Planning a big event can be an intimidating task because there’s so much that has to be done. You could find yourself on the brink of a panic attack upon realizing how much work it takes, but freaking out isn’t the best way to approach the matter. Unfortunately, you probably don’t know how to react differently because you have no idea where to start in the first place. Admit it, your planning skills suck, and here’s why.
You don’t have a plan
Event planning is appropriately named because it requires actual planning! That means pulling out the old drawing board to brainstorm and sketch out ideas. There are so many different aspects of event planning, so you’ll need to make sure that you cover all of the details before you take action. It’s a good idea to create a checklist of things to be done so that you can simply cross off a task as soon as it’s been completed. Keeping a checklist will help you to stay organized and focused throughout the lengthy planning process.
You don’t set a budget
Setting a budget is an essential part of the event planning process because you need to know how much money you have to work with. Planning takes both time and money, and without the latter, your ideas will never become reality. Since funds are obviously limited, you need to set a cap on spending. Determine a maximum number that you absolutely cannot exceed, and figure out how to divide the available funds towards advertising, decorations, renting out a space, food and beverages, etc.
You don’t advertise the event properly
You can plan the most amazing event ever, but your event would still be unsuccessful if nobody showed up. To give your event exposure, you need to make advertising a priority. While paper ads are still an effective means of showing off your event, the Internet is where it’s at today. There are many ways to make your event known online including sending out mass promotional emails or posting on company social media pages. You should also try to maintain a dedicated website for your company or event so that the public has easy access to important event information.
You don’t appeal to the target market
Even if you put your efforts into advertising, you can still fail to attract the ideal crowd of customers. To understand who your target market consists of and how to grab their attention, you’ll need to do plenty of market research. Your style of advertising may only appeal to certain crowds that aren’t really interested in your product or service, so you’ll need to tweak your ads until they reach out to those who really do dig what you have to offer.
You don’t have freebies to give away
When people attend your event, they want to get something out of it–something aside from valuable information or a nice conversation. That’s right. People want to leave your event with tangible goods in their hands, so plan on handing out promotional knick-knacks if you want to keep the masses entertained. Not only will free gifts give potential customers an incentive to return to your events, they’ll also serve as advertisements for your business if company logos are stamped on the merchandise.
You don’t have the manpower to execute the event successfully
Seasoned event planners know that a plan means nothing at all if it can’t be executed on game day due to a lack of manpower. To set up a venue, you’ll need a sufficient amount of workers to get the job done. Make sure that you contact all your helpers ahead of time to let them know where and when they need to show up.
You don’t train your helpers
Even if you have the manpower to run the show, things won’t go smoothly if nobody knows what they’re supposed to do. If you don’t inform your workers of their individual duties ahead of time, they’ll be confused on the day that they’re supposed to shine. While you might not know exactly how each helper is to contribute until the day of the event, you should still brief them on their general responsibilities beforehand.
You don’t do a promotional follow-up
Say that your event went exactly as planned. What happens after it’s over? Well, you might have yourself some new customers, but you probably won’t have as many as you’d like. To keep people intrigued, do some follow-up advertising by sending out mail, emails, or post a digital flyer or video on your website. People are quick to forget after an event has come and gone, so stay relevant by persisting with the ads. You might even decide to ship out another free gift as bait.
As you can see, your event planning skills probably suck because you aren’t taking every element into consideration. You might be taking the wrong approach to planning, or you could be overlooking certain aspects. No matter what it is you’ve been doing wrong, you now know how to plan the right way.
This post was written by the team at CCB – crowd control barriers and pedestrian barricades to festival and event companies Australia wide.