Events represent a big part of every marketer’s budget, and no matter what your industry is, there’s nothing like an on-ground event to get you valuable face time with potential customers, possible partners, and a real feel of the market. In this article, we take you through six of the most important items to include in your task list for a successful event.
Venue Rental
Where you will hold your event is the first and most crucial decision you will make. When choosing your venue, some factors come into play; the time of year and weather will help determine whether or not your event will be hosted indoors or outdoors – the last thing you want is for your guests to soak in the rain, or get scorched in unbearable heat. Another element is the geographic location; you want your event to be accessible, possibly near an underground or bus station, and with plenty of parking spacing for your visitors’ convenience.
On-Ground Branding
As you decide on your event’s branding, the design team will have to agree on a theme, a color palette, and the appropriate signage to draw attention and keep people interested. Vendors in the market today offer a myriad of signage ideas for events, so you have to choose carefully in accordance with your brand’s character, tone, and identity.
Invitations that Create a Buzz
An event can’t be successful if people don’t show up, so make sure that your invitations and announcements are catchy and memorable. You can mix and match the various communication channels available at your command; from classic printed invitations and flyers distributed to a target audience, to social media event pages that spread word of mouth. It’s important to remember that your invitations have the same look and feel as your event branding for consistency, and to avoid confusing your guests. Don’t forget that you will also want to make sure that you reach out to as many people as you can, and one way to manage this is to engage with your customers online. For example, if you use Instagram to spread the word, then you could make use of an instagram engagement calculator to help you figure out how many people are interested in your event. This way, when you get a rough idea of numbers, you can also decide if you want to get more and how you get more. Just keep on pushing to create that buzz and you’ll easily get loads of people to come to your event.
Catering
Depending on the size of your event, and the target audience involved, your catering plays an important role in adding value to the experience. Are you targeting families with children? Maybe a little popcorn and cotton candy stations are a good idea. Is your event more business oriented? How about a coffee station and a booth that sells hassle-free sandwiches on the go? Are you expecting high level business executives, and senior government officials? This is where a seated lunch or dinner fits in.
Social Media Coverage
“Photos or it didn’t happen!” really applies these days, especially to events that are aimed to promote businesses and products. Before the event, you can create a buzz through announcing the various attractions that you are planning. Tell your audience about what’s in it for them. On the other hand, during the event itself, a social media specialist should have the responsibility of posting pictures and live videos from the venue in real time – this will not only reflect commitment and professionalism, but may also attract more visitors who haven’t yet arrived. And finally, group photo albums and post-event snapshots are a sure way to let people know that if they missed it this time, they should definitely join the next round.
Get Organized
While planning an event can get hectic and stressful, a sure way to guarantee success – and gain control over the situation – is creating an event checklist for you and your team to use as a guide. In addition, assigning clear responsibilities off of this list will assure organized and smooth operations. We hope that this list will help you and your team hold a flawless event, and you should always feel free to add more as per your business requirements.
