Are you considering running an event to promote your business, say thank you to your clients or even celebrate something special with your team? If so, check out our handy list of tips to help you make it one to remember!
We help a range of clients with their event management needs, and we are always happy to share our knowledge, experience and advice. We recently managed an event for Mploy Staffing Solutions as they wanted to celebrate a fantastic set of achievements including being in business for 16 years, achieving Gold Investors In People, a new head office, a range of new client wins AND several members of their team receiving long service awards!
We love event management, but the devil is in the planning. 90% of the work happens in the 3-5 months in the lead up to any event, so today we thought we’d share with you our Top Tips for excellent event planning:
1: Write a clear strategy for your event – before you do anything, consider your desired outcome; sales, awareness, engagement? Really think about your target audience and why they will attend.
2: Set your budget, and add 30% – it is very easy to spend far too much on an event. Depending on your desired return, set a budget from the outset that can be controlled. Add a contingency as there will always be a few things you forget to cost, or ideas that spring up whilst planning.
3: Create a timeline of every little detail – give yourself at least 3 months for any event planning, and create a timeline for ensuring every task is managed. Just ask us if you’d like a template!
4: Identify your attendees, and do personal invites – it’s important you ask the right people to your event within plenty of time The best attendance comes from a mix of personal invitations from the director of the business or event host and interesting reminders that act as teasers for reasons to attend.
5: Consider sponsorship or partners – if cost is an issue, event sponsorship is an option. For the Insurance Institute Annual Dinners we organise, this has been the difference between a meal and speaker, and a meal, speaker, after dinner entertainment and a free bar… Every little helps!
6: Choose your venue and timings with attendees in mind – don’t plan your event to suit you, plan it to suit your attendees. There are so many great venues, be sure to choose one that cares about the success of your event and the happiness of your guests.
7: Create exceptional marketing materials – seems obvious, but often overlooked. You need a set of event marketing materials, not just one invitation. It’s important to consider email, letters, social media, web content and even verbal event descriptions in order to get people really interested in what you are doing.
If you are hosting an event soon, you may find our Event Planning Checklist really handy – click here to download.
Happy event planning!
