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Paying for advertising

Often it’s worthwhile paying to advertise your event. If you aim to make money from registrations, or to attract a wide-ranging audience, paid advertising lets you target an exact demographic in an exact region and send them your carefully-honed sales pitch.

Step 1: Choose the right media outlet

First, think about who you most want to come to your event. How old are your guests? What kinds of jobs do they do? What are the industries they work in? Based on your answers to these questions, brainstorm the kinds of media outlets they might use.

Step 2: Contact the media outlet

Once you have a shortlist of media outlets that best suit your guests, contact their sales departments to talk about your event. Decide where your advertisement should go (ie at the front, back or middle of a magazine, during a morning TV program or during prime time etc).

Step 3: Discuss relevance

If you leave enough lead-time in your advertising, it may be that a media outlet can recommend you advertise next to related editorial content they have scheduled. For example, if you are planning a medical conference, you may see better results if you place your advertisement next to an article on cancer treatment innovations.

Step 4: Discuss size and layout

Discuss with the media outlet’s sales representative the most appropriate size, colour and layout of your advertisement. Although take care: while the sales rep knows their publication, it is also in their best interests to get you spending more money!

Step 5: Design the advertisement

If you have an in-house graphic designer, consider having them design the advertisement for you. Alternatively, you could use an external design agency. Research both of these options: they could save you money and improve the end result.

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