The days are getting warmer and the flowers are emerging from winter’s sleep. It must almost be spring! From festive St. Paddy’s Day celebrations to Easter egg hunts and the kickoff of farmers’ markets, everyone loves all of the fun activities that take place during the warmer days of spring. If you’re planning an upcoming company or charitable event over the next few months, you know that they can be a ton of work to plan, promote and execute. Here are five helpful tips to make sure your shindig is a smashing success!
Get the word out
The most important aspect of your event is people! To build buzz about your upcoming soiree, post all relevant information (including date, time, location, a brief description and how to purchase tickets) utilizing online community calendars, your organization’s website and social media platforms. You can also create a special Facebook event on your organization’s page and directly invite friends. If your advertising budget is a bit on the restrictive side, take advantage of cost-effective Facebook or Twitter ads to help boost event awareness and ticket sales to your target audience (if you’re new to this, give us a call and we can help get it set up!).
Capture valuable audience info
When participants are signing up for your event, be sure to capture some basic demographic information such as zip code, age and gender. This will help you better target your advertising strategy, but remember to keep it short and simple. Also, be sure gather email addresses so you can not only communicate event updates but keep attendees engaged and excited about the big day.
Add a special element
How many times have you been to two different events that were almost identical? Nothing to get too excited about, right? The differentiation factor can either make or break your event so make sure it will stand out from the others by doing a bit of homework beforehand. Research similar events in other areas to see if a cool, new idea stands out and can be incorporated into your event. On the flip-side, look at what other event organizers in your area have done and try not to duplicate those efforts. Also, brainstorm with your event planning team and ask for their ideas.
Make it social
Get attendees talking about your event on social media! Incorporate a special event hashtag attendees can use (which is a word or phrase preceded by a hash or pound sign (#) and used to identify messages on a specific topic). Post photos on your organization social media platforms before and during the event and be sure to “like” or repost/retweet event photos that attendees share. You can even create a special custom Snapchat geofilter that allows Snapchatters to add your event graphical element (based on their location) to their snaps.
Get feedback
Want to find out what attendees thought of your event? Just ask! Send a follow-up email, most importantly, thanking them for attending and, secondly, asking them for their opinion by filling out a brief survey. You can create one in a snap using Google Forms or Survey Monkey. Be sure to make it short, sweet and to the point (as no one likes to fill out a 13-page survey that takes an eternity to complete!). The information will help you determine what went right, what went wrong and how you can improve the event the next time around.
Now that you’ve got the tools to make your event a sure-fire success, we wish you a very successful shindig. If you’re looking for additional guidance, give us a call and we’ll be happy to start the conversation!
