Events are not only a fun way to engage with your customer base, but also a great way to network with other businesses and build new relationships. However, planning an event can feel overwhelming. Whatever the reason for hosting an event, albeit a product launch, workshop, or customer appreciation day, here are some tips to get you through the process with the least amount of stress possible.
1. Define Your Goals and Objectives
This is the most important step, and also often a step that gets missed or rushed through. Setting your goals and objectives creates the foundation your event needs in order to be productive and meet expectations. A quick way to figure these out is by answering questions:
Who is my target audience? Who do I want to attend?
Why am I putting this event on?
What do I want out of this event, and what do I want others to get from it?
What size of event do I want? Is this meant to be smaller and more intimate, or gathering everyone you possibly know and more together?
What is the motivation for people to attend this event?
What is your budget for this? How much are you willing to spend, and how much do you expect to potentially earn from this event?
Will you be providing food at this event?
Keep in mind, this is not an exhaustive list of everything you can plan for, but a good place to start. For more ideas of planning out your event, check out Airmeet’s article written by Virgil Wadhwa.
2. Choose the Right Venue
After those goals and objectives are defined, another big aspect to consider is what venue you will be using. The space you choose at the end needs to be able to accommodate the amount of people you expect to attend, as well as what activities you have planned. If you only plan to have twenty people coming, there’s no need to book the largest conference room at an event place, and the same goes for the opposite: don’t plan on fitting three hundred people in your small store. Here are some thoughts for you to consider while planning out the venue:
How many people are expected to attend?
What atmosphere do I want to provide? Will there be smaller workshop sessions, or one central speaker the whole time?
Are there awards to hand out? Do I need a stage so that people can see?
Is this an event where everyone will be seated the whole time? Or do you expect a need for a dance floor?
Does your venue include catering or will that be separate?
What is a centralized location for your audience to reduce commutes for people?
Once you’ve figured out the parameters for your event space, make sure it fits into your budget. If the space is one you haven’t been to yet, contact them to ensure you see what it is like before planning out the next steps.
3. Plan the Program
Next up, you need to decide what will be happening during your event. Is this a structured event where you expect people to engage in different ways throughout? If so, then it’s a good idea to figure out when you want to do whatever it is you want to do. Then provide a schedule for people to see so they know what to expect. Structure can help alleviate some stress for your guests, as well as provide something for people to look forward to. Here are some questions to ask during this phase:
Do I want or need speakers for this event? If so, who and when will I reach out to them?
Will there be an awards ceremony?
Will food or drinks be served at only specific times or in courses?
What is the start time and end time for the event?
So many more questions to ask yourself, but this list can go on for a long time and is more specific to the different types of events that are possible. What’s important is that you feel prepared, know what to expect, and make sure your guests are also aware of what’s next.
4. Promote Your Event Effectively
Once your event is planned out, you have to actually let people know that it’s happening. This is where it gets more specific depending on who you want to attend. If the event is exclusive, posting across social media might not be the most effective way to go, and vice versa if the event is for the public, only telling people you know limits your audience. The deciding factors for knowing how to promote your event depends on if you want anyone to show up, or only a select few.
Exclusive Event:
Email campaign to a selective list
Create a Facebook event or LinkedIn event that is private and only intended for your audience
Snail mail invitations can be classy, though you need to consider how people will be RSVPing
Event for the Public:
Email campaign to anyone in your email list is still a good place to start, but shouldn’t be your only form of communication
Creating Facebook and LinkedIn events that are public are a good way to get the word out
Posting on social media is essential if you’re going to create an event. Make sure to make posts informative, engaging, and exciting
See if you are able to connect with anyone in journalism that would be willing and able to promote your event through articles or blog posts
5. Prepare Your Day of Logistics
Make sure you have everything you need, exactly when and where you need it.
Make sure the venue, as well as any vendors, speakers, or other forms of collaborators, have the schedules or programs for the event
Book any technology or specialists in advance and test everything out before the event happens
Figure out parking at your venue to help reduce any time spent bringing items to and from vehicles
Anything else unexpected
It’s important to understand that even though you prepare for everything, there will always be at least a few things that go wrong or happen unexpectedly. To mediate the potential negative impacts of these, plan for extra time to problem solve any issues. The best case scenario just means you’re ahead of schedule, worst case scenario, you already have time built in to fix anything that goes wrong.
6. Follow Up After the Event
Now that your event is done, it’s extremely important to make sure to follow up on any new or ongoing connections you met with. Following up solidifies your chances to continuing or strengthening that relationship, which can lead to potential business down the line for you.
A few ways to follow up include:
Finding and following on social media, especially on LinkedIn where the most leads happen
Email, DM, or reach out to any connections you made to see how they liked the event. Saying something specific about what you discussed with them is always an added bonus
Post-event surveys are easy to create and a nice way to not only receive feedback, but show that you care whether or not attendees had a good time
There’s a lot that goes into planning events, anyone who has planned or helped plan an event before knows this. It’s not impossible, but it can be hard to do it on your own. If you’re in need of consulting on your event, reach out to us at Perodigm to see how we can help.
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