Increase Attendance at Your Life Science Event

Planning a life science event can be stressful. But, nothing is more stressful to an event planner than watching the registration numbers every day. Will all the hard work pay off? Will people sign up? Will the event make budget? Here are a few ways to increase attendance at your life science event to alleviate some of the pressure.

Choose an Attractive Location

Let’s face it, if people have to go away on business for a life science event, they want to go somewhere appealing, some place with character, a desirable climate, and natural beauty. Why not select a location that they would like to travel to regardless of whether your event is held there? Odds are, if YOU want to go there, other people do, too. Be sure to take advantage of all the attraction your host city has to offer. Select a unique venue, and offer excursions to hot tourist spots to increase attendance.Oh, and there is something else to consider… If your guests love the location enough to bring their family, consider hosting a family social one of the days. Many people work hard to find a work/life balance, so creating an event that incorporates that aspect of people’s lives is a good way to increase attendance at your life science event.

Promote, promote, promote!

It should go without saying that your event should be promoted via social media. But here we are reminding you that a social media campaign should be an integral part of your marketing strategy. Outline your campaign ahead of time to keep your team on track. Create infographics and other eye-catching images to entice your followers to register. Use social media to leverage the networks of your speakers, sponsors, and exhibitors in order to increase your outreach by tagging them or asking them to help in your promotion efforts.YouTube Live offers a great way to entice people to sign up for your events. Take advantage of the current craze for live video by broadcasting live to your audience. But, be sure to keep your video snippets short! Attention spans are not what they used to be. One to two-minute sneak-peeks, speaker introductions, or testimonials of what your life science event has to offer are just a few ways to increase attendance. Your marketing should also go “old school” to keep things fresh. Personal phone calls to past participants is a great way to increase attendance! In this day and age where everything seems so impersonal, phone calls and handwritten notes can go a long way.

Offer Incentives

Another way to increase attendance at your life science event is to offer registration incentives. From group discounts and multi-day discounts to early-bird specials and BOGO incentives, everyone loves a deal! Adding complimentary social events or discounted tours is another way to entice deal-seekers to sign up. Contact your host city’s visitors bureau to see if they can make recommendations or offer group discounts to your attendees on any area sightseeing excursions. Not all incentives have to be fun. Many professionals are attracted by events that offer continuing education units (CEUs) towards their certifications or professional designations. The number one tip in event planning is to know your audience! Find how if the educational sessions at your life science event qualify for credits toward your attendees’ mandatory CEU requirements for their professional designations. If you can offer a one-stop-shop for CEU needs, you will surely increase attendance at your life science event.