Your event should generate good will, excitement and enthusiasm about your company. Use it as an opportunity to grow your business and build stronger relationships with your clients.

Events – no matter how big or small – are powerful marketing tools to build awareness and gain publicity. But event planning is not an easy feat…alone. With a team of dedicated individuals and the right tools to help you, however, it can turn the entire experience into the most life-changing and memorable part of your marketing career.

We’ve prepared some event planning essentials to help you out:

1. Initial Considerations / Event Scope

The first step to event planning is to define your basic parameters. First, think about the event overview and scope, such as:

• Type of event
• Objectives
• Target audience
• Intended message
• Benchmark and measures of success

Keep in mind that your event should generate good will, excitement and enthusiasm about your company. Use it as an opportunity to grow your business and build stronger relationships with your clients.

2. Event Task Checklist

Once you have all your initial considerations figured out, it’s time to get planning. Develop a to-do list that provides a clear step-by-step guide to organising and executing the event. Your checklist should include important information like deadline, task details, assignee, etc.

3. Budget

This will serve as the blueprint for your event. It should be as specific as possible; and includes both expenses (e.g. prints, F&B, entertainment, insurance, etc.) and revenue opportunities (e.g. sponsorships, donations, ticket sales, etc.). As it is not uncommon for unexpected circumstances to occur at events, it is crucial to make sure you plan ahead, and record all income and expenses diligently. This is to ensure that you do not spend beyond the allocated budget.

4. Event Specifications

Based on your budget, everything you decide in this stage – from location to the catering – is critical for your event success. Here’s a list of specifications to consider:

• Venue – Choosing a venue is more than just selecting an available room. There are many more factors that come into play, such as expected number of attendees, room capacity, ambience, indoor vs. outdoor, etc.
• Facilities – What are the facilities provided (e.g. ramps/elevators, parking, accommodation, etc.)? Are you expecting special needs guests?
• Catering – The food you serve should align with the type of event you host. For instance, buffet is best for networking events as it encourages your guests to walk around and get to know people; whereas an eight-course Chinese dinner is most common for a company annual dinner.
• Entertainer – Whats an event without entertainment? Here are some factors to consider: agent/manager of entertainer, special technical requirements for their performance, hotel/transportation arrangements, etc.
• Set-up and equipment – Your event ambience and mood depends heavily on the set-up. Think about how you want your audience to feel when attending your event before planning the staging set-up and requirements.

5. Marketing

Event marketing creates great publicity. Depending on your target audience, there are many different inexpensive ways of promoting your event and spreading the word, be it online or offline. For instance, millennials are mostly on Instagram as professionals on LinkedIn. However, if you have a wider range of target audience with different age groups and profession, Facebook may be more ideal in this case; as it is the world’s biggest social media platform with over 2.13 billion active users monthly (Source: Zephoria). For more strategies and ideas on event marketing, visit our blog here.

6. Event Itinerary

Events go haywire if not for a proper itinerary to guide the flow. Make sure you have all the programmes organised before inviting your guests. This not only helps your event run according to plan; but also sets the expectations right for your guests. Don’t have your guests caught off guard or have them guessing what time the event will end. Having the itinerary lets them know whats coming up next and what to anticipate.

7. Post Event Evaluation

One of the most underrated, yet crucial part of event planning is the evaluation process. It helps planners know if their event is a flop or a success. Here are a few indicators you can use as a guide to evaluate your event:

• Did you meet your objectives?
• Did you overspend?
• What are the positive outcomes?
• How about the negative outcomes?
• What are the feedback from the audience?
• How did the staffs and vendors perform?
• How does the event measure up against the benchmark?

Regardless of the type of event you host, make sure it celebrates your company in a meaningful and uniquely positive way. We’ve prepared some tools/templates to help with your planning. You can download it here.

If you need help with the design and printing of your event marketing collaterals, have a chat with us. Wed be happy to review your event and propose a plan that works in your favour.