Used Fuel Management Conference
01 — Event Marketing Goals
NEI's Used Fuel Management Conference attracts about 220 attendees, three to six sponsors and 12-16 exhibitors on an annual basis. In 2024, I aimed to increase attendance and sponsorships and maintain exhibitors. I also wanted to implement testimonials that I captured at the 2023 event and improve the on-site experience.
02 — Marketing Strategy
I had worked on this event for several years and understood the audience well. Over time, the conference team saw steady, albeit small, growth. The event includes industry meetings before and after the main sessions, two programming tracks, evening vendor events, and various side meetings.
From conversations with the program and conference managers, I learned that budgets had tightened, and a typical pre-event meeting would not occur in 2024.
In 2023, I recorded impromptu video testimonials at the conference to promote the 2024 event, aiming to showcase its value and attract new attendees, sponsors, and exhibitors.
I also recognized that NEI's employees face a heavy workload during this time of year. While I planned to include new marketing materials, I understood that time constraints might hinder their completion.
Considering this, I decided to maintain my previous strategy while updating the messaging and incorporating the testimonials.
The marketing goals were to maintain attendance numbers and a modest increase sponsorship dollars.
03 — Process
Research
After reviewing the project brief, I had conversations with the program and conference managers and some members who often attended or sponsored the event to learn if we were meeting their needs and why they attended. Additionally, I reviewed past attendee surveys, messaging and event analytics.
Strategy Development
I maintained my successful marketing strategy while incorporating refreshed messaging and testimonials to boost attendance and sponsorship. Considering my colleagues' workloads, I developed two action plans for tactics like videos and blog posts.
I also prioritized attendee engagement before, during, and after the event.
I collaborated with several team members across the organization, including the program manager, conference manager, sponsorship and exhibitor manager, registrar, designers, and membership manager and specialist, as well as the digital communications manager.
Execution
Tactics
Update contact lists
All messaging copy
Sponsorship and exhibitor prospectus
Email campaigns
Social media campaign
Word-of-mouth campaign
Event signage, stage design, etc.
Tools
Impexium member database
Marketo marketing system
LinkedIn
Kentico website
QR codes
Tokenized URLs
Survey Monkey
Basecamp (project management)
Analysis
The conference manager conducted an initial debrief one to two weeks after the meeting, where I shared observations on the marketing campaign. Four months later, the manager led a comprehensive debrief, during which I presented the outcomes of the marketing plan. I utilize the following systems to gather data:
Impexium member database
Google Analytics
Marketo
LinkedIn
Survey Monkey
04 — Tactic Examples
Sponsorship and Exhibitor Prospectus
I worked with a designer and the sponsorship and exhibitor manager to layout and insert copy into the prospectus. It was placed on the event webpage, and all tactics to promote sponsorships and exhibits linked to it.
Tactics included:
Vendor emails
Potential attendee emails
Word-of-mouth campaign
LinkedIn Event Page
I worked with a designer and the external communications specialist to post a LinkedIn event to capture non-traditional interest in the event. We also find that members who are prolific on LinkedIn will repost about the event if they are attending or sponsoring.
Newsletter Ad
NEI has several newsletters dedicated to portions of its membership. We promote appropriate events in the various newsletters. This conference ad was included in Regulatory Notes, a newsletter to our technical and regulatory member audiences, and Nuclear Energy Overview, a broad weekly newsletter to members and nonmembers that rolls up blog posts, news releases, video and social content.
The ads stand alone and link to the conference webpage.
Registration Open Email
From: Rod McCullum (program manager)
Subject Line: NEI's Used Fuel Management Conference Lands in Orlando May 7–9
Preheader Text: Keynote speaker and topical agenda announced.
Distribution Date: Feb. 8, 2024
This email marks the launch of the marketing campaign. NEI's members and others in the industry are familiar with the program manager, Rod McCullum, and tend to prioritize his emails, so all the event emails come from him.
I kept the subject line straightforward, as attendees typically look forward to this conference each year. Many early registrants plan to attend before receiving announcements and may even reach out to the program manager directly.
Having an agenda ready is essential, as it helps attendees justify their participation to supervisors.
The tone will remain professional at the outset, but I adopt a more friendly voice later in the email—like catching up with an old friend. Our industry is tight-knit, and we want attendees to feel NEI is a dependable part of their community.
Initial Testimonial and Agenda Update Email
From: Rod McCullum (program manager)
Subject Line: From Leadership to Recycling, NEI's Used Fuel Management Conference Has It All
Preheader Text: Check out the agenda to see what's what.
Distribution Date: March 28, 2024
The graphic and video testimonials were delayed due to designer time constraints. In response, I included a photo collage from an earlier email and added the event icon with highlighted text from one testimonial in a brand color.
I also featured our executive sponsor logos at the bottom of the email to promote sponsorships and exhibits.
These graphics help break up the text and attract the reader's attention.
Last Call to Register Email
From: Rod McCullum (program manager)
Subject Line: Last Call to Register for NEI's Used Fuel Management Conference
Preheader Text: Special Disney rates end April 30.
Distribution Date: April 29, 2024
The last marketing email went out about a week before the event. It reminded last-minute registrants to sign up before the event. (Attendees are allowed to register on-site.)
I also included some of the finalized testimonial quote graphics in this and other emails distributed in April. However, I chose to cancel the video testimonials because of time constraints.
Towards the end of the email, I featured the ticket discounts that Disney offered to attendees. Since this was a cutoff reminder, it helped encourage last-minute registrants to sign up before they missed out.