Planning your first business event can be daunting: it takes time and effort, and making sure everything runs smoothly is not easy.
Fortunately, we are here to support you in your first steps with these tips and recommendations. After reading this article, you might not be ready to start your event agency, but we bet you'll be happy with your first business event!
Choose your target audience.
The choices are fabricated fast if you prepare for an internal meeting or event. Still, if you are targeting existing or potential customers, you will come up against the first difficulties. For your event to be successful, you need to know your audience.
You must first ask yourself the following questions: who do you want to meet? Where are these ideal participants based? What motivations will drive them to come? What is your event's USP, the unique selling point that will motivate attendees to travel, sometimes over long distances? Do you need to choose an attractive location to encourage participation?
Product launches have nothing to do with informative conferences; the elements to consider to succeed differ. This is why it is crucial to refine your planning. For example: will you need to advertise before and after the event? In this case, you will indeed have to contact the specialized press.
Plan event marketing
How will your audience be made aware of the event? Word of mouth is a safe bet but not enough to fill the room.
If you need to advertise your event, you will need to calculate a budget and define a marketing plan. There are many options for your promotion, and choosing the most effective one is already a challenge.
For example, you can create a dedicated website. If you target customers from your mailing list, you can instead send out a newsletter that will generate excitement. To ensure the success of your event, you need to know your typical attendee and their motivations.
You can save money by using social media to promote your event. But you risk being carried out into the background by the avalanche of publications. Choosing the right platform is also important: if your target audience is more B2B, LinkedIn is the royal way, but if you are targeting more end consumers, prefer Twitter, Facebook, or TikTok.
Set a budget not to exceed
When organizing an event, it's easy to lose ground and see costs skyrocket. You may not have been assigned a budget, or it is up to you to define it. Either way, getting spending under control is crucial.
Many elements come into account in budget planning, the two most important items being the room and the staff, but we must not forget the following points:
- Room costs
- Staff
- Restoration
- Rental of computer equipment
- Business travel expenses
- Entertainment
- Marketing costs
This list is not exhaustive, but be aware that there are software, templates, and tools to help you plan and budget your event more effectively. You probably won't need such software for a small meeting, but we suggest you look into these features if you're hosting significant events regularly.
Hire an event agency
Events are an area of expertise that must not be forgotten: depending on what you organize and the number of participants expected. You may need to recruit a professional.
Event planners have experience with all kinds of events, from trade shows to smaller meetings. If you are afraid of not being up to the task or at least that you prefer to receive a helping hand, do not hesitate to call on an agency that masters the event sector and will prove to be an excellent support for professionals in your situation.
You might think this kind of service is a waste of money, but preparing for an event can be time-consuming. Therefore, paying a professional becomes much more profitable when this significant aspect is considered.
Organize a virtual event
If your budget doesn't allow you to organize a sizeable traditional event, you can cut costs with a virtual gathering. If there's one lesson to be taught from the coronavirus pandemic, businesses need to adapt to changing business environments. Today, virtual events enjoy unparalleled popularity, whether they bring together small, hand-picked groups or hundreds of people. Be aware, however, that they come with their own IT challenges.
If you are planning a big event, you will need to book a room and organize a parallel virtual session for all the people who have not been able to come. It is pervasive that VIPs and journalists are invited to the event in person, while the rest of the participants attend online. In this case, the number of participants could be substantial, so you must choose and test your technological tools beforehand. We've all seen live bugs. So be prepared to avoid this kind of disappointment.
Why not get sponsored?
Depending on the market you are targeting, you may be able to land sponsorship deals to offset certain costs or even earn a profit. In general, corporate events are non-profit, but that doesn't mean you can't generate some money. On the one hand, there are business seminars or conferences, and on the other, opportunities designed to be profitable. If this is your case, you can, for example, charge the entrance fee and get sponsored.
The sponsor(s) selection must be founded on your target audience: everyone has to benefit from it, the participants and the sponsor, who aims to promote his brand or earn a little money. As a result, we recommend that you take the time to choose the right potential sponsors, then put together a file to present to them to explain how your audience and your event represent an opportunity for them. This will show that you have done the proper research and increase your chances of closing a deal.
Consider travel needs
When organizing a business event, venue, food, and entertainment aren't everything.
We must not forget the trips before and after, which also require meticulous planning. For example, how will attendees get to your event venue? If it lasts a whole day or several days, have you provided accommodation?
If it's a paid event, you probably won't have to deal with this aspect. But if it is an event for your colleagues or important customers, then you will have to take care of the means of transport and accommodation. This is a new layer of complexity, as participants will have different needs and requirements.
So how do you make sure you meet everyone's needs? This is where a specialized business travel agency comes into play, which will be able to relieve you of a good part of these tasks. Even if you only plan a small meeting, gathering more than ten people is enough for the travel industry to see you as a group and to see you subject to specific rules.
Booking a hotel for a group is often tedious, especially when evaluating the quality of the services and the offer. In addition, arranging transportation to and from your venue from multiple locations also comes with challenges. Therefore, using specialized travel planning services, such as those offered by Egencia, is an intelligent choice. Visit for more info.
Perform post-event analysis
After the event has passed and the turmoil subsides, we recommend doing a post-mortem analysis to learn from it, see what went well, and reflect on possible improvements. Unfortunately, it is rare for events to go off without a hitch, especially live ones, which are particularly susceptible to hazards.
This analysis will not necessarily be helpful to you if you are only organizing a one-off event. Still, if you plan to repeat the experience, it is an excellent way to layout the problems encountered to avoid repeating them.
Comments
Post a Comment