Ultimate Guide on How To Plan an Event

Are you ready to offer your insights, services, and products to a craving audience? Did you find some juicy idea that will pull the kind of attention that is going to make you a billionaire?

Well then, you need only follow this ultimate guide on how to plan an event.

Why Follow The Ultimate Guide on How To Plan an Event

Simply put, most businesses are blind. They operate tactically on the single problem at hand but have no idea how to function strategically. Your event can change that, but it should not suffer from the same fatal flaw of having no plan or structure.

Understanding the overarching strategy will put you in the driver’s seat of a powerful machine. But no matter how good you are at presenting your content and gliding around every objection, you can always crash and burn.

This ultimate guide on how to plan an event is as much about achieving success as it is about avoiding different kinds of issues.

1. Define The Event Goal

Can you explain the vision of where you want your attendees to go and what value do you want to bring to their businesses or careers? If not, you need to define the event goal down to the finest details.

A good starting point is to work on an Elevator Pitch. In other words, work on introducing your organisation, job, and expertise.

Set realistic expectations for your audience. Above all, choose goals you can measure. The results you achieve will come in handy in later events.

2. Eliminate All Minor Secondary Efforts

Who do you need to involve to make your event run smoothly? Here are some profiles to consider:

• lecturers
• marketers
• volunteers
• web designers

Send emails and connect with your guests and panellists early. You can also save some money and time by relying on software that sets everything up for you. There is a solid quantity of tasks you can skip thanks to virtual event management platforms like Eventtia?

3. Give People Roles

Unless you are doing it all by yourself, assign your collaborators and volunteers roles. Better yet, give them some rules.

Roles help everyone come back to their core emotional state. You see, running an event can be a stressful activity. But as long as people do what they like to do (and just that), everyone will grow with the challenge.

Organise your volunteers in groups and have leaders report to you. For better management, have a recruiter instruct them on what to do. (Volunteers are great for keeping the event avenue in check or moving equipment.)

4. Get As Many Alternatives As You Can

What will you do if your budget gets cut by an unforeseen problem? According to our ultimate guide on how to plan an event, you should build in flexibility and have cheaper alternatives on hand at all times.

Of course, every industry is different. But reacting to market information plays a vital part in the success of an event. So, keep getting data on your audience and niche until the last day. Be ready to change your plan at the last minute because your plan may not unfold as you laid it out on paper.

5. Schedule All Your Meetings

By now, you should have a date for your event. If not for every event that will touch upon the same topic in the next month or so.

What will you focus on in the time between now and the event date? Be sure to focus on tasks you can control, like improving your wellbeing and relationships, too!

Get plenty of sleep and have a regular sleep schedule during the week that precedes the event. Most hosts forget to take care of themselves and ruin their chances because they were not at their best.

6. Track The Expenses

How much money are you spending on ads? Did you buy branded items, banners, and merchandise to give out during the event? Have you ordered the best gear for your virtual event?

Spending all your money on marketing is a big gamble. So, you had better spend some on research, development, and testing of different tools and techniques.

A good rule of thumb is to spend enough money to differentiate yourself. But not so much that you cannot jump on a new opportunity to grow your business.

7. Handle Ticketing And Customer Support

Your attendees need to go through a simple process:

1. Registration on the event page
2. Get their tickets
3. Receive notifications, information, and support
4. Show up at the right time

The question is how they will do each step. If you have not picked software to handle ticketing and attendance, you may want to hire a specialist.

For the best results, create a calendar that clearly shows the date and hour of your event(s). Have attendees receive a link to an updated page with the latest news. Also, think about how you will handle refunds and second thoughts.

8. Find Sponsors

Sponsors are companies that would benefit from appearing in your show. So, can you think of any business that may find your event profitable for them? After all, you will provide a list of attendees.

If you can gather enough people for your event, make sure to let other companies know. They may come up with ideas to promote their services as well. In return, you can get lecturers or sponsorship deals for direct advertising.

Personality sells. Influencers know that. But could an influencer take part in your event? If so, you have another way to get more people at your fingertips.

9. Go Easy On Brand Blasting

Brand blasting only works when everything is set and ready. Rather than flood your social media, use your metrics to shape your marketing campaign.

If this is your first time, here are valuable tips:

• Associate your brand with the attendees’ benefits. In brief, tell them what they will get and how fast they can implement the changes.
• Create an affiliate program to have more people promoting your event. On average, a post about making money attracts more active people than curious onlookers.
• Share your belief to gain trust. Of course, you will repel some people, but you only need to focus on an audience at the time: the one who is ready to pay for your event or products.
• Strategic alliances with other companies for promoting your event only work if you can monitor the daily results. Otherwise, you will be working for them with little returns.

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