Book the stars: How to promote your call for conference speakers

Summary

• Essential Guide to Success: Unlock the secrets to securing exceptional conference speakers, the cornerstone of a triumphant event, and heightened attendee satisfaction.
• Social Media Mastery: Master the art of creating viral-worthy social media posts with storytelling, eye-catching visuals, and strategic platform targeting to draw attention to your speaker calls.
• Email Campaign Optimization: Learn the craft of designing compelling email campaigns that stand out, with a focus on personal touches, engaging content, and calls-to-action that compel leading speakers to take notice.
• Engagement Through Education: Explore innovative strategies to connect with educational networks and communities, ensuring your event resonates with the most relevant and insightful speakers.
• Content Marketing Excellence: Elevate your speaker recruitment game with captivating content across various formats, keeping the momentum going post-event to maintain high levels of engagement and anticipation.
• Call for Speakers Page Perfection: Get insider tips on creating an impactful Call for Speakers page, emphasizing clarity, inclusivity, and a seamless submission process to attract a diverse array of talents.
• Streamlined Speaker Selection Tool: Discover a purpose-built tool designed to simplify the speaker selection ordeal, allowing you to focus on curating a lineup of top-tier speakers for an unforgettable event.

Anyone can book a speaker for an event. But booking the best conference speakers is the real battle.  

Because 95% of event professionals believe high-quality speakers are essential for event success.

In this guide, we make event success yours for the taking. We’ll reveal some top tips for promoting your call for speakers. From creating next-level social media posts, to where to find them, and how to craft the best possible call for speakers itself! 

Dive right in, and you’ll land better speakers. And if you land better speakers, you’ll have a better event. And if you have a better event, you’ll have happier attendees! 

 

Better social media: Get your call for speakers noticed! 

According to a survey by Bizzabo, 60% of event marketers believe that social media is the most effective tool for event promotion.

But here’s the thing, people tend to go on social media to be entertained. You’re going to have to make a first-class post to grab their attention. Otherwise, they’re going to scroll past you, like they do for the hundreds of others they dismiss. 

Here are some white-hot tips for writing social media posts that get noticed conference speakers: 

• One-line paragraphs: Social media users are scrolling to the next post before they’ve even noticed yours. If they see big blocks of words, they’re going to skip what you’re offering. Deliver your message succinctly while maintaining its effectiveness.

• More storytelling: Storytelling in your social media does two important things. Firstly, it holds their attention. And secondly, it connects with them on an emotional level. 

1. Craft compelling headlines: Your headline is the first thing viewers see. Make it catchy, clear, and intriguing. Otherwise, there will be no further reading.
2. Leverage visuals: Incorporate high-quality images, videos, or infographics to make your posts stand out and enhance engagement. Visuals should complement your message and brand aesthetic.
3. Emphasize value: Highlight the benefits and unique value of your specific event. 
4. Choose the right platforms: Focus on the social media channels that align with your target audience and event goals. LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook are often the most effective for professional events.
5. Use a clear call-to-action (CTA): Don’t forget a CTA that not only informs on the next steps but creates a sense of desire and urgency! 
6. Use hashtags wisely: Incorporate relevant hashtags to increase the visibility of your posts, but avoid overdoing them. 

BONUS ADVICE – You can learn even more about promoting events on social media in our ultimate guide right here. 

BONUS BONUS ADVICE – And you can learn about wider event marketing mysteries after that to supercharge your event planning even further!

Build email campaigns conference speakers can’t ignore

At this point, email marketing is almost 40 years old. And, as they say, classics are classics for a reason. As many as 87% of marketers still use email marketing today. 

But again, we all get a crazy amount of emails every day. Can you say that you read all of them? So yes, again, send them emails that give them value. 

Because as that 87% will tell you, email marketing is a highly effective strategy for promoting your call for conference speakers, particularly for educational and professional development events. 

Show them your value by following these tips: 

• Understand your potential speakers’ main pain points, needs, and interests. It allows you to craft targeted messages that resonate with them.
• When crafting your email content, focus on creating engaging and valuable information highlighting the benefits of speaking at your conference. Use clear, concise language and compelling subject lines that convey urgency, curiosity, or benefit to increase open rates. 
• Personalize your emails by addressing recipients by name. Use real names in the “from” field to establish a more personal connection. 
• Incorporate short paragraphs, bullet points, and visuals like images or videos to make your content more digestible and engaging.
• To optimize your email campaigns, include a clear and strong call to action (CTA) that encourages potential speakers to apply. Use action-oriented words, make your CTA button or link stand out, and create a sense of urgency or scarcity to motivate recipients to take action. 
• Additionally, leverage subscriber data to further personalize your emails. Send targeted content based on the recipient’s segment or previous interactions with your conference.

BONUS ADVICE – Here’s some extra fire for your emails: Awesome subject line tips for event email campaigns! 

 

Utilizing online and in-person educational spaces 

 

Utilizing conference and educational directories is an effective way to identify and attract potential conference speakers for your event. 

• Ask your attendees: In your post-attendee survey, ask them who they think could have made the event better. When people hit register, send them an automated email asking who they want to hear speak. 
• Copy your neighbors: Stay agile by conducting regular competitor analysis and joining well-known event communities and associations to stay informed on industry trends.
• Dive into the community: Potential speakers using online directories, databases, websites, blogs, podcasts, social media, and publications related to your conference theme.
• Attend other events: Attend industry events and trade shows to network with potential speakers and event organizers. 

BONUS ADVICE – Here are the hottest professional development topics for 2024. Offer these ideas as part of your event proposition, and you’ll have some grade-A bait to throw into these educational spaces! 

How to Create an Event Schedule that Will WOW Your Attendees from Sched Support on Vimeo.

