Your association conferences attract lots of members and prospective members, making them a great place to promote the value of your association’s online career center. Here are 15 ideas to get you started.
If your association is hosting onsite conferences or meetings for your members this year, here’s an idea: Have a booth there to promote the value of your online career center.
Why promote your career center at association conferences
The 2023 Association Trends Study by Community Brands indicates that top member benefits include help with career advancement and job opportunities. These benefits are especially important to members who are in the early and middle stages of their careers.
Your association’s online career center gives your members the career planning resources and career-building tools they seek. But they must know about them to take advantage of them.
Your association conferences attract members and prospective members by offering learning and networking opportunities, making them a great place to showcase the value of your career center. Having a career center booth at your association conferences gives you a focused location to highlight the features your online career center offers – ultimately helping to increase engagement with your members and drive more traffic to your career center.
Tips for promoting your career center booth at your association’s in-person conferences
Here are fourteen great ways to highlight your career center booth at your association conferences:
Booth promotion channels
1. Social media – LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X, and other social media channels are quick and effective channels to use to let attendees know about your career center booth at your conference. You can even include a link to the career center in each post to drive more traffic.
2. Newsletters – Your member newsletters are a perfect avenue to highlight the career center booth to all subscribed members – with little extra work on your end.
3. Conference app – If you have a mobile app for your conference, this can be a good place to add a banner or a blurb in the agenda section that encourages attendees to stop by the booth.
4. Banner ads – Whether they’re on the career center or your corporate website (or both!), banner ads are one of the most effective ways to let your audience know about your career center booth in a cost-effective manner.
5. Email – Send a dedicated email to all members to inform them of your career center booth.
6. Program guide – If you have a printed or digital program book for your conference and have additional space, then include an ad about your career center.
7. Slides and signage – If your association conference has projected rotating slides and/or other signage in the exhibit hall or main lobby, be sure to include a graphic about your career center and booth.
8. Postcard – Having something physical you can hand out to attendees to inform them about your career center’s presence will leave them with a reminder to swing by your booth.
Booth branding
9. Tablecloth – Have a tablecloth printed with basic career center details for a simple, yet effective way to inform people about what your booth represents.
10. Stand-up banner – Display a stand-up banner that includes more details about your career center to give busy or more introverted event attendees a chance to learn more about the career center without engaging in conversation.
11. Tabletop signs – If you want to further level up your booth, display tabletop signs that dive deeper into each individual feature of your online career center.
12. Giveaways – It’s always good to give visitors something they can hang onto that includes your branding and has a lasting impact. Some common examples are:
- Pens
- Lip balms
- Hand sanitizers
- Sunglasses
- Totebags
Other ideas
13. Career coach – Have a live career coach in the booth to talk with your members and review their résumés.
Career Coaching – Career Planning Portal by YM Careers
14. Sweepstakes – Offer a résumé sweepstakes in which anyone who uploads their résumé to your online career center during the conference will be entered to win a prize.
