B2C Virtual Summits: Higher Impact + Conversion Rates with a Sub-Niche with Samantha Radford
You've heard me say it before, and I'll say it again: A niched-down summit will make all the difference.
I brought on Dr. Samantha Radford to talk about how she found an underserved sub-niche within an already specific audience. It made all the difference in her summit conversion rates and created an impactful event for her attendees.
She shares so much great info including:
- how she found her sub-niche
- how her passion and her business came together
- a behind-the-scenes look into her summit
- and how her tech choices set her up for future success!
I'll let Samantha take it from here!
Combining Passion and a Ph.D. to Form a Business
I have a Ph.D. in Chemistry with a focus on maternal-child health and the chemicals babies are exposed to in the womb and once born.
It all came full circle when I had my own babies. I used my background to research the most common struggles faced as new parents, such as breastfeeding and sleep. From that, Evidence-Based Mommy was born.
Could a summit be my next step?
As a business owner, I’ve been a speaker at a few breastfeeding summits. As my experiences grew, I started to consider if a summit was the right “next step” for me.
After buying a few small pieces of the Summit in a Box® program, I decided to go for it and buy the whole thing.
I set a date and we were off!
The Breastfeeding Beyond Babyhood Summit
Breastfeeding Beyond Babyhood was a free event with prerecorded interviews and presentations. I kept them to about 20 minutes because as moms of babies and toddlers my attendees wouldn’t have time to listen to anything longer!
I ran Facebook ads, and they were hugely successful. They made a difference in my conversion rates and sales.
I had a 64% conversion rate for my registration page!
Breaking Down The All-Access Pass
My all-access pass converted at 8%, which is incredible since most of my audience was a cold audience and had no prior interaction with me.
The price structure broke down like this:
- $47 fast-action (This brought in the most sales!)
- $67 early bird
- $97 full price (I only sold a couple.)
I think one of the most influential pieces of the all-access pass was the two Q+A sessions we did. While we only had 5-6 people show up, the conversations and questions asked were deep and meaningful. The recorded Q+A was included in the all-access pass, too.
I Had An Answer to The Problem
A niched-down summit made a big difference in my summit outcome.
I moderate a Facebook group for breastfeeding moms. In this group, I saw a unique problem that wasn’t being answered. Sure, there are summits around breastfeeding and how to do it, but there weren’t answers out there for the moms who felt guilty or ashamed for their extended breastfeeding decisions (aka breastfeeding through the toddler years and beyond).
I knew this was a problem I could solve!
I wanted to be there for the moms who felt like they could breastfeed forever and for the moms who just wished their kids would stop already. I’d been on both sides of that coin; I knew how they felt.
Can I actually make money and reach people?
My business goal for the year was to “take up space” and I thought a summit was a great way to fulfill that goal. I would take up space, meet new people, and expand my business.
My summit brought in 870 attendees!
My Variety of Speakers
Some of my speakers were academic scholars and authors who were there to speak on the technical side of “how to breastfeed”, but there were also speakers such as my yoga instructor who spoke on mindfulness and coping with the feelings that come with breastfeeding.
That’s why my summit stood out!
There were already summits about the “how to breastfeed”, but my summit took it all a step further and solved a problem I saw with my audience.
Making Tech Changes
I knew that for my business to grow, I had to make some tech choice changes. What I had worked, but it wasn’t what I wanted long-term. I chose some new tech like ThriveCart, so my initial costs were higher, but now my business is set up to run future summits with ease.
My Suggestion to Other Business Owners
Find that underserved audience. It was the single most impactful thing I did to make my summit a success.
About Samantha
Dr. Samantha Radford is a college professor turned blogger. She founded Evidence-based Mommy, where she combines science and wellness to help parents and their kids thrive, in 2018.
In 2021, she hosted the first annual Breastfeeding Beyond Babyhood, where moms are supported and celebrated, no matter their breastfeeding goals.
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