Top 10 Do's For a Successful Marketing Event

Choose lists carefully. Your target list is the single most important aspect for any direct marketing campaign. Develop a carefully targeted list of accounts that match your ideal customer profile rather than doing a blind mailing to a region.
Leverage the Internet. Take registrations via the Web and then send confirmations via e-mail that include hyperlinks to pages with an agenda and a map to the event.
Use a proven guideline to time event promotion. Our experience has shown the most effective guideline is The Lead Dog 6-4-3 Rule: 6 weeks teaser, 4 weeks invite, 3 weeks call.
Don't cram the events together. Give yourself time to learn and adjust targets, mediums, and messages between an initial event and follow-on activities. A "10 cities in three weeks" road show gives you no time to make adjustments.
Qualify while promoting. If you're going to take the time to target specific individuals, take the time to qualify them, especially during telemarketing. Our experience shows that you can generate as many non-registered leads as registered leads if you put trained folks on the phones.
Follow-up immediately. Event leads may be expensive to capture but they are usually highly qualified. Don't let them get cold. Even if some registrants don't show up, they are still strong opportunities.
Ask for referral registrants. If someone registers, take an extra moment or two to find out whom else is involved in the process and leverage these names to boost registration. If they don't take you up on the registration, get additional contacts at the company to target. At The Lead Dogs, we've been able to generate an additional 60% increase in registrants from referrals.
Use telemarketing effectively. Sure, it's a bit of self-promotion, but the fact of the matter is telemarketing promotion is critical! We typically see up to 70% of event registrants from telemarketing.
Reminder calls. Don't forget to remind registrants a few days before the event that you are looking forward to seeing them. If they have to cancel, then take a minute to see if there is anyone they'd like to send in their place.
Engage the sales organization. If they have target accounts, charter them with bringing a select group of attendees to the event.
BONUS TIP: Always place a value on the event -- even if it's free. Tell targeted contacts you are especially interested in having their company attend and will offer a free attendee voucher if each person brings a minimum of two contacts.