging experience that encourages attendance.

Moreover, a multi-channel strategy aligns with the evolving nature of the B2B buying journey. Today’s potential attendees are empowered with information and actively conduct their research. They don’t solely rely on company-provided materials. Instead, they seek insights from various sources. Effective B2B event promotion and successful event attendee acquisition necessitate a presence across these diverse sources, guiding and influencing their decision to participate.

Integration of B2B Buyer Statistics

To underscore this point, consider these insights from MarketingProfs (from the survey of 500 procurement officers in the US) into B2B buyer behavior, which further emphasize the need for a strong online presence in event attendee acquisition:

• A significant majority – 94% – of B2B buyers report conducting online research before making a business purchase. This highlights the critical role of digital channels in the early stages of the buyer’s journey, where potential event attendees often begin their search for information.
• Online research is prevalent even for smaller purchases. In fact, 40% of buyers research more than half of their purchases under $10,000 online. For larger corporate investments exceeding $5,000, 34% of buyers spend over three hours researching products. This demonstrates that, regardless of the purchase size, online channels are a key source of information for B2B buyers, including those considering event attendance.
• When B2B buyers seek information online, they commonly turn to several key sources: supplier websites (utilized by 83% of buyers), Google searches (77%), user reviews (42%), and third-party platforms like Amazon Supply (34%). This underscores the importance of a multi-faceted online strategy that includes a strong website, SEO optimization, and potentially, presence on relevant third-party platforms to maximize event visibility. Learn how to drive more attendees to your event by outsourcing event marketing services.

These points emphasize that the event attendee acquisition is closely tied to understanding and adapting to audience behavior across multiple channels.

Key Channels and Strategies to Drive Event Promotion

What are the essential channels and strategies that B2B companies should leverage to drive event attendee acquisition? Here’s a detailed exploration:

Email marketing

Email remains a powerful workhorse for B2B communication despite the emergence of newer digital channels. Personalized email campaigns are instrumental in announcing events, disseminating crucial details, and directly encouraging registrations. To optimize email marketing for event attendee acquisition:

• Segment your audience
• Personalize your messaging
• Craft compelling subject lines
• Include a strong call to action
• Automate your campaigns

Discover how to increase the number of your event attendees and turnouts through outreach.

Social media marketing

Platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook provide valuable avenues for reaching and engaging your target audience in the context of B2B event promotion. Social media can be leveraged to:

• Generate pre-event excitement
• Disseminate event updates
• Facilitate direct interaction
• Employ targeted advertising
• Incentivize engagement

Promoting your event using social media can be useful. Discover how to maximize the power of social media and bring more event attendees.

Content marketing

Creating and sharing valuable content is integral to successful event marketing strategies aimed at event attendee acquisition. Content marketing attracts a relevant audience, positions your event as a valuable resource, and drives direct registrations. Types of content to create for event promotion include:

• Blog posts and articles
• Videos
• Infographics
• Webinars
• Case studies

Website and dedicated landing pages

A strong online presence is essential for providing comprehensive event information and streamlining registration. Make sure your landing page includes:

• A short, benefit-focused event description
• Clear CTA buttons (Register Now, Save Your Seat)
• Speaker bios or agenda teasers
• Social proof (logos, testimonials, past attendees)

Chat and instant messaging

Real-time communication channels can significantly boost engagement and facilitate event attendee acquisition. Use them for:

• Quick registration confirmations
• Personalized reminders
• Real-time support during virtual events
• Handling objections (e.g., “Is there a replay?”)
• Guiding users through the registration process
• Encouraging last-minute sign-ups

Voice Outreach

While digital channels are paramount, don’t underestimate the power of direct, personalized communication. Use phone calls to:

• Deliver personalized invitations
• Conduct follow-up calls
• Gather post-event feedback
• Qualify interest
• Answer questions in real-time
• Reconfirm attendance a few days before the event

Phone outreach adds a human touch and shows your prospects they’re more than just another name on the list.

Virtual and Hybrid Event Integration

If you’re hosting a virtual event or webinar, your webinar promotion strategies should mirror your multi-channel approach:

• Use countdown emails and social teasers
• Offer add-to-calendar options
• Send reminder emails 1 day and 1 hour before the event
• Provide on-demand access afterward to re-engage registrants

Combining live and virtual elements also broadens your reach, allowing you to scale your event beyond geographic limits.

How to Sequence Your Touchpoints

Effective event attendee acquisition isn’t just about using multiple channels. It’s also about how to use them at the right time. Here’s a simple timeline to follow:

4-6 Weeks Before the Event

• Launch your landing page
• Announce the event via email and social
• Start phone outreach to key prospects

2-3 Weeks Before the Event

• Resend invites to non-openers
• Post speaker highlights and teasers
• Use chat to answer FAQs

1 Week Before the Event

• Personal reminder emails
• Phone calls to registrants to confirm attendance
• SMS reminders with event link or location

Day of the Event

• Final reminder email 1 hour before
• Support via chat or phone for login issues
• Social posts encouraging live engagement

After the Event

• Thank-you emails and on-demand recordings
• Follow-up calls for leads
• Survey and next steps

Conclusion

Getting people to register and attend your event is hard but it’s also more doable when you use a smarter approach. By combining email, phone, social media, chat, and landing pages in a coordinated strategy, multi-channel event marketing helps you reach more of the right people, more effectively.

Whether you’re promoting a webinar, hosting a virtual conference, or driving attendance for an in-person event, this approach ensures you don’t leave opportunity on the table.