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16 HELPFUL HINTS AND MISTAKES TO AVOID WHEN PLANNING EVENTSAs more corporations hear of the powerful benefits of event marketing even more get burned by common mistakes made by poor planning and lack of expertise. Trade magazines lure companies with sexy buzz words, seminars show you how it drives sales, and finally your boss notices your competition is doing it and taking your market share! Experiential marketing is the most efficient marketing method to change or reinforce the trigger behavior of any target market...and it is also the hardest to plan. From employee/client appreciation events, and conventions to sponsored events and product expos and demonstrations, properly planned and managed experience marketing will provide you with the personal and emotional contact you want to drive sales and reinforce your brand. If you haven't had to explore this area of marketing yet, you will. And whether you hire a professional event marketing company or produce it in-house the following is a list of helpful hints and common mistakes: 1 PLANNING BY COMMITTEE: Diluted accountability and committee politics will always sabotage even the best event idea. Appoint one person or company responsible for management and have a well connected committee for grass-roots promotion. 2. LACK OF PURPOSE: An event for the sake of an event is a waste of time and money. Seen mostly in employee appreciation or client hospitality events, companies bring valuable people together for wine-tasting, baseball game or golf outing but no business gets accomplished. You wouldn't waste a client's time having a meeting with no purpose, why do it with an event? 3. MISSED SELLING OPPORTUNITIES: Client development events are treasure chests that are not usually opened. Multiply the number of clients in attendance by the amount of time it would take your sales people to visit each one and you'll be amazed at the number. You have them as your captive audience, you've fed them, bought them drinks, entertained them...now get your best spokesperson on stage and sell them!!! 4. WASTING MONEY: Due to lack of leverage, weddings and corporate events are two markets where hotels and convention centers make their most money. Get ready to pay full-price when you assign in-house staff to produce an event. Professional event planners have send out multiple proposal requests and usually has great leverage with the local site and can work "inside deals" when it comes to your event. 5. NOT MAKING IT AN "EXPERIENCE": Make the event the marketing vehicle where your brand connects with the consumer. It is the difference that makes experiential marketing the most effective way of marketing and advertising. You experience the product, you touch it, smell it, sense it. You experience the benefits, and why you need it. Whether it is an orange, a Cadillac, or a law firm, marrying the product to the experience is a powerful way to shorten the purchasing decision timeframe. 6. NOT DOING THE RESEARCH: It is a dirty word that many people don't want to think about. Historically, companies would spend tens of thousands of dollars and get back a binder of averages, medians, pie charts, cross-tabulations, indexes and the worst moment comes research tells your something you don't want to hear. Often dismissed as being too expensive, market research has become quite affordable and easy to use through the basic internet applications. Not knowing, thinking, acting and trending like your target market is when any marketing effort becomes expensive. Before you plan any event marketing campaign, do the research and find out who you really need to reach and by what methods. 7.MEASURE YOUR ROI: You can't manage what you can't measure. Whether you sponsor a local community event or invest in a nationwide product launch, be sure have methodology in place to measure your return on investment. Know your goals and agree on how you will measure the event marketing efforts. 8. NOT SHARING THE COSTS: Event marketing can be expensive but you don't have to go it along. Many times you can team with a complimentary company or brand to co-op on your event. Peter Pan Peanut Butter & Smuckers; Hummer & Sunoco; or your office & your leading vendor. 9. POOR
PROMOTION: Once you are clear on your purpose, you can develop and spread the
message. By knowing your target market you can enlist many avenues of
advertising to get out your message. Be
unique and memorable in how you advertise. We are all bombarded with invitations
to events, classes, and seminars. Stand out, be bold, give your prospect the
benefit up front and then repeat it. Don't
be afraid to hire a graphic designer for an event image and have an independent
web-site designed for ease of communication. 10. POOR BUDGETING: The biggest mistake among non-professional event planners. There are so many decisions to be made and most of them come with a price tag, it is easy to see how many people get overwhelmed by the details. Be sure to brainstorm about exactly what you want the event to look like. Walk through it in your mind, make notes on what you need and what you envision. Then make a budget and stick to it. 11. NOT PRODUCING THE BEST: With the increased
commerce trade of
the internet and suburban sprawl, your local and regional companies are no longer
just competing with the company across town, but with other similar companies
hundreds, or sometimes, thousands of miles away.
Clients are also being marketed to by your competition and you and your events
are being compared to your competition's events.
Make sure your product is seen as the best. If you cannot ensure internal staff producing an event as good as your
"Big
12. POOR PLANNING: "It won't rain!"..."Only take half-a-box of sales brochures...," "Food allergies?...I don't believe in that.." Great last words of the people who think event planning is easy. Know who you are giving the event planning gun too...because it is your brand on the other end. 13. WRONG PERSON, 14. USING TRADITIONAL AGENCIES: If it can't be measured and bought by frequencies, rate cards, day-parts or call letters most traditional agencies will guide you away from it. When asked to put clients into "event marketing" many account reps call the TV and radio stations to see what promotions they may be running to tag the client onto it....is that Event Marketing? NO!! If you want to use your traditional ad agency ask the tough questions, require measurable ROI, and stay involved! 15. KEEP THE PROBLEMS BACKSTAGE: Every event has its unforeseen problems that no amount of planning can overcome. Mostly small, but sometimes big, these problems can live or die by the person handling the problem. Never let your guests see issues; if it is unavoidable resolve the issue as fast and discreetly as possible as it reflects directly on your company and your product. 16. DON'T LET THE 80/20 RULE HOLD YOUR EVENT ROI BACK: The business saying of 80% of your business comes from 20% of your customers can sometimes lull us unto a sense of security through familiarity when targeting event guests. It is easy to always invite your best and most loyal clients to your business development events. They will show up out of professional friendship, most of the time you already have an personal relationship, therefore your evening is spent socializing than selling. Unless a personnel change happens, these clients are loyal to your brand and your marketing dollar may be better spent elsewhere not selling those already sold. To really see tangible ROI, companies now invite select clients who are willing to attest to the benefits of the product as marketers sell to the prospective clients. It is this double team effort that makes the sales pitch all the more effective. We all have our comfort zone, but to really see growth companies always need to be feeding prospective clients into their network not always relying on the 20%! FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION OR PROJECT DEVELOPMENTCALL IMPACT717-571-7691 |
16 Hints and Common Mistakes when planning Events
Event & Photos
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