Originally published June 13, 2016 , updated on September 13, 2024

Overall, humans are driven by their emotions. Event attendees are no different. Realizing this could mean the difference between a highly successful rate of event sales, or none at all.

Basic Emotions Worth Noting

According to Geoffrey James, there are six basic emotions that influence the way we make decisions:

• Greed. “If I make a decision now, I will be rewarded.”
• Fear. “If I don’t make a decision now, I’m toast.”
• Altruism. “If I make a decision now, I will help others.”
• Envy. “If I don’t make a decision now, my competition will win.”
• Pride. “If I make a decision now, I will look smart.”
• Shame. “If I don’t make a decision now, I will look stupid.”

Logic dictates that if these emotions dictate our behaviour in general, they will have some bearing over our purchasing decisions as well.

Discover What Drives Your Attendees

As an event marketer, one of your main aims should be to create content that tugs at the heartstrings of your attendees. One of the easiest ways to do this is to discover, first and foremost, why certain people attend your events in the first place.

Essentially, you need to dig deep to discover their emotions, including motivations and aspirations.  The simplest and most obvious way to do this is to ask them why they are attending at the point of registration. You may very well find that you garner some particularly insightful information.

Growing networks and boosting follower counts are often a major driving force for event attendees. Should you discover that this is the case at your own events, throwing in a special networking session is probably a good idea. On the other hand, you may find out that your event attendees seek exclusivity and trends. Should this be the case, you may wish to advertise that your event only has a limited number of tickets for “lucky” event-goers. Basically, give them what they desire and you’ll find your sales increasing by a decent amount.

In a world where people have become jaded by the “what’s”, and event marketer must become someone who focuses on the “why’s”. Connect with your potential attendees by giving them a good enough reason to invest in your event.

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