Best Practice
Believe in your
message
Ian Bamford of Foundry 12 on
building a compelling comms plan
for your event
O
“Convincing your
audience doesn’t
come from
bombarding them
with the same
show-centric rather
than customer-
centric messages”
ur audiences get bombarded, don’t they?
Really bombarded.
Especially with good old email. If exhibitor
numbers are low, if pre-reg is behind, hit ‘em
with another email. Give them the same message
as before, and the same as everyone else – the
biggest, the leading, the most innovative or
disruptive. But send it again anyway, that’s the
answer. It’s not.
For an event to be successful and grow,
audiences need to be convinced that exhibiting/
attending is the best use of their time (and cash)
because being there will help them grow their
business. That’s right isn’t it? But convincing your
audience doesn’t come from bombarding them
with the same show-centric rather than customer-
centric messages time after time. Convincing
them is born out of thinking ‘audience first’ and
asking what will actually help them, what are they
really looking for?
Answering these questions is all about taking
the time to understand clearly the issues each
audience faces and identifying the different ways
your event helps them solve those issues. Do so
and you’ll not only identify your competitive
advantage, you’ll develop a strong point of view on
exactly how you help. From here you can build a
compelling comms plan. One where each different
way you help is a stand-alone, focused message
delivered with clarity and empathy.
Why is empathy vital? Because decision-making
isn’t purely rational, it’s an emotional thing. Our
audiences want to see the understanding we have
for their business challenges. If our message fails
to demonstrate empathy with their situation, how
are we helping them? Why will it convince them
now when it hasn’t before?
So, let’s give them genuinely insightful, emotive
reasons to trust us. Embrace the imaginative,
emotionally intelligent messages full of empathy
we’re all exposed to every day and don’t choose
the easy, safe, messages we’ve all seen before.
Because our audiences have as well. And they’re
tiring of them.
Take those sleep people, Simba. Sorry, we might
just call them a bed company. Anyway, they’re
currently running an ad with the headline “The
unrest is history.” It’s simple, single-minded,
and in just four words demonstrates intelligent
humour and possesses confidence, but most
importantly I understand what it’s offering me.
It isn’t shouting ‘our beds are great, believe
us because we say so’, it taps into a truth we all
recognise about the need for a good night’s sleep.
Which is exactly what event comms should do,
shift the emphasis from saying how great we are,
to articulating what that means for our audiences.
Which brings me back to having a strong point
of view. With audiences facing a bewildering array
of messages every day, it’s hard to cut through the
noise. But a strong point of view demonstrating
genuine understanding of their needs and showing
them where we fit into their business is how we
stand out and cut through that noise.
So, focus on your message to deliver something
different. Don’t settle for bland, ‘me to’ messaging
that fails to stir a single soul and quickly becomes
wallpaper because it’s devoid of any edge or single-
minded focus.
Find that conviction for why your event is the
one that’ll help your audiences grow their business
and stand out amidst all that other noise. They’ll
understand how you can help them, they’ll see the
value you offer, and they’ll be at your event.
June — 49