You invest thousands of dollars on your conference. Your marketing targets potential delegates across the country. Your goal is a great return on your investment. But, your challenge is to get noticed and make a compelling connection with delegates to attract them to your conference! How do you achieve your goal when there is so much noise drowning out your message? A big part of the answer is by leveraging conference branding!
This article focuses on on using conference branding to grab your delegate’s attention so you can let them know what a great conference you have in store for them. If you can’t get their attention, how will they know to come to your event?
Expect your marketing to grab only a tiny fraction of delegates’ attention. In other words, even if they see your marketing, you have only a second or two to connect. What to do? Compelling conference branding is your best weapon against distraction.
What is Compelling Conference Branding?
Your conference brand needs to instantly catch delegates’ attention, in a memorable way.
Conference branding functions as shorthand for your conference and the value it provides. It is compelling if your delegates instantly think of your conference when they see your conference branding. And do delegates think good things about your conference – fun, educational, productive? This is the effect you are looking for.
There’s not enough time for reading to work well. Instead, compelling conference branding hooks their attention visually. Your marketing copy then has a chance to connect with the delegate and get them to sign up.
3 Tips: Compelling Conference Branding
So, effective conference branding is all based on visual cues. To get the best results for your conference, pay close attention to the following three must-do tips.
1) Communicate Visually
Humans process visual information extremely rapidly, without thinking about it. People also recognize patterns and repetition without thinking about it. (1,2,3!). The associations and connections are there before we even know it.
These unconscious behaviours are always exploited by the most effective visual messaging.
Symbols, colors, and graphics are your building blocks for effective visual messaging. These map perfectly to logo, color themes and imagery for your conference. Use these essential aspects to build compelling conference branding with a powerful visual message.
Logo
Don’t skimp on your conference logo!
Your logo stands for your conference, what it is about, and the value it provides. Your conference logo delivers this essential visual message which is reinforced every time it is seen thanks to the visual parts of our brain.
Graphic designers are skilled at converting your conference focus and value into a stunning, communicative memorable logo.
Collaborate closely, with your graphic designer. Ask them to generate several alternatives. Be prepared to iterate through multiple designs to get to the best one.
When you have good candidate logos available, share them with ten to twenty delegates to learn which logos resonate the way you want them to.
Color Themes
Colors provide strong associations. Look around, marketers are bombarding us with their brand colors and our brains are unconsciously interpreting and connecting certain colors and factors with certain brands.
Red and yellow associate with (fast) food brands. Blue and green makes us think calm and cool. (More Info: Color Association Infographic.)
What colors stimulate the right associations for your conference? Make sure to choose theme colors that unconsciously connect with the right associations for your conference. For example, avoid red for a spa or pastels for a race event.
Give close consideration to how your conference color themes can be incorporated into your logo. Your graphic designer will be your best asset in coming up with the right blend.
Imagery
Imagery for your conference is very important. Compared to logo and colors, imagery is a supporting actor but plays a vital role in visually conveying what your conference stands for.
Images can be a single image used throughout your branding. It can also be a series of images with each one contributing a reinforcing visual message. You can use pictures or graphic designs. The key objective is to strengthen the message visually. A simple test is to take the image away and ask if the message is clearer with or without it?
Consider for each image whether it visually conveys something essential, not already provided by your logo, colors or other images.
2) Keep it Simple
People like simple.
In producing your logo and selecting your colors and deciding on your images, make sure the overall combination is simple and easy to digest visually.
It is easy to overdo it. Adding more to your visual messaging usually weakens its impact. So, if you’re having trouble dialing in your conference branding, the answer is usually to take something away and simplify it.
3) Be Consistent
Now you have your conference branding selected, use it consistently.
Consistent use of your conference branding takes advantage of our tendency to make connections and recognize patterns. You’ve worked hard to produce compelling conference branding. Don’t dilute your message by offering unbranded or poorly branded items to your delegates.
All of your delegate facing materials should be branded with your logo, colors and imagery. Minimally this should include:
- Conference website
- All marketing materials, ads, blog articles, social media and printed pieces
- Registration and event management software
- Communications, messages and email
- Signage at your conference
- Conference collateral such as badges, lanyards, programs, schedules, tickets, bags and swag
Get great ROI from your Conference Branding
Grab your delegates attention with compelling conference branding. Communicate the value and focus of your conference visually, because you only have a few seconds to grab delegates’ attention.
- Create eye-catching branding with your logo, color themes and imagery.
- Keep it simple
- Be consistent, use your branding on all items you expect your delegates to see.
These are three easy wins that will boost recognition and connections with your delegates.
Good Luck!
Interested In Other Topics?
As a conference planner, knowledge is key. Let us know the topics you’d like to hear about to help increase your event planning success, at support@clearevent.com.
In the meantime, Happy Planning!