The Remarkable Value of Effective Events
Tips for Planning Successful Business Events

By Leslie Vickrey, President & Founder, ClearEdge Marketing

One of the many great aspects of events is that they put the audience at the center of the action. Whether it’s a sporting event, lecture, concert, roundtable or conference, a good event will give attendees the feeling of being a part of something exciting. That kind of dynamic experience leaves a lasting impression and, when it’s positive, that impression is a valuable marketing commodity.

Business events do not need to be big, dazzling affairs in order to be successful. When well executed, a small informative roundtable or a brown-bag presentation during lunch can offer huge dividends in branding and lead generation. Marketplace credibility, increased name recognition and a new pool of business leads are just three of the many marketing results that come with a successful business event. In my numerous years of helping businesses deliver events that support business and marketing goals, I have learned three lessons in event success:

• When planning and promotion are outstanding, an event can almost run itself.
• Content matters. The topic or concept must be interesting and the presenter(s) must be informed as well as engaging.
• Consistent post-event follow-up efforts with attendees are vital to maximizing sales and marketing opportunities.

Company-run events are an excellent way for businesses to distinguish themselves in the marketplace and reach new audiences, company-run events are often a marketing approach leveraged. ClearEdge Marketing is proud to share the following insights on what should go into the planning, promotion and follow-up of a business event in order to make it a bottom-line business success.

The Planning: Know Your Audience, Know Your Goals
The first step in strategic event planning is to decide who it needs to reach. Is the organization trying to connect with senior executives, mid-level managers or possibly candidates? The audience must be defined by role, industry and size in order to decide what the content and location of the event should be.

Only after the audience is determined are event planners then able to determine event value. The event value is the answer to the questions, “Why should I come to this event?” and “What will I gain?” Is the goal to share specific expertise or is the event also a mission to gain expertise from attendees? Is it an event that will clarify a key market issue or bring certain professionals together? A successful event will provide a worthwhile experience (learning, discussing, enjoying, supporting) to its target audience. Once the audience is clearly defined and what attendees are to gain from the event determined, the creative phase begins.

Advice on Format: From Size to Platform
The next challenge is to determine the most compelling way to deliver the event. From more traditional meetings, forums and roundtables to dinners, parties, tailgating gatherings, golf outings and cocktail hours, the format of an event is almost limitless. Many business events take a more traditional meeting shape with presentations, panels and roundtable discussions designed to inform and debate. When the information is useful, provocative and well presented, these formats are highly effective ways to deliver top-notch events.

It’s important to remember that roundtables and meetings need not be stiff, formal affairs. I have seen highly successful brown-bag lunch meetings hosted at business campus picnic sites and been to thoughtful industry coffee chats hosted at local diners. Instead of feeling limited to hotel and office meeting rooms, consider the size and content before determining where the event must occur.

When the goal of an event is to bring attendees together for networking purposes, the format can be non-traditional. Consider unusual locations for hosting networking events or the idea of creating a pre-party for an exciting occurrence, such as the opening of a play, concert, stadium or museum. Bringing a group of professionals together with similar professional interests is not always enough to make a networking event interesting. Providing great food, securing an intriguing location or piggybacking on to a celebrated local event are all good techniques for bringing people together and encouraging relaxed, social interactions.

Promotion: Be Aggressive
Any event requires great promotion, which requires going beyond issuing invitations and waiting for replies. An invitation that goes out by mail can and should be easily followed up by e-mail invitations and phone calls. In the social world, an RSVP is the job of the invitee. In the business world, the host should use all resources, within budget reason, to get a definitive RSVP from attendees.

Once a list of confirmed attendees is in place, an important part of promotion is sending out reminders of the date and time. Business professionals are a busy breed and simple e-mail and even text-based event reminders can help ensure the event is on the calendar and in their plans.

When appropriate to the event format and the audience, local promotion should also include issuing a press release, inviting members of the media and posting the event to local business association calendars and Web sites. Business journalists love to attend events where they can speak with industry insiders and hear about issues driving the marketplace. For the host business, event mentions and write ups in business and industry journals are also an outstanding way to win brand recognition from an established industry voice.

