4 Free Tools to Measure Whether Your Marketing Works

Posted on June 11, 2013 by Shannon Fiack

As a very smart marketing lady once told me, “Don’t just chuck something over the fence and hope it lands in the right spot.” She was full of off-beat analogies to make the point that you need to keep a close eye on your marketing efforts to tell if they are working or not. (And if they’re not working, then why not? We ask as we stamp our feet.)

Looking at detailed data is the best way to track the success of each marketing channel as you try to drive registrations for your event, especially as you throw new things out there into the wild blue yonder. Guesswork or personal pride at coming up with a super creative idea won’t get you far–a good marketer is a statistician. Arm yourself with powerful information using these FREE, easy-to-use analytical tools: Continue reading →

Take a Look at Our New Endurance Website

Posted on May 23, 2013 by Shannon Fiack

We’re excited to announce that we have updated the look and feel of our ACTIVE Network, Endurance website. What do you think?

We made these changes because we wanted to tell event organizers a better story about Continue reading →

Get to Know Your Participants Better with Facebook Insights

Posted on May 7, 2013 by Shannon Fiack

If you scroll through your participant database, it probably makes you feel warm and fuzzy that you have so much background info. You know who is a current registrant, who isn’t registered this year but did your event three years ago, who is in each age group, etc…which helps you target your emails and other marketing channels to reach the right people at the right time.

You can get similar info on your Facebook fans, using that data to make better posts that get better results. It’s called Facebook Insights and here are three parts of this tool that you can use to figure out who is interacting with your page and what they want: Continue reading →

Oh the Places You’ll Go: ACTIVE World 2013

Posted on April 2, 2013 by Shannon Fiack

In exactly one week, the ACTIVE World user conference will begin! We’re pretty excited about it. We have hundreds of our customers across all markets attending, including 50+ of the endurance industry’s best and brightest. It will be quite an adventure.

The conference will be held in sunny San Diego, April 9-11th. Here’s are five things we are most looking forward to:

1. The endurance-focused sessions (of course). Nine sessions are dedicated to the endurance industry, including a State of the Industry Report, the Future of Endurance Technology, Creating Win-Win Sponsorships, and Best Ideas Show & Tell. READ about the sessions or VIEW the schedule Continue reading →

7 Ways To Promote Your Event With Facebook

Posted on March 14, 2013 by Shannon Fiack

Promoting your event or race with social media can be really effective – helping you attract more participants and get your current registrants fired up – if you do it right. It takes some work, but the good news is that you can have some fun because these social channels are so casual and interactive.

If you’re looking for some inspiration, here are seven Facebook ideas and examples from other events who are doing it well: Continue reading →

What are you missing in your confirmation emails?

Posted on March 8, 2013 by Shannon Fiack

Figuring out what to say in your event emails, particularly in your confirmation emails, can make you feel like a mad scientist trying to invent the perfect formula. It’s a no-brainer to include basic information like the race date and expo details. But what else should you add to the mix?

Keep in mind that a confirmation email is something that gets HUGE open rates and is much more likely to be read “cover to cover” than your marketing emails. This is an email participants are tapping their feet waiting for. In other words, a confirmation email is a felicitous opportunity to get help for your event in a variety of ways—from revenue to volunteers to exposure. Here are seven ideas on messages you can include in your confirmation emails: Continue reading →

Are You Ready For Facebook’s New Graph Search?

Posted on February 19, 2013 by Shannon Fiack

In mid-January, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg presented Graph Search as Facebook’s new social search engine. It’s still in beta mode, but event directors need to know what’s coming their way.

Graph Search pulls four things into one searchable place: people, places, interests, and photos. With those all available, it’s possible for Facebookers to search for and find results such as ‘friends who like running’ or ‘pictures I liked’ or ‘events near Boston my friends have been to.’ Click here to take a look at Graph Search.

Why does this all matter to event directors? Because you may need to make some changes so your event’s Facebook page stands out. Here are 4 steps you can take right now to prepare for the new Graph Search: Continue reading →

The Perfect Match – YAVAY Helps Event Directors & Sponsors Find Each Other

Posted on February 6, 2013 by Shannon Fiack

Sponsorships are crucial for events—they help offset hard costs and can get you extra visibility that wouldn’t be possible on your own. But it’s not always easy to find and convince businesses to support your event. That’s why ACTIVE has partnered with YAVAY to help make connections between event directors and sponsors. We sat down with Steve Baskin, YAVAY’s co-founder, to talk about what his company does and how it can help event directors:

How did you first come up with the idea for YAVAY?
Yoeri Geerits (a Belgian fellow living in Calgary) and I were in Banff working on a sponsorship-related project for his company, threesixtythree. We got to talking about the Continue reading →

8 Ideas on How to Get Facebook Likes & Comments

Posted on January 9, 2013 by Shannon Fiack

Your event probably has a Facebook page, but is it doing anything for you? Are your fans interacting with you, or just silent?

Whether you have 20 fans or 20,000, it’s important to post things that will grab their attention and start some conversations. Here are 8 great ideas from other events and organizations that you can use to get likes and comments on your Facebook page: Continue reading →

5 Ways to Capitalize on Participants’ New Year’s Resolutions

Posted on January 3, 2013 by Shannon Fiack

It’s that time of year – everyone is making resolutions to improve their lives, and it’s no surprise that losing weight and exercising more is at the top of most lists. As an event director, you can capitalize on the resolutions your participants are making by encouraging them to stick to it, which will create interest in your event as a byproduct.

Here are 5 ways you can support your participants’ New Year’s Resolutions to get fit and healthy: Continue reading →