Identifying your event’s purpose is the first step in the planning process. It will help direct content, speakers, and even the venue.
Determine if you’re hosting an in-person or virtual event, and whether it will be for internal or external audiences. These determinations will impact all aspects of your event’s planning and execution.
Identify Your Purpose
Although no two events are exactly the same, there are some general steps you can follow to help make your event a success. Start with identifying your purpose and the specific objectives you want to achieve.
Your goals will determine how you plan, market and execute your event. They may be to generate leads, increase brand awareness or publicize a new product.
Define Your Target Audience
Identifying the target audience is an important step in event planning. If you have organized events before, consider analyzing past attendee data to understand what types of people are interested in your event and how they may be best reached through marketing campaigns.
Once you know your target audience, you can tailor your event to suit their needs. This will help build a strong community of attendees and stakeholders.
Create a Project Timeline
A project timeline relays important task details at a glance and allows teams to track progress. It also makes it easy to make changes.
Whether you’re planning an in-person, virtual or webinar event, you can streamline your process and improve accountability with Float project management software. Get started with a free trial. It’s simple to use and integrates seamlessly with your favorite tools.
Select a Theme or Concept
A well-chosen theme or concept will help you align the event’s objectives, activities, and attendees. This will guide the development of all event elements, including decorations, music, and entertainment.
Tiered ticketing is an effective way to generate revenue for events, but there are many other ways to monetize your event. We’ll explore those strategies in greater detail later on this event planner guide.
Select Appropriate Music & Entertainment
You’ll want to select music that reflects the theme you’ve selected and will create an atmosphere your guests will enjoy. Avoid lyrical selections that are inappropriate for the event or may offend your audience, such as songs that contain explicit content. This could leave your attendees feeling uncomfortable, even if they like the song otherwise. Also, consider the genre of the music you’re considering.
Prepare a Contingency Plan
You must consider everything that could go wrong with your project and develop strategies for overcoming these challenges. It is also important to regularly review your contingency plan.
The best way to do this is by using a visual whiteboard tool like ClickUp that allows everyone on your team to collaborate in real-time. This will ensure that the right people are aware of their responsibilities and protocols in case something goes wrong.
Develop a List of Sponsors
Start by considering the potential companies and people who could sponsor your event. Remember that sponsors are businesses who want a return on their investment.
Identify the goals and preliminary project scope to frame your proposal. Be sure to include the event budget. Provide your prospect with clear ROI metrics that can be collected through the event app. This saves you time and gives sponsors confidence they’ll be getting their money’s worth.
Create a Marketing Plan
It is important to begin building out goals and a preliminary project scope early in the event planning process. This enables you to frame the event for a better outcome, like driving new business, supporting a product launch or increasing customer engagement.
This also gives you a chance to delegate responsibilities so that no one person is overworked on event day. This is especially true with in-person events.
Select a Venue
Once you’ve identified your goals and preliminary project scope, it’s time to select a venue. This step is crucial because it lays the foundation for many other aspects of your event.
Consider things like capacity, meeting room sizes and accessibility. It’s also a good idea to start the process as early as possible to ensure availability and prevent scheduling conflicts. Often, venues book up quickly.