What To Do If Nobody Is Signing Up For Your Event

It‘s a common problem among many event planners: you start with the best intentions, looking forward to signing up a large number of attendees in a short period of time, but soon find that you are lacking any “real” progress.

What are you going to do? Are you going to give up altogether, cancelling the event? Or are you going to make the appropriate changes to quickly turn things around?

The way you approach this problem will not be identical to the next person. Your event is unique and you need to treat it as such. Fortunately, there are a few things you can do to increase the number of sign-ups without going overboard in terms of time and money spent.

Double Back on your Marketing Plan

This one suggestion could do wonders for your event. Upon reviewing your marketing plan, you may find that your initial approach was all wrong. Nobody wants to find him or herself in this position, but it is better than not knowing there is a problem.

You know something didn’t work, so now, in retrospect, what is it? It may be as simple as you announced things too soon. So pretend your sharing information for the first time. You realize your tag line is an inside joke, change the email topic and get a higher click through rate. You didn’t boost posts or create an Event on Facebook. Try a new social share strategy now.

Once you pinpoint why your marketing plan is letting you down, you can make the appropriate adjustments.

Play Up the Benefits

While you may be well aware of the benefits of attending your event, if you don’t convey these to your audience you’re facing an uphill battle.

Your marketing plan must do more than tell people about your event. The date, time, and location are important, but not nearly as crucial as why the event is of value.

Who are the keynote speakers? What types of sessions are scheduled? What do you get in return for your entry fee? Answer the questions about your event’s benefits and then play them up to your audience.

Offer a “Special” Discount

If all else fails, offer an incentive. For example, you could try the following: half off admission for those who pre-register within the next three days. People love to save money, and this will allow you to measure the results.

You don’t want to offer too many discounts, deals, or incentives, as it can “cheapen” the perception of the event. At this stage you’re not going to cancel so why not cut your losses.

A/B test: target a potion of your list with a discount offer. If sign ups increase within the discount group, but not the other, then consider a sweeping discount offer. 

If nobody is signing up for your event and time is getting tight, don’t sit around and hope for a miracle. Implement the suggestions above today.