How to Plan a Successful Event in 6 Steps

The term event planning is used to describe the coordination of all details of a conference, exhibition, or party.

The more you pay attention to the details, then the better the chances of your event being successful.

This article presents the results of hundreds of events in six steps.

1. Brainstorming

What is the theme and content of this event?
Why Should the event take place?
When will the event take place?
Online or Offline, will the event take place?
Who will be the participants?
In what format and process will the event take place?
What is the event budget?

2. Plan your strategy

Confirm your goal or goals

Determining the ultimate goal or goals is important for any event.

All other details will be provided once this step is completed.

If a skincare company is attending an organic show, ” goals ” can include increasing awareness and generating sales for the new product.

The can include the following:

The number of fans on the fan page for a new product increases by 1,000.
The new product has received more than 10,000 interactions on social media.
The new product has been sold in more than 500 bottles.

Confirm your budget

The budget should be confirmed as soon as possible. Without it, many things could be hampered.

The more detail the budget, the better.

Included in the budget should be fees for venue, staff, marketing, transport, miscellaneous costs, etc.

Remember to set aside 20% of your budget for contingencies.

Confirm the time, location, or online event platform

Online and offline events are both types of events.

It is important that you choose a time and place for offline events, particularly if the venue is large.

The cost of an event is affected by the date. For example, many venues charge more during holidays than non-holidays.

It is important that you select the right online event platform for events.

The most important factors to consider when choosing a platform are its reliability, image quality and the time limit for a single event, as well as its capacity limits, customer support etc.

We don’t want to interrupt the event halfway and ruin everyone’s excitement.

Managing an event team

Event success is dependent on the event team.

A clear job description and effective management is VERY important.

The event team can be divided up into five different roles.

Planning and Administration This is the job of the project manager. He or she is responsible for the whole project, the budget, and the procurement.
Equipment & Logistics This role is responsible to provide overall logistical support from venue layout, equipment arrangements and catering for all staff.
Technical Support The technical team’s responsibility is to set up stable networks, test all equipment and fix temporary problems quickly.
Marketing: The team is responsible for ensuring that participants are provided with the right information about events, such as timetables and maps, speaker’s manuals, etc.
Sponsorship and Public Relations The PR team must have good social skills in order to maintain relationships and find sponsors.

Many details need to be confirmed and followed up during event management. There are many tools for event management that can help teams better understand their goals and finish the task.

Create an event plan

A draft event plan will help the team better understand the event and assign tasks. It can also be used by the PR team to get sponsorship.

An event plan that is detailed should include these elements.

Objectives
Time is a factor.
The Venue
The Agenda
Speaker and Guest introduction
Promotion Plan
Sponsorship Plan
Registration Management (Registration software, Payment methods, tracking, on-site sign-in, etc.).
Catering Arrangements
Team Work Assignment, etc.

Confirmation of Speakers and Sponsors

Speakers and sponsors are often invited to large events.

Speakers Experts on the topic of your event can help you attract more attendees.
Sponsors : Sponsorship can balance out the costs of an event and make it easier to achieve the ROI (return-on-investment) target.
But attracting sponsors is more complicated than just networking. Data must be used in order to convince sponsors.

A milk powder company, for example, plans to host a large lecture on maternity with over a thousand mothers in attendance and hopes to receive some sponsorship.

It can now look for baby product manufacturers and ask them to sponsor the event or provide gifts.

3. Branding and marketing

The main challenge of organizing an event, is to make it stand out from the crowd.

The success of the event depends on how you create a brand for the event.

Here are some tips to help you build your brand:

Event Title: This is the name of the event that will be displayed to potential attendees. It should reflect the theme and vision for the event. The event name should be easy to say and remember.

If you can, come up with a slogan that is short.

Event Logo: Creating a unique event logo will enhance its impact.
Consistent Branding Elements: Use the same event name and logo on all marketing materials, including tickets, websites, social media, emails, and other forms of communication, in order to improve the memory of the consumer.

The two concepts of branding and marketing have a close relationship.
Marketing large events begins 3 to 6 months in advance.

There are 3 steps to follow when drafting a strategy for marketing.

Research the market and set goals: Market research will help you better understand your audience and competitors, and then set event goals.
Develop marketing strategy: Marketing Strategies can be developed using the results of market analysis.
Implement marketing strategy: methods used for event marketing are: early bird activities (early bird marketing), email marketing, social marketing, content marketing and online ads.

4. Rehearsing

Before EVERY event, rehearsals must be held.

Rehearsals should be in detail. This includes things like handing the microphone to the speaker, and walking onto and off of the stage.

It is important to include the entire team of speakers, the host and the event team in the rehearsal. You can also have someone act as the audience, to simulate the event.

Benefits of rehearsals include

How to avoid technical problems?
Reducing speakers’ anxiety More rehearsals will make them more relaxed and confident on stage
Control Time After rehearsals, you may find that the actual event time differs from what was expected.

Online events require more rehearsals because interruptions can cause audiences to leave.

5. Executing and recording

It is essential that all participants have a clear schedule on the day of the event.

It is also a good idea to make sure that you check certain items at least 48 hours in advance.

Remind attendees by email
Contact the media
Rehearse and check the location.
Prepare a room to be used as a command center.
Make sure you check the weather forecast before making any preparations.
Make sure that all team members are aware of the event’s content.
Check your logistics.
Contact the speakers and guests.
Please check the list of events carefully.
Charge and test all technical equipment.
Prepare a collection of everyday items (spare pens and highlighter pens as well as papers, chargers and extension cords).
Prepare relevant document packages (PR documents, event itinerary, etc. ).
Bring an extra set of clothes in case you need to change your outfit.
Rest time is important.

It is also a good idea to have someone take pictures, videos and record the event.

6. Evaluating

Evaluation is the last step in planning an event.

You can evaluate the event’s outcome in a number of ways.

Achieving goals: Checking whether the goals have been achieved
Data analysis: For offline events, data includes how many tickets have been sold, event revenue, number of potential clients, number of transactions, return on investment, etc.
Online events will have more data, such as how many people attended, event revenue, what page attendees most clicked on, engagement rate, bounce rate, etc.
Questionnaire survey: A questionnaire survey can be used to gauge the satisfaction of attendees.
These surveys can serve as a guide for improving future events.
Comments by attendees: You can find comments made by attendees on social media and event websites. These are often more genuine.
Sponsor feedback: You can use the feedback of sponsors to determine if the event met the expectations of the sponsor and then record it for future sponsorship.

Conclusion

The event planning process includes a variety of topics, such as venue selection, budgeting, invitations to guests, decoration at the venue, equipment arrangements, and planning for the event itself.