“When you have a long lead time, there are more no-shows.” Says Carol Jahn, Education Director of Waterpik. She offers free CE, too. But what makes the difference in getting people to actually show up? It’s the lead time promoting the virtual event. Shorter lead times improve the number of registrations and show ups.
What is the magic number? No more than 3 weeks.
Many virtual events today encourage RSVP’s just to build lists and allow eligibility for the recording. This has conditioned people into believing RSVPs don’t count for much.
How do you counter disregard to virtual commitments so registrants feel obligated to attend?
Here are 4 ways to improve your attendee rates:
1- Build a sense of community and anticipation around your event. It compels people to show-up or miss-out.
2- Have a social media content strategy in place. Regular posts with video testimonials about the speaker, content teasers and asking questions about the topic to promote dialogue will help. Make it easy for viewers to share posts across their networks. Consider using an event hashtag.
3- Follow up with attendees the days before the event and personalize communication so they feel they are important. This will help with questions they may have and reduce no-shows.
4- Registrants who fail to attend should receive a follow-up. Discover why they didn’t attend. People who know their non-attendance is being monitored are more likely to show up next time.
How far in advance do you promote your virtual events? Looking for a speaker on the patient perspective surviving stage IV oral cancer? An extraordinary story!
