Judy Colbert, ASJA, SPJ, AFTRA, SAG

Of the thousands of details planners have to tend to, the most important task is getting people to attend their meetings and events, and a newsletter—be it digital or on good old-fashioned paper—is one of the most effective ways to ensure that will happen.

"Meeting planners don't use newsletters because they tend to copy other organizations [which also don't use them]," says Bob James, managing director of Bethesda, Md.-based Frost Miller Group, a business-to-business marketing firm that specializes in show attendance promotion. "The standard meeting promotion is a self-mailing brochure. It's the first thing a meeting planner thinks of. It can be hard to conceptualize and write a newsletter, and because they aren't journalists, they think a newsletter will be dull. A skilled graphic designer can make a newsletter sing. Some of the biggest shows, the Consumer Electronics Show and National Association of Broadcasters, use newsletters. They're a proven, effective and fabulous way to take advantage of direct mail."

Ira Silverman, of Long Island, N.Y.-based Silverman Media & Marketing Group, knows that's true. Miggle Toys is one of his clients, and since 1947 it's been selling a low-tech, and now seemingly anachronistic, electronic tabletop football game that has survived despite computer, video and arcade games.

In 1995, the company held its first Super Bowl competition for loyal players two weeks before the big game. Twelve people showed up. Following the event, Silverman implemented a twice-yearly newsletter that went to its customer base (an underground cult of people who play the game) and was inserted in each game box. The first spring newsletter featured highlights of the 1995 competition and the fall issue featured details of the upcoming 1996 gathering. About 150 people attended that event, and Silverman says it's grown ever since.

"Until the Web site went up," Silverman says, "it was our sole means of communicating. The newsletter includes news about the product and at least four pages in the fall issue to preview the upcoming meeting. There's a registration form for the upcoming Miggle's Super Bowl."

If creativity is the first stumbling block, the perceived cost comes in a close second. Paul Swift, editor of the Newsletter on Newsletters, says it shouldn't.

"It doesn't necessarily have to be four-color; it can be two colors," he says. "Or even black-and-white."

Swift acknowledges that most meeting planners aren't adept at publishing a newsletter, so it's important to hire a professional editor or freelance graphic artist to design and create one.

James says the cost of using a newsletter can be less expensive than a brochure. This is particularly true when news about the meeting is incorporated into an existing publication, produced by the association or corporation.

Frost Miller, in conjunction with Jacobs, Jenner & Kent of Baltimore (a global marketing firm), recently released details of its latest AttendTrend poll of the trade show industry, which showed direct mail has a 4.14 (out of five) ranking in effectiveness.

"That's a huge geometric leap over last year when direct mail received a 3.45. That's close to extremely effective and shows that they have changed their minds in the last 12 months," James says. "The only thing that's more effective in drawing attendees is the return of last year's attendees."

Newsletters also  fly under the psychological radar.

"The nice thing about newsletters that sets them apart from other direct mail is they're in editorial form and readers unconsciously receive them with their normal advertising censors turned off," James says. "Public relations people say editorial placement is six to 10 times more believable than the placement of an ad with the same exact marketing message. One advantage newsletters have is they are thickly disguised promotional messages.

"Another advantage the newsletter format brings is the fact that it's different," James continues. "It's so underutilized that it stands out in the pile of hundreds of direct mail pieces that the average businessperson receives. Most of them are catalogs, letters and packages. This is especially true when the newsletter is just about the conference and not contained within the general periodic newsletter."

Wayne Jacobs, CEO of Jacobs, Jenner & Kent, also notes the short attention span of the modern consumer.

"USA Today has a column on the first page that points to articles on other pages," Jacobs notes. "The Wall Street Journal now has a column that does the same thing. It's the first change in 80 years."

The Washington Post is doing the same thing, running a box of story teasers that refer to articles in other sections.

Jacobs recommends including an article, even a short one, by one or more of the speakers that says, "'This is important' to this audience. The speaker knows his or her subject and is passionate about it."

That passion should come through in the article.

"This will push the recipient's hot buttons and allow them to make a final decision to attend this meeting, or look forward to it," he says.

The Mailing List

Obviously, associations send newsletters to their membership list, and corporations often send them to their clients and customers. But the mailing list shouldn't stop there.

