The International Confex 2021 Marketing Theatre, at ExCeL London 1 September, saw Mediatel News conference producer Sam Tidmarsh sharing tips on improving editorial speaker acquisition.
Tidmarsh also shared advice on how to maximise engagement to boost marketing, and how to convince your audience to join you on the day of the event. He also shared some market research on the topic and offered tips on the importance of the ‘why’ behind your content, as well as knowing well the target audience of an event and having a go-to-market plan. He also stressed the importance of thinking like a journalist and how to write effectively, which he said is 50-60% of his job.
Tidmarsh, who is also a singer in the band’ Coffee Breath’ spoke about the similarities between writing songs and writing content when it comes to creativity. He suggested avoiding big words unless industry-specific and making the first few lines crucial and engaging. He suggested following the journalist formula of ‘Who, What, When Where, and Why’.
Tidmarsh then covered speaker acquisition and how it is a good idea to start with content first and then find the speaker afterwards. This way, he said, meant you could then fall back on the content if you can’t find your first choice of speaker.
He also advised thinking hard about who to partner with before the event and thinking outside the box. This could include other companies, publications, companies or even celebrities.
Diversity was also covered in the session, which Tidmarsh said should never be treated as an 'afterthought'. This includes setting targets before the event on how to increase diversity as well as measuring it when the event is over. He stressed how this may not just include gender or race but also disability and socioeconomic and geographical diversity.
