Planning an event? A great idea is half the battle—but you still need to execute it brilliantly to turn your audience into fans. Here are our three guiding principles.
1. Keep the customer’s journey top of mind.
As you prepare for events, both live and virtual, you should consider the customer and payoff. Map the customer journey, making sure the click paths are easy and intuitive.
Also think about where the event falls in this journey and how that impacts the execution. For example, beginning with an experiential pop-up in a mall could serve as an initial awareness tactic. From there, other tactics would nurture the attendees through social media and email campaigns, ultimately ending in an online event or sale.
In addition, make sure the customer has multiple paths to the event’s content. It’s important to think across the company and integrate the content with other products, services, or groups as appropriate.
2. Take a holistic approach.
Events are a lot of effort, and you want to make sure you get the most out of your work. To do that, it’s vital to adopt a holistic approach.
Think through your marketing strategy before, during, and after the event. For example, how will you generate buzz and build awareness on social media and your blog leading up to the event? How will you leverage the content after the event to connect with people who couldn’t attend? How will you continue your relationship with attendees?
Use your experience and past insights to inform your steps. With a holistic approach, the end result is a well-thought-out integrated marketing plan.
3. Know the devil is in the details.
Account for every detail and contingency in your planning. (Again, experience is key here.) Communicate to make sure no detail is left undone. Tracking sheets, project management tools such as Asana, and a run of show are crucial to keep everything in order.
We track down to the minute for day-of-event planning. Without this level of planning, we never would have pulled off our Murder on the Orient Express chocolate train being showcased at the premiere then moved to St. Pancras on the same night. It may seem like overkill, but this attention to detail is what makes the difference between chaos and a seamless experience.
Events have a lot of moving parts. Experience is crucial. If you’d like help, we have the resources you need. Just reach out.