Why multiplier marketing is a cost-effective strategy for growing participation and engagement

Associations need to do more than fill an event venue for their congress. They need to create events people want to attend, talk about and share. Multiplier marketing offers a practical way to achieve this. It turns sponsors, partner associations, ambassadors, influencers, speakers and suppliers into active promoters, helping to reach new audiences and boost credibility in a cost-effective way.

Phil McDermott, Marketing Director at MCI Australia, describes multiplier marketing simply as “personalised outreach to key stakeholders linked with an association, event or specific industry”. Instead of pushing out messages from a single source and hoping they “stick”, you invite others to share them with their own networks. 

“It can mean the difference between reaching 75 percent of a specific market versus 95 percent,” says McDermott. “A well-executed multiplier-campaign doesn’t just drive delegate growth – it helps build awareness, momentum and buzz in new markets. It can even serve as a powerful catalyst for increased sponsorship investment.” 

Sponsors bring their own customer and partner networks. When they actively promote an event, they signal its importance to the market. But it is important to keep it credible. Tony Chan, Director – Asia Pacific at the Parenteral Drug Association, warns that in technical fields such as pharma “paid involvement can negatively impact a meeting or programme, as the content can quickly become too salesy”. Sponsors should represent the industry as a whole rather than specific products, protecting the value of the programme for attendees. 

Case study: AusRAIL 

AusRAIL is the largest rail industry conference and exhibition in the Asia-Pacific region, attracting over 10,000 participants. MCI Australia worked with the Australasian Railway Association (ARA) to introduce a Stakeholder Marketing initiative. Sponsors and exhibitors were given tools to promote the event to their own networks. 

The result was 85 percent engagement among the top 20 sponsors and a promotional reach to over 2 million rail professionals. Interactive formats such as breakout sessions, “fishbowl” discussions and "world café” approaches also helped sponsors and influencers feel invested in the programme and confident to share it. 

Associations that share overlapping missions can help each other. Cross-promotion, well-timed calendars and clear understanding of what each partner offers can deliver shared benefits. “Our goal is to maintain or evolve an event into the leading gathering organised by the industry for the industry, the must-attend event that stands out in the calendar,” McDermott explains. 

Case study: APLAR Congress 

The Asia Pacific League of Associations for Rheumatology (APLAR) represents 33 member national organisations in rheumatology across the Asia-Pacific region. MCI Australia helped these national associations promote the congress content to their own professional networks. 

The results have been record-breaking, paving the way for the largest APLAR Congress in history, set to take place in early September 2025: 

• 2023: 1,148 abstracts, 1,655 attendees 
• 2024: 1,425 abstracts, 1,925 attendees 
• 2025 (forecast): 1,915 abstracts and (forecast) 3,000 attendees 

This approach gave local associations tools to share meaningful content and drive attendance in their own countries. 

Influencers can humanise the brand and expand its reach into new communities. They are often respected thought leaders and as such “their endorsements carry a lot of weight with all stakeholders. The challenge is to make such an influencer take ownership of the event's success,” says Marcel Ewals, Director, Association Management & Consultancy, MCI APAC. 

But they must be chosen with care. “Influencers need to be carefully selected and trained to maintain the association’s professional tone, especially when dealing with economic sectors or regulatory issues,” says Mariana Rosalem, Marketing Director at MCI Brazil.  

She adds that delegates, too, can be ambassadors and influencers. “Consumers want to engage with brands and leaders, they want to be part of something with meaning.” She points out that modern audiences want to recommend events because they believe in them and they want to help shape the conversation.  

Case study: Campus Party in Brazil

“It was a two-way street between Campus Party and the participants,” Rosalem explains. “Everyone won with that partnership.”  

This tech-focused event built a strong community by encouraging participants to share and recommend it.  

The strategy focused on making participants feel part of something valuable, creating a two-way relationship that lasted well beyond a single edition. 

Speakers are often the primary reason people register. They also act as powerful advocates. Chan suggests prioritising country regulators, ex-regulators and respected authors of technical reports over commercial voices. “They should ideally be representative of the industry as a whole and not specific brand products,” he says. In short: choose voices your audience trusts. 

Case study: ESSM 

Multiplier marketing can also be leveraged to build social media presence. MCI Germany’s strategy for the European Society for Sexual Medicine (ESSM) underlines the value of authentic, expert-led content. Video messages from the Society’s President and Scientific Committee delivered some of the most successful engagement results, extending credibility and reach.  

This success was grounded in a clear and purpose-driven content strategy designed to inform, inspire, educate, and connect. Each content piece was crafted with these strategic pillars in mind—whether it was to provide timely scientific insights, highlight personal stories from the field, or foster dialogue among stakeholders. 

Interactions increased across all platforms over the period of the campaign, but LinkedIn was especially effective for professional engagement. Under active management from December 2021, the ESSM LinkedIn page grew its audience by more than 1,950 percent in nine months, with over 329,000 impressions and 12,000 engagements. 

Multiplier marketing works best when the event experience itself invites participation. Silke Weerts, Director Association Solutions of MCI Germany describes three factors that build this success: participation, engagement and immersion. 

Participation ensures people feel part of what is happening.  

Engagement deepens the commitment, both emotionally and intellectually.  

Immersion makes the event memorable through rich, multi-sensory experiences.  

Together, these elements encourage stakeholders to become advocates. Instead of passive attendees, they become fans who want to share and promote the event. 

As we know, personalisation is the defining event trend of 2025. “Consumers want to feel that the content, product or service was made for them,” notes Rosalem. Your ambassadors, thought leaders and sponsors are no different. Focus on understanding each stakeholder’s audience and tailoring content so that each partner can communicate in ways that truly connect with their audiences. To secure more committed promotion and long-term loyalty, make your partners feel valued and engaged by involving them in the planning process. 

Successful multiplier marketing is not only about filling seats on the day. It is about engaging through the complete participant journey, from the first moment someone hears about the event to their reflections afterwards. 

Silke encourages intentionally addressing every stage: awareness, consideration, decision, preparation, experience, aftermath and recommendation. Each stage is an opportunity for touchpoints that build trust and encourage sharing. This might include a personal invitation from a sponsor, a mention on social media, or a targeted app notification. Every small interaction can strengthen the connection between participants and the event.   

In this context, psychographics, such as values, interests, motivations, and behaviour, become far more relevant than traditional demographics, allowing for more personalized and resonant engagement.  

Multiplier marketing demands thoughtful planning, careful partner selection and often requires more time to execute well but it delivers what many marketing budgets alone cannot buy: genuine endorsement, trust and connection.  

When sponsors, associations, influencers and speakers share your message as their own, they turn promotion into persuasion that builds lasting relevance and industry leadership. 

Give MCI a call and let us help you transform your next conference by mapping your strongest partners and planning how we’ll make them your most effective advocates.