The first and most obvious attendee driver is inviting your existing clientele and your lead list. Of these two it’s surprising how many folks don’t invite existing clients to their online events. A marketing axiom in direct mail campaigns cites, ‘Whoever bought last, buys next’. This isn’t meant literally, although many times it is true. Often what this means is that your existing clients are your single best champions and will likely promote your event to their sphere of influence.
Another common attendee gathering method is to find a sponsor or co-presenter. Look to companies like UBM, AutoNews or ABA who want informational content to present to their subscribers. Keep in mind there is a fee that goes along with this ‘sponsorship’. Also understand that even though they guarantee a certain amount of registrants there is no attendance guarantee.
The last method I will cover is buying a list. There are two common strategies for list acquisition for online events. The first and simplest is buying an excel spreadsheet with your target demographic. The second is to put an informational asset into syndication like a white paper or video (The folks that want to access this information are required to put in personal identifier such as an email address). Of the two methods syndication is more effective but also much more expensive.