Conference marketing tactics
I'm a bit late in referring to the article, which ran before Valentine's Day, but Shankar Vedantam had another excellent article in his Washington Post column "Human Behavior."
This one talks about the differences between people who are last-minute shoppers and those who are not. The gist: For people shopping well in advance of a holiday, the most effective marketing tactics are positive references. In the case of the column, buy this to enhance your loved one's beauty. For the last minute shoppers, negative marketing is more effective; in the column, buy this so you won't be in the doghouse.
I thought the best implication in the association world was the marketing for the annual conference. Most associations start the marketing cycle 6 or 9 months out. Perhaps there should be a focus on the positives at the beginning of the cycle—come catch up with old friends and make new ones—but as the event nears, a shift to more negative messaging—miss this conference and you miss the single best networking event of the year.
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Comments
Scott
Good story. Thanks for the link.
Seems to me that the most significant point of the research is buried in the last paragraph: "When leaders and advertisers build their campaigns around hope, optimism and other positives, they are more likely to develop relationships that endure..."
So before squeezing the last registration out with frantic negative messaging to the entire database, you also need to consider the cost to long-term loyalty.
In my experience, courteous messages that create urgency around dwindling numbers of hotel rooms or an impending early bird deadline net greater returns.
Cheers
Ann O
Posted by: Ann Oliveri | February 26, 2008 9:41 AM