ALARA Event Marketing Plan

ALARA Event Marketing Plan 2/4/07

“Marketing: the business activity of presenting products or services to potential customers in such a way as to make them eager to buy” Encarta® World English Dictionary © 1999 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Developed for Microsoft by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.

Overview The following information is like a checklist to assist organising groups to mount a successful ALARA event. As the definition above suggests, marketing is an activity that promotes an event (or product) to specific people with the intention of convincing them that the activity is so valuable to them that they want to be involved and will part with some money and time to do so.

This document is a subset to the MOU. It is linked to the event budget, in that the agreed assumptions underpinning the budget become reality through the marketing plan’s activities being followed through. A marketing plan needs to be of a scale to have a good chance to meet the budget - it is the budget’s reality check.

While marketing plans can be highly detailed, this version is a very light touch document. It is open to being modified to suit a group’s resources and ways of doing things. How ever it is modified it needs to be submitted to the Executive for endorsement as agreed in the event guidelines and MOU. ALARA will offer assistance with the marketing of an event through out journal, newsletter, networks, member events and website.

1. About the Plan 1.1 Overall marketing goal: what are you trying to achieve through promoting the event? Specific results are best (x $ income, x participants, x results such as published papers, x new members etc)

1.2 Who is going to do the marketing for this event? (Specific people or organisations)

1.3 What period of time will the marketing plan cover?

1.4 Who is responsible for keeping the plan on the working group’s agenda?

1.5 How will they do this? (Make a new agenda item?)

1 2. Marketing resources and results

Marketing involves a clear message (about 25 words) communicated to specific people, at specific times, using particular materials, with an intended specific result. For example, one marketing activity could be to distribute 25 conference fliers at a local network workshop, to agency representatives, with the intended result of generating 3 conference registrations at full fee. Another strategy might be to place an advertisement in a local paper at a time when the readers are looking for an event and before your event takes place.

Marketing involves “follow up”. This means getting back to the people you marketed to particularly if you did not get the result you wanted. Follow up may involve talking to a specific “gatekeeper” or simply refreshing the original marketing contact (distributing more fliers to remind people of the event).

The following table lists the kinds of audiences, timing, marketing tools, follow up activities and outcomes you might consider in your plan. We are confident that you will add to this in ways that specific suit your expected audiences.

Audiences Timing Tools Follow up Outcomes Personal networks Workshop Word of mouth Person to person A planned number of media and other exposures Professional Conference Fliers Emailed networks reminders A general buzz in the Class Posters networks Educational Second networks Dinner Web links marketing hit Clear and positive within a planned understanding of the event Collegial Edition Radio, print and time (no wrong or contradictory networks web advertisements messages) Mail out Another angle to Aligned Press releases reach the same A targeted number of organisations Web notification group registrations within Radio and TV budgeted fee ranges (full, Individuals who Launch interviews subsidised, student etc) act as gatekeepers for networks Exhibition Presentations In-kind contributions to reduce budget Readers of printed Meeting An item on another and web based organisations’ Additional marketing leads publications meeting agendas from initial contacts

An artefact Targeted number of new included in a members achieved giveaway Targeted number of new Sponsorship of students achieved another event Overall results of building Text, phone and the field that the event email messages serves, and meeting budget for it Snowballing (people agree to market for you)

2 3. Risk management

Any access to lists of people must be legally given with the authority of the list keeper

Any lists can only be used for the purposes for which they were given and not given to any other party at any time

It is illegal to broadcast peoples’ addresses on lists - they should always be blind addresses

Always clear with those organising the event at which you are promoting your event this is OK to do and organise timing of your announcement to suit their purposes and yours

Check for any costs (in kind or financial) of advertising and marketing before you commit to the activity

Check that all advertising materials are accurate: correct contact details, dates, fees, spelling, names, locations etc - get the endorsement of the organising group and the ALARA Executive for generic materials that can be used for a variety of tools

Check deadlines for any printed or web based advertising - you have to place the ad in good time before the cut-off date for registrations other wise you cause confusion

Follow up publishers to make sure your ad/article was placed when and where you wanted, and that it is the ad you paid for

Make booking, payment and receipting procedures as easy and secure as possible

Make your messages clear, consistent with the event and with each other - this is true for any printed materials, as well as interviews

Ensure your marketing is appropriate to the interests of any auspicing or co- sponsoring organisations

Always consider ethics (do no harm) and environmental and social sustainability principles associated with your marketing activities

4. The marketing plan

What follows is a very simple, generic planning grid. The dates should fit into the overall conference/workshop plan (See Guidelines), with key dates like early bird registrations, abstracts and numbers for catering finalised firm.

Organisers can copy the following example for their own use.

3 Date of Marketing Marketing Market- Target Cost Expected Follow activity person/s activity ing tool audience yield up 4/3/07 Kate Presentation Power City based - 5 full fee Next at XXX point health paying XXX Inc INC overview workers registratio meeting network doing AR ns 4/4/07 meeting

Fliers distributed at the event 20/5/07 Andrew Editorial in Press Secondary - 5 full fee Andrew “Education release to school paying to talk to Review” editor teachers registratio editor to ns gauge 5 student feedback teacher by registratio 30/6/07 ns 25/6/07 Whole team Text Text Random To text 10 any fee Second One week message all message and recipien message before end our personal as agreed unexpected ts one week Early Bird networks participants later registratio ns

5. Checklist

 Overall marketing plan goal defined and agreed by team  Marketing plan detailed with team input  Access to marketing networks cleared  Network information in secure storage  Marketing materials agreed:  Press release  Flier  Poster  25 word promotional statement  Generic information for all materials  Registration, payment and receipting information  Press/publications advertisements  Web advertisements and links  Power point presentation  Critical deadline dates (conference and marketing outlets)  Total of expected yields exceed budgeted expectations  Marketing plan secured as working group agenda item

4  Arrangements to destroy marketing information at end of event locked in