The fundamentals of a successful SMART event.
It’s all about SMART events for us here at Flourish. Events should always add value to your sales plan, meet defined objectives and fit with your overall business strategy. That’s why we concentrate on more targeted events for our clients, such as round-tables, seminars, workshops, board meetings, focus groups, client days and product launches; events that have a real impact on the business. Do you have a larger event or exhibiting at a trade show? We can help here too. We offer in-house marketing teams assistance with stand design and build and logistics.
Our events team follow a tried and tested formula and apply this to all events, both large and small, to ensure every event we manage meets a defined set of criteria and really works hard to deliver results.
Set objectives
You will only ever know if your event has been a success if you set some measurable objectives. Define what success will look like at the beginning and then it will be clear at the end if the event was a success or not. Remember, these objectives need to be SMART!
Plan
Once you know the type of event you want to hold and what you want to achieve from it, it’s time to put together your event plan. List out all the tasks that need to be completed with deadlines and allocate to members of the team, so you know who is doing what and when it needs to be done by.
Promote
If you are trying to attract an audience, then promotion is key. Promote your event via any means you can. Utilise your social media channels, your website and blog page, invite stakeholders through an email marketing campaign, add your event to a ticketing service, list on industry event sites and publications. If there is a news angle or story to your event or launch, a press release to targeted media may help generate a buzz.
Engage
So, you have attracted your audience. Now what? This is your time to shine. This is where you move your objectives to the forefront of your mind and you work it. Engage, talk, question, listen, respond, react. This is your chance to gain insights, tell your story, start conversations, build relationships and work towards why you are really here.
Evaluate
You have put in the hard graft and now it’s time to reflect. Take the time to celebrate on your success! Write down your success of how you met your goals and objectives. What worked and what didn't? What would you do differently next time?
If you follow the formula above, then you should be well on your way to a successful event! Of course, if you are stretched for time and resource then our events team are always on hand to help out.