 

Create and distribute engaging content: Make conference speakers envious to take part!

According to a survey by the Content Marketing Institute, 91% of B2B marketers use content marketing to reach their audience. 

Creating and distributing engaging content is crucial for promoting your call for conference speakers and attracting top talent in the education sector. 

To maximize the impact of your content, consider the following strategies:

1. 1. Offer a taste of what’s to come: Share popular articles, blog posts, and excerpts from your past events and your organization to create anticipation. 
      • Create event previews that showcase a mix of storytelling and visual elements, such as traditional teasers, countdowns, behind-the-scenes glimpses, and interactive content.
   2. Cater to different learning styles: Present a variety of content types, including blog posts, videos, infographics, social media campaigns, and email newsletters, to engage a wider audience. Repurpose content to maximize its reach and effectiveness.

• Engage attendees during and after the event, too!

1. • During the event, encourage attendees to capture highlights, connect with speakers, and collaborate with fellow attendees.
   • After the event, create post-event content, such as recap videos, detailed highlights, attendee testimonials, and feedback surveys. Express gratitude and announce upcoming events to keep attendees engaged.

BONUS ADVICE – When you implement these promotional tips, you’ll be spoiled with top-quality speaker submissions. After that, you’ll need to learn how to pick the best conference speakers for your K-12 events!

Nail the Call for Speakers page itself! 

The final part is to go back to the start. The best way to promote your call for speakers page is to make a good call for conference speakers. What use is all this effort promoting your call for speakers if the call itself is flat? 

To make sure your hard work is rewarded, deploy these bullet-point tips to make your page stand out:

• Craft a captivating headline: Start with a powerful headline that grabs attention. Use action verbs and convey the value and impact of speaking at your event.
• Clarify your vision: Briefly describe the theme, purpose, and goals of your event. Make it clear why this event matters and how speakers can contribute to its success.
• Highlight key benefits: Outline the benefits of speaking at your event. Highlight networking opportunities, exposure to a new audience, or the chance to establish thought leadership in their field.
• Be inclusive: Encourage submissions from diverse backgrounds. State your commitment to diversity and inclusivity clearly to welcome a broad range of perspectives.
• Provide clear guidelines: Detail the submission process, including the format of presentations, session lengths, and any specific themes or topics you’re looking for.
• Set deadlines and expectations: Clearly state the submission deadline, selection criteria, and when speakers can expect to hear back. Transparency builds trust.
• Offer support and resources: Let potential speakers know about the support and resources available to them, such as coaching, AV equipment, or promotional materials.
• Include testimonials: Share positive experiences from past speakers. This builds credibility and shows the impact of your event on speakers’ careers or personal growth.
  • For example, check out these success stories. Inspiration for any event planner ready to make their mark! 
• Make submission easy: Ensure the submission process is straightforward. Provide a simple form or clear instructions on how to submit a proposal.
• Contact information: Provide a point of contact for potential speakers to reach out with questions. Personal touches can make a big difference.
• Update regularly: Keep the page updated with announcements, such as confirmed speakers or extended deadlines, to keep the momentum going.
• Use engaging visuals: Incorporate visuals such as photos from past events, engaging graphics, or short videos to make the page more appealing.

Remember, your call for speakers page is often the first impression potential speakers will have of your event. Make it count by being clear, welcoming, and enthusiastic.

• And while these bullet point tips are very helpful, you can learn even more about making your call for speakers at your next event in this guide here. 

 

Elevate your Call for Speakers with a streamlined (and free) purpose-built tool! 

The above advice on crafting your call for conference speakers is solid. However, there is a lot of work there. And we know your time is precious. 

That’s why – after listening to our event planners – we built our Call for Papers tool. The benefits are too good to say no.

• Super easy to use: With our tool, you can effortlessly create a professional and distinctive call-for-speakers page in just three simple steps. It’s a huge time saver.
• Save (more) time: Sifting through countless speaker applications manually is bogging down your event’s planning phase. The software will take care of assessing the applications, presenting you with a refined list of top candidates. 
• Better picks: After that, your only task will be to select your favorites from the cream of the crop. The result? More captivating speakers for your audience and a smoother planning experience for you!

This feature is in high demand, so ensure you’re on the waiting list to make sure you get all the benefits!

Say Bye to Back-and-Forth Emails: Manage Speakers with Sched from Sched Support on Vimeo.

 

The takeaways 

• Essential Guide to Success: Unlock the secrets to securing exceptional conference speakers, the cornerstone of a triumphant event, and heightened attendee satisfaction.
• Social Media Mastery: Master the art of creating viral-worthy social media posts with storytelling, eye-catching visuals, and strategic platform targeting to draw attention to your speaker calls.
• Email Campaign Optimization: Learn the craft of designing compelling email campaigns that stand out, with a focus on personal touches, engaging content, and calls-to-action that compel leading speakers to take notice.
• Engagement Through Education: Explore innovative strategies to connect with educational networks and communities, ensuring your event resonates with the most relevant and insightful speakers.
• Content Marketing Excellence: Elevate your speaker recruitment game with captivating content across various formats, keeping the momentum going post-event to maintain high levels of engagement and anticipation.
• Call for Speakers Page Perfection: Get insider tips on creating an impactful Call for Speakers page, emphasizing clarity, inclusivity, and a seamless submission process to attract a diverse array of talents.
• Streamlined Speaker Selection Tool: Discover a purpose-built tool designed to simplify the speaker selection ordeal, allowing you to focus on curating a lineup of top-tier speakers for an unforgettable event.

By embracing these strategies, you’re not just organizing an event; you’re crafting an experience that elevates, educates, and inspires. With the right speakers on your stage, you’re guaranteed not just a successful event but an extraordinary gathering that leaves attendees longing for more.