What is the biggest reason people attend events? Aside from sharing their work (for scientific conferences), increasing their visibility, boosting their careers and overall knowledge in specific fields, and having a good time, the most common reason why people attend events is “networking." Meaning the majority of the event happens outside the auditoriums where the presentations and speeches are held. This also means that the value attendees are looking for from these experiences is more related to human interaction, which generates a diverse and intensive number of emotions.
Our emotions play a crucial role in our communication and how we live our experiences. To market an event, these emotions should be relatable to the reading or viewing audience. For a higher percentage, event websites have something in common that is not that useful. Too many words! Event organizers wish to provide as much information to their participants as possible, which is perfectly natural; however, the more information provided, the harder it becomes to understand and remember.
The human brain is not designed to maintain numerous variables at a single time; the number of “information points," let's say, that can be remembered at a single time is around 6-7. At the end of the day, how many participants come up to you and your team and ask for information that can be found not only on the event website but all around the venue as well? The purpose of these messages on your website should be to create emotion rather than directly provide information. You don't have to explain everything; pick several qualities, differences, or highlights your event has and focus on those.
The highest level of interest and understanding during a message, meeting, or any kind of interaction is mostly at the very beginning and the very end. So, don't be afraid to repeat your message at the end of a long post, presentation, or website column. First, explain what you are going to explain, then explain what you aim to explain, and then explain what you explained.
The main focus of any marketing message should be to create any kind of emotion in the receiver. Direct messages might not have the lasting effect you are looking for. The information will be received; however, shortly after, it will also be forgotten, unless you create an emotional reaction. Focusing on making your participants feel the emotions they will experience during the event will have a much better effect.
Don't forget, your participants' experience is the only thing they are subconsciously interested in. So, try to make your messages not about what you have to offer but about what your participants can receive and experience from participating in your event.
THE CHOICE PARADOX
The human brain does not work well with a high number of comparisons. As much as we insist on having more options, numerous studies and experiments are proving that increasing the number of options not only does not affect the outcome positively but also prolongs the decision period. The brain freezes when it faces multiple options to choose from. Keep it simple, and don't forget that “less is more!"
WRITING
As civilized as we are in this age and time, we shouldn't forget that writing has been in our lives for around 10,000 years. This means our main source for receiving information isn't words. Before we became literate, we had a much more primitive way of understanding our surroundings, which were our senses. Our strongest sense of input is our sight. We tend to react much quicker to information we receive from this channel. Providing images related to your event would be much easier to understand. If you are organizing a specific kind of event for the first time, providing relatable images when giving information will not only help the message be better received but also remembered as well. Use images that allow your participants to better relate to the experience they will have during the event.
Of course, excluding text altogether is not possible, but keep it to a minimum. Also, try to simplify everything you are trying to transfer. The harmony of the text, font, text color, and background it is set on is also important. Which brings me to another point.
Familiar things tend to awaken a trustworthy feeling in us because we have experienced it before. Using well-known and easy-to-read fonts instead of something more difficult to read will have a much better effect on your participants.
FAMILIARITY
Unfamiliar and uncertain experiences, on the other hand, tend to create bad emotions and make us anxious. Studies show that people tend to wait for longer periods if they know the exact time and outcome of the wait. For example; knowing their transfer from their hotel will arrive in 40 minutes is a long wait, although, most people will usually accept the situation since they know when it will arrive. Whereas if they have waited for 40 minutes without knowing when the transfer will have arrived, they will tend to get much more irritable.
Emotions are mainly what we make our decisions on, logic is only there to rationalize these decisions. Emotions are much more primitive and subconscious, which is why they tend to direct us in specific directions of decision-making.
TRUST
This is the driving factor you need to focus on when creating marketing messages.
Do not exaggerate any claim you provide. Trust is the key factor in all relationships.
This can range from the content of the afterparty to the number of registered participants. If you promise something, deliver it!
In Conclusion
When creating your messages using familiar fonts, and easy-to-understand, commonly used words that go well with the background they are provided on; supporting your messages with visual content. Videos, images, etc.; making your messages about your participants, not about what you are offering; providing fewer options to choose from (too many options are like no options. Less is more!) will increase the chances of messages reaching your participants and rasing interest.