SeminarSavvy.com

When working with a limited budget, you need to make tough decisions about where you want to invest your marketing dollars. If you have enough funds to send a single direct mail package to your entire list or three direct mail packages to a third of your list, it makes sense to carefully choose who is “worthy” of receiving your direct mail package — in other words, who is most likely to respond to your offer.

Candidates for the “A” list could include people who have recently joined your list, customers who have purchased within the past six months, prospects within driving distance of your event, and your most loyal clients. You’d spend the most marketing dollars on these prospects, while relying on free and low-cost tools to reach your B-quality prospects.

While segmenting your database, you might be tempted to delete the oldest and least responsive names. After all, why waste time and money contacting them if they obviously aren’t interested in participating in your events?

It’s true that removing inactive prospects from your list can free up marketing dollars which then can be devoted to reaching more responsive customers.

However, don’t delete the names. Keep them in a separate sublist if you must. But don’t get rid of the names entirely. You never know when someone will be ready to attend your event. If you delete the names, you may miss the opportunity to make a sale. Plus, even if these prospects haven’t bought in years, it’s entirely possible that they’re referring colleagues and friends to you events.

The bottom line is that you’ve worked hard for every lead in your database. Although you may want to reduce the amount of time and money you spend marketing to the least responsive segments of your databse, don’t eliminate them from your list entirely. Instead, mail to them occasionally — once a year even — to gently remind them that you’re still around.

“I deliver a great seminar. But my prospects don’t see the value in taking a day from their businesses to attend my event.”

If this sounds familiar, it is possible that your event really isn’t worth the time investment participants would need to make to attend. Perhaps your seminar doesn’t deliver content that is timely, relevant to your audience, important to them, or critical to know NOW. It’s also possible that the content you’re delivering is readily available in other formats that are easier to access.

Most likely, though, you’re not adequately communicating the real value of your event.

If prospects read or listen to your promotions and don’t understand why attending is so important that they should schedule a day away from their regular lives, you need to do a better job of explaining what the event is about. The communication you’re sending is the only thing you have control over; you can’t force the recipients “get it.” If your message isn’t connecting, it’s time to tinker with your message.

Look at your promotions from your prospects’ perspective, and ask yourself the following questions to identify areas where you can improve your copy:

1. Do you understand why it’s urgent to attend now — why waiting a few months or a year to attend will be detrimental to your success … or even survival?
2. Is it clear how you’ll benefit by attending a seminar vs. obtaining this information via a teleseminar, report or simple online research?
3. Does the copy adequately explain what will be taught — and provide such an overwhelming amount of proof that you know with total certainty that you’ll gain a ton of valuable information by attending?
4. Do you have the impression that attending will give you a competitive advantage … and that not attending could put you at a disadvantage?
5. Do you understand how attending will give you the knowledge and skills to produce a positive return on investment?
6. Is there any indication of how big of an ROI you could potentially see … or how fast you’ll recoup your investment?
7. Are there testimonials from other people like you who have attended this training in the past?
8. Are you 100 percent sure that the seminar applies to you? Does the copy list your profession or title under “Who Should Attend”?
9. Does the copy describe the problem(s) the seminar will solve … and the solution(s) you’ll get by participating?
10. Is the seminar delivering significantly more value than you’ll invest to attend?

If, after reviewing these questions, you’re still having a hard time identifying where your copy could be strengthened, get feedback from people who aren’t familiar with your seminar.

For the most valuable input, seek out people who would make ideal prospects for your seminar. Ask them to share their candid feedback about your promotional materials, and invite their ideas for making your offer irresistible.

Having companies, associations and other organizations as clients is good — and bad — for your business.

On the downside, if organizations cut their travel or training budgets, your registration levels will be impacted.

On the other hand, organizations represent a potentially long-lasting revenue stream. An individual usually will attend your seminar one time, but an organization can send multiple employees to you for training. As those employees leave or change jobs within the company, new hires are brought in to replace them — and they’ll need the same training.

To capitalize on this opportunity, the first thing you should do is pull out your registration form. Do you ask for the name of the attendee’s approving manager? If not, add it to your form immediately. 

Next, ensure that you’re capturing and segmenting these names in your database. Approving managers are worth the effort of creating additional marketing materials that specifically address their desires and needs.

Here are three tips for marketing to approving managers:

1. Address the organization’s needs. Explain how the organization will benefit by investing in an employee’s education. Describe how your training will help employees boost their productivity, close more sales, reduce costs, etc. Companies want to see a positive return on the investment they make to train staff. 
2. Give thanks. Send approving managers a thank you note after your event. Your gesture will help to create a memorable impression of your company. You might even want to acknowledge that they have many training options these days; then describe how your training helps them get the most bang for their buck.
3. Pitch on-site training. At some point (the number varies depending on your seminar pricing), it becomes more affordable to bring the training to the company vs. sending multiple employees to your seminar. Highlight the benefits of private training in your seminar brochure or even in a separate mailing.