One of the key pieces of advice for event marketers and organisers is to understand their target audience. The better matched the content of the event and the audience, the more well attended and successful the event will be.
This will give you a good return on investment and reflects well on the business or organisation, raising brand awareness and boosting morale. Here is a quick guide to identifying key audience demographics.
Take a look at the previous attendees
If you have organised a similar event in the past and collected audience feedback, this is the first place to start. Take a look at social media comments and survey results. Did any particular aspect of the event really cut through? Maybe it was a great location, memorable speakers, or even just brilliant catering. All these details really matter.
Look at rival events
If you have no previous events to draw on, take a look at similar past or upcoming events. Source a contact in the industry who has organised a similar event, arrange to have a chat with them about the process.
Obviously you should avoid setting up in direct competition with them, and make sure that your event is planned for a different date, preferably a few months apart. You don’t want to exhaust the pool of potential attendees.
Create a target audience persona
Put together a profile of your target audience member to help you reach out more effectively to them. Ask yourself typical questions such as the gender, age, occupation, location, and educational background of the person.
Once you have got these basic demographics in place, it can be helpful to prompt some deeper questions about their reasons for attending the event. Do they value the sense of connection with likeminded people above all else? A major part of any event is the chance to make new connections and exchange information and ideas.
Are they part of the ‘digital native’ generation, and social-media savvy? In this case, they may rely more heavily on social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook for information and updates about events than any other type of audience. This demographic may also be more comfortable with hybrid online and in person events.
Older demographics may prefer a familiar location and a chance to reconnect with established contacts within their sector. If you want to attract a more diverse audience, ask why they have felt excluded in the past, and how you can address their interests and concerns.
Once you have drilled down into the real reasons your audience might be interested in attending your event, use this to shape the agenda and the marketing strategy.
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