Promotion, such as paid print, Web or television advertising, is not necessarily required for local and regional events, but the host company should use its own Web site and communications tools as an event marketing vehicle. If the business generates newsletters or bulletins, the event should also be mentioned as a way to reach/or remind potential attendees and as a way to demonstrate marketplace involvement to a broader audience.

The Event: Delivery Support
A million tiny efforts, enough to fill a thick manual, go into smooth event operations, from securing locations, scheduling food, ordering promotional items and coordinating handouts to creating name tags, planning introductions, reserving equipment, building presentations and more. Many businesses choose to partner with marketing firms to ensure the proper promotion and coordination of an event while others have in-house teams with the skills to run an event.

Another option is to partner with a local association. Business associations run events and meetings all the time and are often eager to partner with local businesses to leverage their knowledge, leaders or industry expertise. By working with a respected association, a business gains an expert event partner as well as the added credibility that comes with partnering with a trusted local resource.

Follow up: Where Business Begins
A successful business event will generate leads for the host company’s sales organization. To take advantage of contacts made and new additions to prospect lists, a strategic plan for reaching out to attendees must be immediately activated. Sales teams should immediately add new event-generated contacts to their prospect lists, whether they are contained in CRM tools or a basic tracking spreadsheet. Tracking ongoing interactions with event attendees is the sole means for measuring event ROI.

The first post-event follow up contacts are a matter of simple courtesy. The host business will want to thank attendees, panelists, speakers and the press for their time and attendance. In addition, follow-up materials may have been promised during the event, such as a copy of the presentation, case study or related industry article.

However, once the near-term thank you notes (and potentially gifts) are sent and any follow-up materials delivered, it’s time to get thoughtful about maintaining strong relationships with new contacts. The event itself is a rich source of follow-up ideas and there are many ways businesses can continually check in with attendees, by using post-event surveys, sending newsletters, sharing related articles, forwarding press releases, etc.

These kinds of simple yet consistent follow-up messages are an excellent way for a business to remain in regular contact with attendees while also underscoring the organization’s expertise, resourcefulness and diligence.

Start and Finish Big
While there is no denying that the event itself is the critical happening, the before and after periods surrounding an event are where marketing excellence and sales opportunities take shape. The more a business does to plan an event around strategic goals and a specific audience, the better the event will go. The more rigorous and thoughtful the follow-up efforts, the more chance there is of far exceeding event ROI expectations. Starting strategically and finishing with follow-up are two of the most important ways of making an event a long-term business success.

ClearEdge Secrets to Event Success While the to-do list for any event is long, the following tips represent simple event promotion and partnering ideas that can make a tremendous difference in marketplace awareness, attendee turnout and audience response. Give your business a minimum of 45 days to promote the event. The schedules of most professionals book up very quickly. In most cases, several weeks are needed to alert and build a good-size audience. Promote the event using all your online resources: business Web site, online newsletters, e-mail signatures of employees, company blogs, etc. Partner with local market associations or industry groups to deliver events. Partnering with a well-known and respected marketplace group is an excellent way to build credibility and name recognition while gaining access to the association’s member list to promote the event. Send event reminders to all attendees one to two days before the event so it’s top of mind and on their calendars. Forget headcount, focus on quality. Twenty well-qualified attendees who are interested in the content of the event are far better than 200 poorly qualified and aloof attendees.

About the Author
Leslie Vickrey is president and founder of ClearEdge Marketing, a marketing communications firm specializing in the IT services industry. After beginning her career in marketing for well-known companies such as McDonald’s Corporation and Junior Achievement, Vickrey quickly found a niche in the technology services industry, where she has worked for the past 10 years managing marketing operations or providing consulting services for companies such as Spherion, TAC Worldwide, Harvey Nash, NACCB, The Armada Group, TransTech, Galmont Consulting, RiverPoint, Pierce Technology and Technisource. For more information, please e-mail lvickrey@clearedgemarketing.com or call 312.731.3149.