Rand Fishkin’s Post

Top 2 or 3 speakers, date and location, cost. In that order. Anyone I want to see? Can I get there? Is it worth it. Nothing else matters for me

Rand Fishkin Amanda Natividad, Here's what ChatGPT says :) A marketing event landing page should contain the following elements: A clear and attention-grabbing headline that describes the event A brief overview of the event, including date, time, location, and key topics or speakers A prominent "Register" or "Sign Up" button A detailed agenda or schedule of events Information on the event's location, including a map and parking or transportation instructions A section highlighting key speakers or special guests A clear call-to-action, such as "Book your spot now" or "Save your seat" A section with event's organizer's contact information and a FAQ section Social proof such as testimonials and sponsors logos Option to share the event with friends and on social media.

What matters is quality of other ticket buyers rather than who speaks. The value of relationship building is more important.

I'd say it's less about the landing page & more about the quality of content that comes out of the host organization and how helpful I've found it over the years. If it's an organization that produces content that's just a bunch of experts showing off their knowledge with little tangible help to the reader, or every webinar involves some kind of sales pitch or a follow-up from an SDR, it's a turn off. If, however, the host organization has shown themselves to be helpful and human (emphasis on the human), that's a big help. Another rule of thumb I use is if it looks like an event where the attendees will all be traveling on their company's dime & just hanging out with their work buddies, I'd rather stay home. But if people are funding their own way, or there's a clear focus on meaningful interaction with other attendees you haven't met before, that's what I want.

Some interesting responses here. We recently did some research on what event attendees prefer about in-person vs digital. The results weren't shocking, but networking + social events blew other benefits out of the water for in-person. And as an event attendee myself, I have to agree. I can get the content on-demand on my own schedule, and travel is mostly a PITA. So for me, I'd like to know more about the general audience (are these my people?) and event size (very subjective, but I personally hate the mega events of the world). Also, a reasonable price and relatively ease-to-access location (again, very subjective) - I likely won't go if I can't get my company to sponsor. And finally, knowing there are opportunities to connect with and mingle with my peers, plus low key social activities (bonus if they don't involve booze or late-night parties). I get way more value out of connecting with new folks and expanding my network than I do out of the content, because I can easily get the content on my own schedule. **Just realized my response assumed the conference is in-person, would probably have a totally different reaction for a digital event :)

After a few years of increasing online events, show me (somehow) that I'll learn something that's applicable from attending. Something that I can take action on immediately for my business to improve. Make the speaker practitioners of the craft they are speaking about rather than folks who haven't spent time in the craft in many years. I'm less interested in big names and more interested in recency of accomplishment.

Rand Fishkin For me - can the event provide something unique and different from most other events? Does it attract speakers and attendees whom I view are just as whacky/crazy as I am? Are we doing fun things outside of sitting in a conference room and watching presentation decks (in between keynote sessions)? That's why I flew from Sydney to Portland for the final World Domination Summit last year. It was 1000% my tribe and worth investing time, energy, and dollars in. Furthermore, it allowed me to introduce my wife and friends to the magical shared experience. We all had a blast. What you and Amanda Natividad did with SparkTogether and the types of stories and data being shared were special. And everything from organizers to presenters (storytellers) and attendees was brilliant.

Some commenters here have said something similar, but in order for me to attend a conference, I tend to scan: who is speaking, about what relevant topic to me? If there are 3+ speakers on 3 separate sessions talking about something timely in a way that they haven't covered before, I'm in. (If they've written ad nauseam about a topic and I follow them, I'm not motivated to see them speak about it— I am motivated to see them present something new, or take their existing material and build an unexpected conclusion.) I also check to see if people in my network are attending the event. This is probably obvious, but another factor is cost: several companies I've worked for had learning and development budgets that you could use for attending conferences, those budgets are shrinking "during these turbulent times," and so you have to really be able to make the case: how does this conference ladder back to my development, and how will my employer will benefit from it?

You have two types of visitors: Those who've made up their mind wanting to register for the event prior to visiting the lp. And those who want to find out more information. You want to build hype to ensure users convert immediately. For those who are learning more about your event, create FOMO by pulling these levers: - Speakers: Make sure these are influencers in your target market. - Content: Narrow your focus and clearly outline valuable takeaways - Location/Time: Make sure to offer flexibility for users who can't make it. Eg. Recording sent even if you can't make it or make it virtual. - Price: Specific for conferences/paid events. Make sure to outline the value here and offer discounted rates for early bird sign ups. The best company I've seen doing this is Ad World Conference

What seals the deal for me is who else is going - will my peers who I want to hang out with be there? What about prospects? On the landing page, this might be in the shape of attendee demographics or confirmed attendee profiles (preferred). Usually though I am finding out who is attending in Slack communities, LinkedIn posts etc. so on the landing page I am confirming fit with: (a) content quality - speakers, interesting sessions, networking ops, etc., and (b) logistics alignment - price, location, timing, etc.