It’s beyond frustrating when you work hard to make a conference successful, but the turnout is disappointing. If you’re planning a big event, you need to do whatever it takes to guarantee sufficient attendees to justify the endeavour. Here are some top tips to ensure that you can get the footfall you want for your next conference.

Have an aggressive marketing campaign

A lot of people are keen to attend conferences, especially if they can boost academic and professional development. The problem is that they often don’t receive the right information. Think about using social media platforms to market your conference. You could also start a partnership with social media influencers, which will help guarantee that more people will take part in the event; with their strong influence and broad reach, it’ll be easy to find attendees.

Send the invites months ahead

It helps if you can let everyone know about this event months in advance. Give potential attendees the chance to include this event in their calendar. If you send out the invites close to the event most people would’ve already planned what to do on those specific dates, so make sure you give enough time for your message to propagate.

Look for the best venue

The first thing you need to look for is the conference venue. You want to attract more people by booking large conference venues in the UK, as it’ll tell everyone that you’re hosting a huge event. You’re also subtly telling them that they will miss out on a big conference if they decide not to come, so there are positives both ways. If other activities are happening around that time however, you might not get your preferred venue; you have to act as quickly as you can.

Respond to messages

Some people may already know the details of the conference but would still like to know more, so you’ll have to be patient in responding to inquiries. It would help if you also showed to everyone that you’re sincere in your invitations; even if some questions are repetitive, you have to respond calmly. You could also refer them to a website where they can get the information they need, freeing up time to organise more.

Create a positive reputation

When you are arranging successful events, you can expect more people to come. For regular attendees, they need to know first who is behind the conference. If you have a history of organising a failed conference before, you might find it challenging to attract more people next time. Therefore, you must maintain a consistent effort in organising these events – one of the options to do this is to invite the best speakers. Make sure that everyone thinks that their attendance is worth it (especially the amount they paid to be there) and it will help you build a solid reputation.

Hopefully, things will eventually turn out the way you hoped. You can also learn from the mistakes you faced and use them to have a better conference next time. Stay optimistic, and don’t forget to surround yourself with the best team for the biggest chance of success.