5 Tips for Small Business Event Organizing
A prerequisite for having a prosperous business is being social. Companies that are for-profit must be for-people before anything else. Being a host of an event at your company is an effective way to increase brand awareness and exposure to new clients.
There are many types of events, from small events that are happening in the local café to big luxury gala charities. Managing all these different kinds of events requires an adaptive approach and a flexible plan.
These next few tips will help you to better prepare for organizing such events.
Define your event goals and purpose
The first step. Determine what you are trying to accomplish and what message are you conveying with this event. Is it about expressing gratitude toward business partners, or sharing knowledge? Is it a charity or a fundraising event? For instance, if its main goal is to drive sales, there will a specific function of that event that introduces and tries to soft-sell a product or a service, like the Maserati events we talked about earlier.
Ultimately, all of this will point you toward the final format of the event – role distribution within the event’s team, the layout of the hall, timing and duration, catering and sound.
Make the event appealing to your target audience
When thinking about what to host, and how to host it, think about the age, gender, education, behaviors, problems, and interests of your targeted consumer base. You need to appeal to your audience and make the event about them. If they’re older and traditional, organize something more suited for their needs such as a cocktail-night or small gala event. The younger audience will want more of a lively and chaotic party.
Maserati, an auto-company in NY, has a great way of doing this – as a result, it sells five cars in each event. The company has over the years created philanthropic events such as private charity brunches that displayed the latest car models from Ferrari to Maserati but also offered its guests finest champagne, spirits and cuisine and other luxurious products and activities. Proceedings from car sales went to charity services, which appealed to its targeted demographics in the best possible way. Why? Because having a luxury car is a sure sign of being rich but doing charity work is an even greater sign of being rich for the NY rich community.
Be detail-oriented
Sherlock Holmes, the most famous literary detective, solves every case not by using extraordinary intelligence, but by paying attention to every detail. Focus on building a truly memorable event for your customers by planning everything down to the smallest detail. Ask yourself what music will be playing, how to do proper registration, how will the presentations happen, what will the dress code be etc.
Make all of these details significant and unique. For example, give out promotional lanyards, pencils and sweat hoods with your brand image to increase brand awareness or choose distinct food and décor that showcases what makes your business unique and different from others in the niche. Or, during registration, clients can be offered a chance of playing retro arcade games or attending a brief master class.
Exceeding expectations and making the ordinary thing seem significant creates that elusive ‘feel’ of an event that makes it original and memorable.
Location is everything
And this doesn’t apply to real estate agents only. The location has critical importance for organizing a great event, as we all know how location affects us emotionally and psychologically. When searching for the right location, go back to the purpose of your event. For example, if you are having a workshop event, a location of proper size that allows cooperation of guests will suit it best. While an all-day conference will do just fine in a congress center.
Search for a place that suits the travel needs of your target audience, for a big turnout, while also keeping in mind the format of the event. Do not approach the pitfall of organizing the events in the same locations over and over. Humans are creatures of habits, and far too often we allow our previous choices to guide us. Make the conscious effort of choosing a new location, one that will emphasize the purpose of the event, instead of boring your audience with the same conference halls and ballrooms over and over again.
Spread the word
Successful events are successfully promoted in advance. Just keep up to the promises you made, unless you want to organize another disaster, like the now-famous Fyre Festival. Again, keep in mind the target audience, the format of the event, and other resources and budget when choosing the type of marketing format. This is especially true when it comes to choosing the media partners and your target audience. Don’t talk about the event to everyone, but talk effectively to the right people. Remember what message you are trying to convey with your event, and let it be the core of your marketing efforts.
In the end, remember to relax and have fun. All these events are just about that, relaxing and enjoying a good time amongst friends, a well-deserved respite from all our problems.