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Events can be an integral part of a marketing plan; many businesses rely on them to build awareness and generate leads. But as you may have noticed, some events are better run and attended than others. What are the keys to orchestrating successful events? 1) Know your objective and desired audience. Before you start planning the details, have a clear idea of whom you want to attract and what value you will be offering.
2) Planning The earlier you can start planning, the better. For a large event like a trade show or conference, begin planning six months in advance. For local events, you’ll need at least 30 to 45 days to get things organized and arranged. TIP: If you are using vendors, have all vendor contracts completed a few weeks before the event. If they don’t have a commitment from you, they might book another event.  3. Find Partners and Sponsors to share expenses. Look for businesses that have complementary services or would like to reach the same target market. Coordinating with a non-profit and donating the fees charged is a great way to attract participants and make them feel good about your company and their spending time/money at your event!  4. Negotiate Don’t be afraid to ask – many things are negotiable. How much a vendor charges might depend on how busy they are, so being flexible with your dates/specifications can help reduce their quoted price. Tip: Determine your budget before meeting a vendor or sponsor, and think of what you can offer in return for sponsorship or a lower negotiated price. 5. Assign Responsibilities; communicate If you’ve recruited partners or a team, break up the various elements of the event into sections; clearly define roles and responsibilities of each team member. Communicating and collaborating with the people working with you is important. To keep everyone on the same page, create a document that details key elements of the event, timelines, and who is responsible. Have it easily accessible, easy to read and updated so everyone can refer to it and you can keep things on track. Many groups use Google Docs to do this. 6. Promote, promote, promote Your goal is to get the right people to your event -- and enough of them to make it worthwhile. Create a promotional plan for your event incorporating all the media channels available to you. If you are planning to host more than one event, pay particular attention to branding. Using the same template will build brand recognition; repetition is the key!  7. Ways to promote your event:
8. Photograph Everything Pictures can document the success of your event. Get pictures of the full room, event branding, speakers, and attendees enjoying themselves. 9. Have a dry run; then relax if everything doesn’t go exactly as planned Hold a practice session, especially if you have several speakers and have everything in place before the event so you’ll be able to welcome guests. Create contingency plans. Things ALWAYS change – stay flexible and think of alternatives. 10. Follow-up Immediately
Thanks for reading! Special thanks to Evan Carroll of www.attendedevents.com and Debra Mathias, www.connect-to-clients.com – I really appreciate their willingness to talk with me and sharing their thoughts and expertise. Facebook is 'moving the goalposts' again ... or maybe changing the yard lines. Either way, if you are an organization that relies on a Facebook Page for marketing, the recent announcement sounds like bad news.
The situation In 2017, many businesses were already seeing a downward trend in impressions, likes and overall reach on their Facebook pages. Then just last week, Mark Zuckerberg announced that the goal of Facebook is now changing from helping you find relevant content to helping you find “meaningful social interactions.” So instead of determining the ranking of posts based on reactions, comments, and shares, Facebook stated they will prioritize posts that “spark conversations and meaningful interactions between people". Facebook also said: “Pages may see their reach, video watch time and referral traffic decrease. The impact will vary from Page to Page, driven by factors including the type of content they produce and how people interact with it. Pages making posts that people generally don’t react to or comment on could see the biggest decreases in distribution. Pages whose posts prompt conversations between friends will see less of an effect.” What to do now? 1) Keep the conversation going. If your objective is engagement and your page regularly gets comments, reactions, and shares – keep it up, you will probably not see too much change. 2) Try to increase engagement. If your posts normally don't get reactions or comments, you could try asking more questions, running a quiz, contest or sharing live video. OR 3) Put a minimal amount of effort into the page, just enough to let visitors know you are still in business and go on to #3. 4) Diversify your efforts. Look at the other social media platforms; put more effort into those that appeal best to your target audience. 5) Explore other methods to promote your business. There are many ways to market; you may have options that have gotten overshadowed by social media. Going through the market planning process can help you find new options and focus your promotional efforts. Thanks for reading! Contact us to schedule a free consultation. |
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