Anyone who has ever organized professional events knows this: a lack of preparation and organization upstream can result in a lot of mistakes, a loss of time and even money. Hence, good preparation is necessary to define the ins and outs of an event, whether it's virtual or face-to-face.
First of all, you have to define the main objective for organizing such an event: is it to launch and communicate about a new product or new feature? Is it to reinforce your brand's branding? Is it to meet the users of your solutions? Would you like to meet future investors? Whatever the goal, you have to define the "WHY" of your event, which will help you to keep the event on track. But beyond the "why", which will form the basis of your reflection, the second step will be to consider the organization of the event itself. The questions are as follows:
How and What
here, you need to define the nature of the event. The event can be physical (during a trade show, or at a venue that you have privatized for the occasion) or virtual (webinar, for instance). Of course, the logistics won't be the same and the expectations will be different as well. Bear in mind that for a physical event, you need to set the mood: do you want a professional atmosphere? Festive? This will of course depend on the main theme of the event but also potentially on the target guests, which brings us to the "Who" question.
Who
events aren't necessarily aimed at attracting the entire population, so you need to focus on prime targets who are likely to be interested in your value propositions. In addition, the nature of the event and the way you organize it will change depending on the target audience: you won't attract students looking for an internship in the same way as nuclear safety experts. In fact, each event is unique, since the same company may very well participate in different trade shows, in some cases to attract talent and in others to generate leads and potential customers!
When
timing is crucial; when would you like to hold the event? And going a step further, what is the duration of your event (or participation in your trade show)?
Where
Depending on the type of market you're addressing, you also need to decide where your event will be held, geographically. Are you organizing a regional or national event? Once this question has been addressed, decide where, specifically: which venue? Do you require a small space, a large room, or do you need to privatize a restaurant, or even an entire exhibition centre? Of course, this will depend on your final expectations as well as your budget.
And before?
Your goal is also to demonstrate your know-how, but you have to inform people! What communication strategies will you use to let the target audience know that you are organizing an event? Do you have to post on LinkedIn or Instagram? Do you have to prepare personalized invitations to people to invite them to attend? Again, this will depend on the desired type of audience and the estimated number of people for the event: Some events are "bigger" while others are smaller, with fewer but more qualitative guests. Depending on these parameters and the sector of activity in which you operate, it's up to you to define what type of invitation or communication strategy is best for an event. Because in addition to organizational issues, the "business" side must also be taken into account.
The budget
define your budget as well as the expenses, some of which aren't immediately visible! These budgets are related to booking the space, but also to the documents and other goodies that you'll bring on the day. This may also include equipment, furniture or even time and materials devoted to cleaning if you're fully responsible for the event at the venue. The budget also indirectly includes all the people, often employees of your company, who will be present during the event. These people must have the right profile so that their time can be used effectively at the event. In addition, the budgets will also include travel expenses, food expenses, hotel expenses and unforeseen expenses (estimate between 10 and 15% of the total budget) that must be anticipated.
Return on Investment
marketing teams spend money to ensure your teams organize successful events, so the goal is to have an interesting ROI! Before launching the event, you need to know exactly: what your expectations are in terms of figures: number of leads, number of appointments obtained, number of products sold, sales pipeline volume, etc. To do this, you can define SMART objectives:
- Specific: clear and precise objectives.
- Measurable: or quantifiable, linked to KPIs that allow you to assess the achievement of your objectives in real time.
- Achievable: difficult but realistic goals so as not to discourage your troops!
- Relevant: the objective of your event should be in line with your company strategy.
- Time-based goals: they are defined in time and respect a deadline and a limited duration: very often, an event lasts only a few hours or a few days!
And what about the administrative side of things?
The administrative aspect is very important and probably the most frightening. Nevertheless, it's crucial. Depending on the type of event, be sure to check the necessary and prior authorizations: administrative, of course, but also those related to safety instructions, to your participants' role (volunteers? employees? specific remuneration if the event is held at the weekend? etc.), or those related to the standards to be respected and insurance.
As you'll have understood, an event, whether virtual or physical, organized entirely by your teams or dependent on a trade show, always requires a significant amount of work upstream to ensure its success. In order to facilitate the administrative aspects and to accelerate venue booking for events.