Just as you may include information about the destination for the meeting and what attendees can do there, the destination's CVB can also promote your conference. If the meeting is open to the public, the CVB can provide registration and contact information. If it's a closed meeting, it can add prestige to the destination and perhaps reach some of your target audience who might not see an announcement elsewhere.

For those wanting to tap into a wider market, James says to get into the ear of exhibitors.

"Ask them for a copy of their mailing list," he advises. "If they aren't willing to share it—some of them have a fear you'll 'steal' their list—then ask them to do a mailing for you or include some editorial content about your event in their newsletters. They sell things, so they're constantly updating their list. They're in the trenches and live or die on their data. An association may update their mailing, directory or membership list once a year at membership renewal time. Who knows how often other lists may be updated, if ever?"

Convince your exhibitors that it's to their advantage to mention your conference. If your market is important enough to warrant their exhibiting, then their existing audience probably is interested in what you have to offer, so they'd be doing them a service by mentioning your event.

Allison Saget, an event marketing consultant and author of The Event Marketing Handbook: Beyond Logistics and Planning, advocates getting into your exhibitors' newsletters.

"It could include a letter from your association president, comments from your keynote speaker and a wrap-up of the event," she says. "This extends the lifecycle of your event, keeping it in front of your audience far longer than the event itself."

Creating your own newsletter is even better than a public relations press release blitz because you control the content instead of an editor cutting your release to fit the space available, or rewriting your best selling points to conform to how they understand what you want to say. Your message has to be "why you want to spend your time and money traveling to participate in this event, whether it's education, fun or unique."

"Get noticed! Get read! Get results!" is the mantra of Sandra Stewart, of San Francisco-based communications consulting firm Real Edit, who also answers to the nom de guerre The Grammar Queen.

"Your publications should be lively and engaging, with a sharp focus on your audience's needs and interests," Stewart says. "With so much information overload, your newsletter has to be a quick-read medium. It has to be concise and error-free. It should have active, interest-grabbing headlines, should be engagingly written and fun to read, and show by example rather than tell."

Most important, Stewart maintains, "it has to have information they can use. The benefits should be worth their time to read. Don't just give them a schedule of events. Interview the speaker or speakers. Quote previous attendees who can speak to what they got out of the last conference and why it was worth attending."

Newsletter on Newsletters' Swift concurs.

"Any marketing or promotion must have solid content, not just hype," Swift advises. "Lure them in with some real information, so even if they don't go to the meeting, they 'go' from reading the newsletter. It's not just the sales job, but give them something to take away. It doesn't have to be fancy, but with desktop publishing it can be done very easily."

As the adage goes, give them some steak with the sizzle.

Phil Jamieson of ProofreadNow, a Topsfield, Mass.-based business-to-business copyediting and proofreading consultancy, says it's important to include the message that "your peers will be here" or "your competitors will be here," because no one wants to be the last to know what's happening in their field. They want to know what their peers or competitors are learning.

"That's a compelling message," Jamieson maintains.

Internet is Interactive

Choosing the proper way to interact with your audience is the first step in creating a successful newsletter campaign.

"Whether your newsletter is print or on the Internet, it should be sent to your readers in the format they prefer," Swift says. "One advantage of print is they have something in their hands and on their desk to remind them that your event is coming."

He also recommends using the print version to tease people to the electronic version.

Phillipa Gamse, CMC, president of Santa Cruz, Calif.-based Internet consultancy Total 'Net Value, believes that making sure the newsletter interacts with a Web site is an important feature.

"When you use an article written by your speaker," Gamse says, "it can point to your Web site that expands on the article. Or, if your speaker is willing, have an interactive place where your readers can pose a question to the speaker before the conference. That way the speech can be tailored to the interests of your audience. From your print newsletter, and then the Web version, have a URL or click-through to learn more about the speaker."

The Internet has several advantages. There's basically unlimited space to expand on the information originally included in the print newsletter. Hyperlinks can lead the reader to other parts of the Web site where they can register; book hotel, car and airline reservations; sign up for specific seminars, off-site activities and companion or children's events; notify you of any allergies or special needs; and ask any questions that you may have overlooked. The web site can be updated at any time, reflecting a change in room availability, added seminars or activities, changes in the schedule, or anything else that might come up after a print deadline.

