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How do we advertise and market a business conference without cold calls?
We need our conference information to get to the general publc quick. We tried using the internet. Our campaign only raised a 0.05% ratio. Word-of-mouth worked better, but we still haven't reached close to our goal. We had to postpone the original date and set a new one, so we decided to ask the experts. Thanks in advance for your input.

Asked by ramonvee
Posted: Thursday, December 13, 2007  |  Found in Advertising & PR


More answers by Roy Williams
Answer by Roy Williams
Let's examine the operational frame of your question:
(1.) You've specifically excluded personal selling. You don't want to make cold calls.
(2.) You tried online, but didn't get much interest; just one twentieth of one percent click-through.
(3.) Word-of-mouth didn't work, either, so
(4.) You've concluded you must be using the wrong vehicles of message delivery.

Have you considered that you might just have a dog of an idea?

Advertising works best when you have something to say. Is your offer compelling? Is the event credible? What are your credentials? The poor return on your initial investment of effort indicates to me that your problem is most likely in the message itself. Craft a better event. Secure better speakers. Offer a stronger package. You'll be surprised at how well online marketing and word-of-mouth work when your message to the public is attractive, surprising and credible.

Good luck to you.
Roy Williams is the founder and president of international ad agency Wizard of Ads. He's also the author of numerous books on improving advertising efforts, including The Wizard of Ads and Secret Formulas of the Wizard of Ads.


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