Why you Should Outsource PR and Social Media Activities for Your Conference
We have had the pleasure of working with many professional bodies. No matter their industry, the amount of members they have or the size of the resource pool, the one thing they had in common was how necessary outsourced support was for their annual conference.
We understand that professional bodies are typically run by a group of very passionate volunteers. Experts in their fields wanting to make a difference and give back to the industry they love. But these volunteers all have their own day jobs they need to focus on.
Even if these professional bodies have a few full time employees, these individuals are usually looking after their members and business goals. It thus makes sense to outsource some activities.
Dedicated resources
Industry conferences are usually the main income stream for professional bodies and therefore it is extremely important to get as close to a full house as possible. Outsourcing your conference PR and Social Media Marketing just makes sense. Allowing an agency to come in and create conversations about your conference, your speakers and the topics they will discuss, will allow you more time to focus on running your professional body, making sure your members are happy and you are achieving business goals.
Expert support
As a professional body your main interest lies within providing support to members, representing members at a national level and ensuring they are kept abreast of the latest developments in your industry.
By outsourcing your conference PR and Social Media Marketing, you are allowing experts in creating conversations about brands to take control of a very important part of your conference.
An agency typically has strong media contacts and by using their knowledge of media trends they can advise on suitable activities pre-conference to increase conference attendance.
In general it is quite challenging to achieve publicity about an event. So writing stories about the event the itself – the theme, venue and speakers – is unlikely to generate a lot of media interest. But by making use of your speakers, their topics and expertise to create stories, you change the game a bit.
For the same token, simply posting “register today” on you Facebook or Twitter profile won’t generate much interest or sales. But by creating a thought out content plan pre-conference, sharing some of the valuable insight your speakers will be discussing, you are drawing your community in.
Value for money
Even though there would be an expense to outsourcing your conference PR and Social Media Marketing activities, return on investment would be determined quick and fairly easily.
In the end, how many people attended the conference? And how many people engaged on social media?
Outsourcing your conference PR and Social Media Marketing activities would be an 8-12 week project or campaign with 80% of activities being completed pre-conference, 5% at conference and the rest post-conference, including reporting.
CF Communications strategically conceptualise and manage public relations campaigns to influence, engage, and build relationships with key stakeholders across a host of platforms in order to shape and frame the public perception of your brand. Get in touch to find out more.
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