A lot goes into every event, regardless of its type, size, or purpose. Therefore, the success of any event depends on your event management strategy. Why strategy, though? Because every event is different, there are no rules or standards you can follow to make it a success. So it’s imperative to devise a strategy first.
It takes a lot of effort to make any event memorable. Moreover, you must make contingency plans, should things not go your way. Competent event managers also take advantage of technology to plan, strategize, and implement smoothly.
Why Should You Consider Refreshing Your Event Management Strategy?
As an event management company, you probably already have a strategy to handle event organization for various events. However, it’s a good idea to optimize your strategy to make it more flexible and adaptable. After all, flexibility is the name of the game in event management.
Particularly if you’re facing problems frequently with your events, perhaps it’s time to revamp your event strategy. For instance, if you’re overspending on most events, your budget strategy isn’t working. This is a common problem for event managers.
Similarly, if the attendees are not satisfied or your customers are not returning for other events, it’s worth taking a step back to see if your event strategy is strong enough.
Furthermore, the event management industry is highly competitive. Allied Market Research estimates that the event management industry will reach $1.55 trillion by 2028, so you’ll need to refresh your strategy to stay ahead of the competition.
How to Improve Your Event Strategy
Want to know how to improve your event management? Simply enhance your event strategy. This will have a domino effect on all the outcomes, as a robust strategy will result in a strong event, resulting in more clients and higher revenue.
Here are seven impactful tips that can improve your event management strategy.
1. Consider Investing in Event Management Solutions
With a million things on your to-do list, you need some automation to streamline tasks and processes. For that, you should invest in reliable event management software.
However, don’t just buy the first event management solution you see. Instead, take time to analyze whether it suits your specific business needs. Although many event managers are jacks-of-all-trades, some focus on niche events (for example, concert organizers or wedding planners). So the bottom line is that the solution should fit with the kinds of events you’re frequently organizing.
To assess the software, look at its features. Would those features help you manage the many tasks you have?
Similarly, if you already use other tools, it would be helpful if those could be integrated with the event management solution you’re looking at.
There are numerous benefits to using such a solution: You can speed up trivial tasks, keep records, delegate duties, and automate processes like sending invites or selling tickets.
2. Create a Measurable Event Goal Before Planning
Creating quantifiable goals makes it a little easier to achieve them. So for every event, create one or multiple goals before you even begin to plan.
As an event manager, this should be the first thing you discuss with your clients. Once you’ve set the goals, you can base your entire strategy on those goals. In other words, your event strategy depends on your event goals.
The best practice is to write down those objectives. For example, you’re organizing a fundraiser to raise a million dollars. The main goal would be to increase that amount. However, you can create different objectives to reach that goal — for instance, determining the number of tickets you would need to sell to generate that amount of money.
Ultimately, your clients decide the goals. However, based on their goals, you need to develop your own measurable and achievable objectives.
3. Identify Prospective Attendees and Your Event Budget
Events have multiple stakeholders, including attendees. While one party is throwing the event, it’s essentially being thrown for the attendees. Therefore, identifying prospective attendees and understanding their profiles should be essential to your strategic plan.
Similarly, budgeting is a crucial part of the plan. It’s easier to go over than under when it comes to event budgets. You’ll need to set aside a budget for the event and add the costs of your services.
As for the prospective attendees, you need to ask questions such as:
- What age group do they belong to?
- What would be the gender ratio at the event?
- What professions does the audience belong to?
- Are there any cultural sensitivities to be aware of?
- How tech-savvy are they?
- How are they likely to get to the venue?
Of course, these questions will vary based on the event’s scope.
As for the budget, create a detailed plan allocating resources to high-priority tasks first. A good practice is to budget the event based on the cost per attendee. That way, you can ensure the budget covers all attendees.
Event management software will make budget management easy.
4. Choose the Type of Event That Best Aligns With the Target Audience
Once you’ve identified the event’s target audience, choose the event type according to the audience’s persona. Since there are many event types to choose from, basing your selection on the attendees is the best strategy.
In many cases, event managers might not have the flexibility to choose the type of event. However, when you have the liberty to design the event from scratch, it’s best to consider who will be in attendance and what for.
For instance, hybrid events are becoming increasingly popular as they allow even remote attendees to participate virtually. This kind of event can be a great option for conferences, social gatherings, or town halls.
If you have creative freedom, you can choose the event’s theme according to the attendees. That theme, in turn, will guide critical things like decor, food, and activities.
5. Organize Your Event on the Appropriate Event Platform
For virtual events, choosing the right event platform is the first order of business and a key part of your strategic event management. Thanks to the growing need for and popularity of virtual events, the number of digital event platforms you can choose from is increasing. But having more choices isn’t always a good thing.
Revisit the goals you have set for the event and the attendee profile you have created before choosing the event platform. For example, a meeting platform that’s technically advanced may not be a good choice for attendees who aren’t well-versed in technology.
Similarly, if the virtual event is big, you would want a platform that can handle the high number of attendees without causing technical glitches.
Event management software that can integrate with streaming applications can be a great option for a virtual event platform. Then, whether or not the event is entirely virtual, you can stream it live to your audience and increase your virtual attendance numbers.
6. Develop an Event Marketing Plan Within Your Marketing Budget
A significant part of your event budget would go toward marketing, so you need to strategize over how you will market the event to the prospective audience. Even if the event doesn’t need to attract attendees (i.e., the event isn’t ticketed), it would still be beneficial to market it for both the event hosts and the event managers.
Once you’ve allocated funds for marketing the event, it’s time to create a marketing plan. Your marketing team will be responsible for creating the marketing material and deciding which marketing channels to use. Choosing the proper channels is essential.
Again, it’s recommended to base your selection on the event type and event audience.
7. Send Out Surveys to Measure Attendee Satisfaction
Make event analysis a key element of your overall business strategy. Post-event surveys can help you measure attendee satisfaction. More importantly, the survey responses can help you identify where you can improve your event management.
While there are several ways to collect feedback, online surveys remain the most effective tool. They’re even more popular with virtual event organizers, as 90% use them to measure attendee satisfaction.
The good news is that you can use several high-quality survey tools to create a post-event analysis survey and send it to attendees.
Develop a Successful Event Strategy Using Event Management Technology
Whether you’re organizing a physical, virtual, or hybrid event, you need a reliable event management solution. Events.com’s event management software contains all the tools you’ll need to organize a successful event within your budget.
From creating landing pages for future events to managing ticket sales, Events.com is a one-stop solution for event planners and managers, helping to streamline critical processes and delegate tasks. But that’s not all, as the software comes with powerful analytics that can help you improve your event management strategy and grow your business. With a mobile app, you can manage event-day duties on the go and at the venue. At Events.com, the goal is to empower event organizers with technology so they can focus on the big picture. Take advantage of Events.com’s event management solution today to make sure your next event is a hit.
