So your registration page is up and running—great first step! But the next hurdle awaits as you work on converting page views into confirmed registrations. The good news? You’ve already got valuable data and tools at your fingertips that can help fill those registration spots.
Use Your Registration Data to Create a Strategic Marketing Plan
The information you’ve already collected is more than just numbers in a spreadsheet. It’s helpful insights about who your participants are and where to find more like them. Take a quick dive into your Event Dashboard and you’ll uncover patterns that can sharpen your marketing approach.
Those Heat Maps? They’re not just pretty colors. They show you exactly where your event already has traction, which areas are still untapped, and how far people are willing to travel to join your event. That’s pure marketing gold when deciding where to focus your advertising dollars.
And the breakdown of who’s already signed up tells you volumes about your event’s current appeal. Looking at ages, gender splits, and other participant details helps you spot which groups you’re missing and how to tailor your messaging to bring them in. Maybe you’re crushing it with the 40+ crowd but missing younger athletes, or drawing tons of experienced racers but few first-timers who could become lifelong participants.
Spotlight Your Event Where Athletes Are Already Looking
Think about it—with over a million registrations flowing through athleteReg every year, our event calendar is basically a hangout for people actively searching for their next event. Why not make sure your event stands out there? Highlighting or featuring your event on our calendar puts you front and center where motivated participants are already browsing. And with limited featured spots per region, you’ll get noticed without getting lost in the shuffle.
List your event on the Trailforks calendar for free or boost your visibility with Trailforks advertising for just $99. The Trailforks calendar lets users browse trail running and biking events, trail days, and other activities in their area. What makes this especially effective is that it only shows nearby and regionally targeted events—meaning your event gets in front of participants who are actually in your geographical market.
Expand Your Reach Across the Outside Network
Being part of the Outside family gives you serious reach. We’re talking access to active enthusiasts across Outside Run, Trail Runner, Ski, VELO, Triathlete, and more.
Our self-service Ad Manager makes it simple to connect with Outside’s global audience of 250 million active users. You control everything about your campaign, test different approaches, and get clear reporting straight to your inbox. Want to target trail runners specifically? Put your event in front of readers on Trail Runner. Looking for cyclists? PinkBike and Velo have you covered.
“I just put together our first ad campaign. I really liked how easy and intuitive your ad creation platform works. Lance Panigutti, Race Director and Owner of Without Limits Production, “I do all our t-shirt and logo design work, but your template guides were honestly some of the most user friendly I’ve worked with.”
Harness the Momentum of Social Media
Our marketing tools make social promotion straightforward. Upload graphics that pop when participants share on Facebook.
Curious about which Facebook promotions are actually driving registrations? You can implement a “Facebook tracking pixel” on your athleteReg site. Don’t worry if that sounds technical—it’s simpler than it seems! A tracking pixel is a tiny piece of code that Facebook provides you. When added to your registration page, it helps track when someone comes from Facebook and completes a registration.
Here’s how to get one: Log into Facebook Ads Manager, create a pixel in your Events Manager section, and copy the pixel ID. Then, in your athleteReg admin dashboard, paste this ID into the designated Facebook Pixel field under Marketing Tools. This gives you clear data on which Facebook posts or ads are successfully converting to registrations, helping you focus your social media efforts where they actually pay off.
Creative Incentives That Actually Work
Let’s talk about what really gets people to commit—smart incentives. Discount codes are simple but effective: exclusive deals for club members, early bird pricing that creates urgency, or limited offers for the first 50 sign-ups.
How about trying out referral codes? Turn your existing participants into your marketing team by giving each one a unique code and registration link. You decide the rewards—maybe a partial refund, some cool swag, or discounts for friends they bring in. Giving current participants extra incentive to bring their training buddies along is a positive experience for them and a positive experience for your bottom line.
Rethinking Refund Policies: Not What You’d Expect
Here’s something counterintuitive—more flexible refund policies often help rather than hurt your registration numbers. As our Lead Software Engineer (and Race Organizer) Colin Reuter puts it: “Refunds are actually a positive customer interaction” for three key reasons:
- Getting someone to register early (even if some eventually ask for refunds) beats having them never sign up at all
- Many refunded spots get filled by transfers to other participants
- Even people who get refunds stay on your email list for future events
This isn’t a one-size-fits-all strategy—it’s simply something worth considering as you build your registration approach. Think about where your event falls on the demand spectrum and adjust your refund flexibility accordingly.
Ready to Boost Those Numbers?
This is just scratching the surface of what you can do with your existing data and athleteReg’s toolkit. We encourage you to dive in and experiment with these strategies—try implementing one or two for your next event and see what works best for your specific audience.The tools are already at your fingertips in your dashboard, ready to put to work.
Ready to spring off the starting line with these sign-up strategies? Give them a try and let us know which ones made the biggest difference for your event! And remember, if you need any guidance along the way, our team is here to help.