Entirely electronic is the way Pat Monroe, media director for the World of Asphalt Show and Conference and the National Asphalt Pavement Association, gets the word out to her contacts.

"We changed from print to electronic in the summer of 2004," she says. "It had been a quarterly and now it's monthly via e-mail—it's an immediacy type of thing. We can provide more information as it happens on a real-time basis. It works well with meetings because you can get them up to speed instantly. We used to have six to 10 articles in the print version and now we have 18 to 20 short items that can jump over to longer items on the site. We do other types of marketing pieces, but we make sure we include a message in the newsletter that we don't have in those other pieces, above and beyond what you've already heard."

Incentives

Incentive awards by definition offer something attractive enough to move people or companies to fulfill the requirements to achieve the award. In essence, you have a captive audience, and can use your newsletter to list the people or companies that have met those requirements or provide tips on how to meet them.

Corporate functions that require attendance also have a captive audience, so the print and electronic version of a newsletter should entice attendees and participants beyond a command to attend or by promoting an exotic location—they've certainly seen seductive beach pictures with swaying palm trees or acres of ski runs in the dry Rocky Mountain powder.

If you've booked a group to entertain at the event, include a short video of one of their performances, if available, on your web site to give them a taste of what's in store.

As more incentive meetings are including civic volunteerism, whether it's participating in programs such as Habitat for Humanity, painting a clubhouse for at-risk children or cleaning out an overgrown garden at a nonprofit operation, it's important to include what was done, comments from the organization that benefited, and how the participants felt after a volunteer session.

"Everyone's looking at the ROI," Gamse says. "Meetings are expensive—there are time constraints, budget constraints—so you have to make them eager to make that time and budget investment.

"The post-conference newsletter, print or electronic, is just as important for post-meeting surveys," Gamse continues. "Instead of asking the attendees to rate the sessions or food or accommodations on a 1-to-5 scale, ask a few probing questions: What did you take home? What's the first thing you implemented? What question (or problem) didn't you have answered? Because you are asking for responses rather than multiple-choice selections you should ask questions that will truly help you in planning your next meeting. You may, of course, offer a short and long version and let the respondent choose whether he or she has time to answer the longer questionnaire."

When attendees can ask a question of the speaker or submit a substantive answer to a survey, they take ownership of the conference, so they're more likely to attend the next one and convince others to attend.

If children are invited to your meeting, then include information about why they'd want to attend, other than maybe skipping a few days of school. Gaylord Hotels includes suggestions in its newsletter that you can incorporate into yours.

Stacey Udell, public relations counsel for Gaylord, cites this example from a recent company newsletter: "Meeting planners can encourage attendees to bring the kids along and include some of the family-friendly attractions in the meeting agenda. Children and meeting attendees alike can visit on-site attractions such as ICE!, the country's 'coolest' holiday attraction that features larger-than-life, three-dimensional ice sculptures. At Gaylord Palms and Gaylord Opryland, meeting planners can also incorporate La Petite Academy, a 'resort within a resort' for kids, into the meeting agenda. La Petite staffers will work hand-in-hand with planners to develop unique, fun and educational children's programs that can become part of the meeting agenda itself—exclusively for the children of their delegates. Children and their parents will find many things to enjoy in the 4,000-square-foot Kids' Station, offering everything from Legos to karaoke, supervised by childcare professionals."

Jacobs, of Jacobs, Jenner & Kent, says that the stronger shows, the ones that show growth in attendance and square footage rental, are the ones that implement relationship marketing.

"It's a whole lot more than just advertising or buying a page in The Wall Street Journal or a spot on television," he advises. "It's building a relationship with a person, and the newsletter is much more targeted to a specific person with a specific message that's important to that person. A newsletter falls into that category very strongly, whether it's electronic or paper. It adds another marketing tool in the mix."

—Judy Colbert has been covering the travel trade industry for approximately 20 years, and is the co-author of Big Bang Marketing for Spas and the forthcoming Big Bang Marketing for Hotels and Resorts and Big Bang Marketing for Destinations.