Organizing a successful business event is a great way to present your company in order to spread the word about your brand, get some new customers and achieve higher profit. But a disastrous event means the opposite, as well. Stakes are high and in order for everything to run smoothly, good organization and preparation is the key.
To organize a top company event, here are some things you need to do:
Find Audience
Events are made for an audience to attend and you need to know who your audience is, what they want and make sure they get it. It is important for your event to provide relevant and practical information your audience needs.
Give it a purpose
Once you have decided who your audience is and provided for it, you should determine your business goals and try to achieve them. During one event you can achieve a lot: promote your brand or a certain product, get new customers or create customer loyalty or simply raise profit. Once your goals are set, focus on them and find the easiest and most subtle ways to achieve them. And do not forget to ensure flyers, posters and programs which include telephone numbers and website addresses of your company.
Organize finances
Your event has audience and a purpose but somebody has to pay for it. There are several ways to pay for an event: by sponsorships, ticket sales, internal marketing budgets — or a combination of all three.
Events tend to cost a lot, primarily in regards to the venue and food and beverage so you should use some extra help. Sponsors might come in handy: consider the service they can offer and do not be afraid to ask and of course offer something in return. If you decide to sell tickets for your events (which ensures a certain number of attendees) make prices reasonable for visitors but also make it possible to recover costs of organization. Participants also appreciate early bird registration discounts.
To keep on top of your finances, you should prepare an event budget and monitor your spending and prepare final costs and budget report.
Finding the venue
Once you have established the event budget, be aware that the most of the money will be spent on the venue. Finding the right one is not as easy as it seems. Location is important because it should suit all the visitors or should be easy to get to. You need to look for venues that have all the necessary facilities for your event such as a classroom, theatre, banquet, boardroom or cabaret layout. Make a detailed search and inquiry about each place before making your final decision. Be certain that no additional costs are charged, once the contracts have been signed.
Create a marketing plan for the event
Create a detailed marketing plan for the event. Use all means: a variety of promotional material, advertisements on the Internet, use social networks and provide media coverage. Also consider, to use a part of your budget for advertising because it will certainly pay off.
Find a good reason for people to show up
Event participants should be treated as your customers. You might send them personalized invitations (with their name) and your company’s logo and colors. Include the purpose for, and the benefits of, attending your event with clear details on the where, when, and costs associated with the event included. Remind your invitees, a few days in advance. Audience can be attracted by product demo, educational content or an exciting, well-known expert speaker.
Content you provide should be relevant to over 80% of the audience. They should acquire knowledge, gain new skills and be inspired by your business and what you do.
If it didn’t happen on the social media it didn’t really happen
You need to have a skilled social media team cover your event. Make sure your audience is tweeting, facebooking and taking pictures on Instagram. All the important moments during the event should be posted on social networks and shared, so somebody should be in charge of it.
Organizing a successful business event is not an easy thing to do. Your event will be a success if you set objective goals and reach all your achievements.
For more information about successful business event planning please visit NYIAD event planning course page.
