Marketing 101
Question: Is 10 out of 84 a good success rate for getting people to commit to attending an all-day paintball trip?
Better question: What is the best way to market an event to maximize attendance?
Some background. I periodically organize paintball outings with my friends. Since I don't have a single dedicated group of paintballers, I usually pull people from all of my circles of friends (work, college, HS, judo, etc.). But what I have always struggled with is a question of how to get the largest possible group of players. 10/84 is about 12% success rate. But, my list of 84 invitees included a lot of people with only a small chance of accepting, so as a percentage of likely attendees it is probably closer to 25-30%.
I can't help thinking, though, that I could have a better marketing campaign.
I think one key element I lack is the network effect of knowing who else is going. I don't know about you, but whenever I get an invitation to do a group activity, the first question I ask myself is "who else is going?" I ask for two reasons. First, because I want to know if it will be a fun mix of people; Second, because if more people go, it makes the event seem more credible.
When I invite people to play paintball through mass emails, people can see who else is on the email, but they can't see who else has accepted. I think this is a major flaw.
So the question I pose to you, dear reader, is what sort of service do you recommend for incorporating the network effect? I know both facebook and evite let you see who else has accepted the invitation. Do you have any experience using these for outings like this?
I would be curious to hear your thoughts.
Better question: What is the best way to market an event to maximize attendance?
Some background. I periodically organize paintball outings with my friends. Since I don't have a single dedicated group of paintballers, I usually pull people from all of my circles of friends (work, college, HS, judo, etc.). But what I have always struggled with is a question of how to get the largest possible group of players. 10/84 is about 12% success rate. But, my list of 84 invitees included a lot of people with only a small chance of accepting, so as a percentage of likely attendees it is probably closer to 25-30%.
I can't help thinking, though, that I could have a better marketing campaign.
I think one key element I lack is the network effect of knowing who else is going. I don't know about you, but whenever I get an invitation to do a group activity, the first question I ask myself is "who else is going?" I ask for two reasons. First, because I want to know if it will be a fun mix of people; Second, because if more people go, it makes the event seem more credible.
When I invite people to play paintball through mass emails, people can see who else is on the email, but they can't see who else has accepted. I think this is a major flaw.
So the question I pose to you, dear reader, is what sort of service do you recommend for incorporating the network effect? I know both facebook and evite let you see who else has accepted the invitation. Do you have any experience using these for outings like this?
I would be curious to hear your thoughts.