Project: Weekend Hikers & Beyond
The local hiking group Weekend Hikers & Beyond uses Meetup to promote its events, grow membership, and get RSVPs.
But Meetup groups are diverse and overwhelming. Getting attention among the many other groups and events relied on word of mouth, SEO keywords, and luck.
As one of the group leaders, I believed we could do better.
To achieve our goals of boosting attendance and consistency, I created a simple strategy.
We continue to host events that people enjoy. Our annual survey and anecdotal evidence says that the best way to get attention is to lead hikes that people crave.
I created a distinct brand look to make our events stand out from others. Hikers have told us that they know to look for our distinctive arch and typography. Over time I removed elements until I discovered its essentials.
I traveled to each popular site and shot photos specifically with title graphics in mind.
With tweaking, the format proved flexible with a variety of photos provided by hike leaders. It also worked with a variety of events including hikes, kayaking, presentations, overnight trips, and announcements.
Results
- A library of more than 50 titles from which hike leaders can pull for their events.
- WH&B receives 10–30 RSVPs within two days of announcing events on Meetup. Other factors, like timing, location, and season, also affect attendance.
- Anecdotally, hikers say they actively look for our style on Meetup.
Project: Pen & Pier
Pen & Pier is a fiction writing group that meets in person, but announces events through the chat program Discord.
But announcements and reminders were easy to overlook among conversations. Tagging @everyone was obnoxious. How could we get attention, convey vital information, and not annoy people?
To solve that:
- I created a series of graphics designed to get attention without dominate conversations.
- I used colors to indicate online video vs in-person events.
- I used size to indicate informal but regular chat events.
Knowing that people would start to develop “ad blindness,” I emphasized the simple titles with large, slightly-angled text and bold colors. I was careful to make the secondary information small — but still readable in at a glance. The goal was to provide critical time/date/place event information to new group members, while alerting regulars who just needed a reminder.
Here are examples of the graphics in Discord. The goal was to get attention with a recognizable look, then allow conversations to move on.
- Visual height balanced between “big enough for vital info” and “small enough to scroll away.”
- I used colors as organization tools, creating categories with hues.
- The messages contained only vital information, making them welcome reminders instead of interruptions.
By repeating the style with variation:
- Regular members could overlook the specifics they didn’t need
- Hues implied tertiary information, such as which events were online or in person
- We stayed flexible enough to create new events for specific needs
- We could discontinue old events or modify details if venues changed along with official announcements.
