Corporate events provide a meaningful way to connect with people and create long-lasting business relationships in an increasingly digital world. Planning a corporate event is necessary to build the credibility of an organization or a business.Â
It doesn’t matter if you’re hosting a 300-person product launch or a 15-person employee training, it’s imperative that you encompass all five elements of event management: research, design, planning, coordination, and evaluation. It is much easier to conceptualize an event once it has been broken down into manageable stages and to bring together all the moving parts needed to pull it off.
A brand message is marketed both internally and externally using a proper corporate event plan. If done correctly, it can be a straightforward way to improve a business while leaving a lasting impression on customers and clients. It can boost entrepreneurial confidence, increase brand awareness, and establish credibility in the industry as you achieve and sustain growth through it.Â
In this article, we will walk you through a guide to corporate event planning and provide some valuable tips for in-house event planners on how to bring your event vision to life.
Corporate Event Planning: The Step-by-Step Guide
Understand the purpose of your event
Your first step after deciding to host a corporate event is to identify the goals you hope to achieve. The success of an event can be ensured with a well-defined project plan template. With clearly outlined goals and objectives, you can formulate a focus strategy that will help you achieve your desired outcomes.Â
No matter what type of event it is, setting unambiguous goals will ensure a smooth-running event that achieves the desired result. The main focus should be the event attendees, so it is best to cater to their requirements and expectations. Create a list of the things that your attendees would expect to receive from your event and figure out how you can offer them an experience like none other.
Set Your Event Budget
It is important to set a budget for your event, whether you are new to corporate event planning or you are a seasoned professional. This will help you prepare for all costs while preventing going over budget.
After identifying the type of event you intend to organize, you can determine the overall budget you should allocate for it. Consider your available resources during the planning phase first.
You can also create a budget for your upcoming event based on the information from your past events. Check if there are any areas where you overspent or underspent. You can then sketch out a high-level event plan that includes event goals and basic logistics.
You can also include rough budget estimates. To gain a better understanding of the total expenses, list down your must-have elements like the venue, catering, food and beverage, transportation, speakers, and many more.
Decide On Your Audience
Find out more about your target audience to reach out to them and encourage them to participate. By gathering detailed information about your prospects, you will be able to promote your event more effectively.
Identifying an event’s target audience begins with defining your attendees’ persona profile. Characteristics and interests should be taken into consideration depending on the event type. In event marketing, some of the common characteristics are age, gender, occupation, geographic location, and technological knowledge.
Analyze your past attendees’ reports if you have organized similar events in the past. Finding out about your target demographic’s preferences, motivations, and actions can help you better target them.
Plan the Event Theme and Format
Event planners should develop a theme that aligns with the event objectives. It should reflect a goal or objective it aims to achieve and support the purpose.
Speakers and facilitators can gain better insight into the audience and their expectations by using themes. Additionally, they serve as a way for someone to speak the same language as the audience and have a better understanding of what they need in the industry.
The right theme can generate a buzz or build suspense for a social event. To encourage guests to share the event within their social circles, it is important to communicate effectively and plan exciting activities. Consequently, it can promote awareness and boost credibility, which will result in better marketing results. By using unique event decor and backdrops, you can encourage your guests to interact with each other and engage with the event theme.
A custom photo booth for your event will likely help your company reach its full growth potential because your guests will likely share it on their social media accounts while at the event or even afterwards.
Have a Smart Venue Sourcing
Choose a venue that is most convenient and appealing for your attendees. The choice of venue would, however, be different after COVID-19, due to the health priorities and safety measures.
Consider the number of attendees, the available space, and the seating capacity. For an in-person event, there may be a few attendees. As a result, more space per person will be needed than before to facilitate effective social distancing.
Make a list of all potential event venues and ask if they adhere to safety guidelines. Inquire about how they will set up the spaces to reduce the risk of infection.
Event food should also be a priority. Be sure to verify how the event venue will prepare and present meals, and what standards of hygiene will be observed. Consider seeking their assistance in adhering to strict social distancing and security during mealtimes during the event.
Arrange Event Logistics
The event logistics process entails the planning, controlling, and managing of the transportation, storage, and operations that are usually performed by the event organizer to ensure a smooth event.
Its main objective is to effectively plan an event, supervise all the participants, and have all the materials necessary for a successful event. The event logistics service also facilitates the management of external vendors and offers cost-effective planning, preparation, and execution of an event. Venue selection, transportation, accommodation, warehousing, distribution, and registration are all part of the event logistics services.
Develop a Great Event Marketing Plan
Developing a compelling event marketing strategy is essential if you want to build brand awareness, engage customers, and generate leads. Event marketers and planners develop effective strategies for promoting brands, products, or services either in-person or online. Additionally, event marketing can boost customer satisfaction, increase retention, and enhance engagement.
Organizing events makes it easier for your partners and sponsors to engage in ways that improve their return on investment. Companies may choose to participate as hosts, participants, or sponsors.
Encourage Attendee Engagement
Attendee engagement is crucial to the overall success of any event. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the normal flow of events, forcing event organizers to learn a new way of executing events and switch to virtual and hybrid formats.
As online audiences have short attention spans, they may not be able to concentrate more as they have more opportunities to “zone out” in front of their computers. Utilizing the best event technology tools and being more creative can help you create an event that will attract and hold people’s attention in a virtual setting.
In order to maximize event engagement, you need to plan an appealing and productive event online, assign a great event host, create exciting content, organize polls during events, conduct interactive quizzes, and leverage event gamification.
Make Use of Technology
You need to use a cutting-edge event management platform when planning a corporate event. Event management platforms allow you to keep track of projects, provide seamless onsite check-ins to attendees, and automate the entire registration and promotion process.
10Times, an all-in-one event management platform, allows attendees and members to engage, network, and receive important information with ease no matter where they are. Additionally, attendees can network more efficiently with the mobile app since they can exchange digital business cards and manage their contacts more easily.
Follow Up With Attendees
Once the event has ended, reach out once again to those involved and thank them for their efforts. Continue to build meaningful relationships by following up, saying thank you, and gathering feedback. It is highly recommended that you do it within 24 hours. Provide your social media links with the appropriate event hashtags and bring up a topic of conversation that you discussed during the event.
If you send an email or email campaign, you should follow up with email marketing and newsletters. To make others feel valued and appreciated, always offer help and provide more information about the event.
Conclusion
Launching a successful corporate event is simple and easy when you plan carefully. Although you may feel overwhelmed at times, if you carefully plan and consider your next steps, you can manage an event with ease and adhere to the objectives you’ve set.
If you are looking to increase participation and engagement at your next corporate event, contact us today to know more about our event management solutions.