Marketing a business has been made simpler in recent years through social media and online campaigns.  Despite these fast and easy methods however, face-to-face interactions are still important.  Making connections and building relationships are always going to be more powerful and genuine than online interactions.

Not everyone is lucky enough to meet potential customers or partners everyday, however.  These connections usually occur in industry-related events or serendipitous moments.  If you don’t find yourself being able to meet these people in person, an even better place to create these relationships are at your own event.

Creating, financing, and executing an event may seem daunting and costly, especially to small business owners, but it has the possibility to open many doors.  Especially if your company celebrates a notable landmark, such as an anniversary or accomplishment, these are great times to plan an event.  You have the chance to showcase your success and have an opportunity to make business connections that could propel your company further.

Create a Successful Event

Deany Dormer, owner and event manager of Executive Events, shares some of the most crucial steps to take before planning an event.

Define Your Goals

Before any event, it’s crucial to identify your end goal or your desired outcome.  Here are four questions you need to answer before you start planning:

1. What is the purpose of your event?
2. What does a successful event look like to you?
3. How will your event add value to the attendees?
4. What goals do you need to achieve in order to make it successful?

Answering these questions will help give you a basic guideline for how to go about planning your event.  You’ll be clear on the standard to which you hold yourself and your team, and it will make you more accountable.

Identify Your Target Audience

The next step to planning an event is to know who your event is geared towards.  Think about the ideal customer you want for your business.  Another angle is to understand who needs your product or service and who has the means to pay for it.

Once you pinpoint who your ideal attendee is, begin promoting directly to them.  This can be via social media, email or other advertising channels, wherever your ideal customer is most likely to be.  For example, one way to target sects of people is through Facebook groups.  Finding these groups are simple, free and allows you to reach a variety of interests.

 

Understand Audience Motivation

Understanding what motivates your intended audience is crucial when marketing for your event.  Knowing who you are marketing towards is step one and step two is figuring out what type of advertising will attract them to your event.

Whichever way you choose to market, be sure to specify the purpose of the event and why people should attend.  Potential attendees want to know how they can benefit from attending your event.  When advertising, be clear on all of the amazing reasons why a specific audience should attend.  Not only will this strategy be more effective with bringing in attendees, but you also get more of your intended audience when your message is clear.

 

Leverage Social Media

Once you understand how to market your event, begin utilizing the power of social media.  Add social sharing options to your website, blog, and/or email messages to greatly increase the range and effectiveness of the campaign.  Studies have shown that event signup increases up to 150% when social sharing buttons are added to event marketing content.

For example, when you add a social sharing option to your website or blog, people will have the option to share or sign up for you event immediately, rather than searching for registration information afterwards, which can reduce the number of sign ups.

 

Measure Return on Objective

Determine important metrics to measure such as lead generation, product or service sales, social media engagement, awareness of brand, and amount of media exposure generated.

It will be beneficial to measure these metrics before, during and after your event. Be willing to tweak your campaign as you go along to achieve the best results. Review your progress with your team to determine what is working best and which techniques are reaching your ideal customers most effectively.  Learn from each marketing campaign and understand what you can improve upon for your next event.

 

Questions?

These strategies are great guidelines when planning your company’s business events.  For more tips and information check out Deany’s website, AssistMyEvent.com.