- Targeting specific market segments, whether they are fami-
lies, business executives, golfers, scientists, or schoolteach-
ers; addressing their particular needs in the message
- Stressing program innovations that will result in new and
unique benefits to the attendee
- Emphasizing program participation by key industry leaders,
professional icons, or celebrities
- Making it easy for the reader to respond, by listing phone
and fax numbers, e-mail addresses, and Web site addresses
Incentives may also be used effectively with advertising. Dis-
count coupons and deadlines for “early bird” registrations at re-
duced rates are easily included in print ads to drive early business
and more accurately estimate attendance and guarantee require-
ments for the venue and the physical space required.
While not as commonplace as print advertising, the associa-
tion event marketer should also consider other alternatives with a
careful eye toward the budget. It is important to identify other me-
dia buying opportunities and integrate them into the overall mar-
keting strategy. Beyond print advertising, additional options in-
clude electronic media such as radio, television, and cable as well
as the Internet, plus outdoor advertising (from billboards to street
banners) and specialty advertising. Many of these options are dis-
cussed in Chapter 2.
Regardless of the advertising vehicle selected, the marketer
will want to develop separate budgets for all media. Television ads
will likely fall into pricing categories based on 10-, 15-, or 30-
second intervals. Radio broadcasters will also have their own ad-
vertising ranges, typically from 10-second to 1-minute spots. The
most effective way to gauge the budget (and value) of various me-
dia approaches is to:
■Develop a separate budget for each medium.
■Identify other events of similar scope and study their media
budgets.
■Study the history of the association’s event and evaluate rel-
ative return on investment of the media utilized compared to
previous years. If that historical information is not available,
a system should be established for tracing the results of var-
ious advertising approaches (e.g., “hits” on the Web site,
coupons from trade press ads, faxed registration forms, mailed
registration forms, telephone orders, etc.).
Promotion Methods for Association Events 115
