Marketing: Segment, Position, Convert
Strategy before tactics
Marketing starts with segmentation (who), targeting, positioning (why us) and a value proposition written in the audience's language. Then the mix: product (the program), price (tiers, early-bird, group and member rates), place (channels and the registration path) and promotion, extended for services by people, process and physical evidence, which in events is the entire on-site experience.
Measure the funnel
Build a funnel from awareness to interest, consideration, registration, attendance and advocacy, and measure conversion at each step. Source attribution tells you which channels actually produce registrants. Last-click attribution over-credits the final touch, so use promo codes, UTM parameters and a registration question asking how the attendee heard about the event.
Traps to expect
Reporting impressions or open rates as results; discounting early to build momentum and training the audience to wait for a price cut; and treating a marketing plan and a communications plan as the same document. Brand consistency across email, web and on-site signage is testable.
Rule of thumb
Every channel gets a target, a cost and a measurable response.
Worked example
A 40,000-recipient email at 20% open rate, 10% click-through from openers and 5% registration from clickers yields 40,000 × 0.20 × 0.10 × 0.05 = 40 registrations. If the campaign cost $4,000, cost per registration is $100, which must be compared with registration margin before scaling.