Struggling to Grow Attendance Year Over Year?
If attendance is stagnating, retention may be part of the issue — and ignoring it can get expensive.
The Problem We Keep Seeing
- Attendance growth slows or plateaus
- The data on where attrition is occuring exists, but is difficult to interpret
- Teams are stretched thin, with limited time to step back and assess what’s driving return attendance
- Growth goals focus largely on net-new attendees
If any of that feels close to home…
Get your retention risk score in minutes and see where you may be losing repeat attendees.
The Solution: Retention Engine
mdg‘s Retention Engine package was created in response to those observations and recent Freeman research, which shows that retention is often an overlooked factor in stalled attendance and rising acquisition costs. This package helps teams:
- See whether retention is contributing to attendance challenges
- Understand who’s coming back, who isn’t and where the drop-off occurs
- Focus on the few behaviors that actually influence repeat attendance
- Take action through targeted, omnichannel efforts to re-engage likely returners
- Stay connected with audiences between events, not just on-site
This isn’t about fixing a single moment. It’s about building repeat attendance over time.
What’s Included
Retention Analysis
A multi-year analysis of attendance and engagement to understand which audience segments keep showing up and which drop off (and when) over time.
Retention Strategy & Messaging
Clear guidance on which audiences to focus on, what messages matter most and when to engage — informed by observed behavior and shared across teams.
Targeted Retention Campaign
A purpose-built, omnichannel campaign (including digital marketing, email marketing, partner marketing tools, social media, PR and community management) that supports outreach to likely returners and engagement outside the event cycle.
Optional extensions include an event-level assessment and/or a community needs survey to better understand attendee expectations and inform retention efforts.
Contact Us
Retention Engine was designed to fit how organizer teams actually operate — balancing growth goals, execution pressure and limited resources. It works with the data you already have, fits into existing workflows and focuses effort where it will make the biggest difference over time.
If your attendance is declining and you’re not sure why, we’d welcome a conversation.