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There’s a lot that goes into organising and marketing outreach events, whether online or in-person, B2B or B2C. How you go about tackling it depends on the structure and goal of the event.
In any case, a general structure can be followed to ensure all bases are covered. For any event, planning is critical to its success: the better the plan, the less likely you are to run into surprises along the way.
We’ll be breaking the rough bases to cover when creating an outreach event. You can use this as a basis to organise your own business events or something to follow to the tee. Go with whatever is best for your situation!
Ideally, you have 2-3 months to strategise and advertise. This allows 1 month to work on materials and 2 months to promote the event on socials, either organically or by paid promotion.
You might want more time to promote or less. Again, it’s best to plan according to the goals of the event and your workplace. Larger events require more planning, and in turn, more time. Smaller events, or events that are run regularly, may not need as much organisation.
When you’re first organising an outreach event, it’s useful to get the key information straight, so you can plan from there. Strategically, you want to know:
The topic guides a lot of your marketing material, where the goal can be turned into markers of success. Maybe you want a certain number of attendees? This goal can inform you to keep a broad audience when an ad goes to promotion (more about ad management in our blog here).
When aiming for outreach, it’s wise to go for the free event format. It’s more likely to draw attention and gain attendees. If you do opt for paid, consider what kind of offer will push people over the line to register. Ask yourself, what will someone gain from paying to attend? Is the value-proposition clear?
These questions give an idea of the materials and assets needed to prepare for the event.
Whether online or in-person, the right software can greatly reduce the amount of back-and-forth with both attendees and internal staff. If there are multiple people working on the project (as there usually is), having a dynamic, well-updated workspace can keep the team working together effectively.
Reasons to use software might be:
It’s likely that your workplace has software in place already. If so, it’s just a case of using the framework that already exists. If not, go for a platform that has plenty of guides to walk you through.
If planning underpins the success of the event, logistics are the lubricant that ensures it runs smoothly.
The bits n’ bobs to pull together depend on the nature of your event. For example, if you’re hosting something in-person, there’s the matter of venue booking. Other considerations include gifts, banners, and paper handouts. The options are only as limited as your imagination.
We recommend prioritising tasks that require outsourcing as they tend to be the least predictable. Set generous timeframes to allow for revisions. Few things are perfect in the first pop, so more time gives you peace of mind that it will get done.
Here’s where good ol’ backwards planning is effective (and why we mentioned the event time and place earlier). Plan from the event date, to when you want to start marketing the event. We recommend a minimum of 3 months, with the first month to prepare assets and event strategy, and the latter 2 months for the marketing itself. The more time that’s given, the increased likelihood of having everything ready by the day.
There are some rough categories that you can expect:
It can be tricky, getting absolutely everything you need in one fell swoop. The key is to account for what you can, and leave room in the plan for hiccups. Worst case, you’ll have some extra work you weren’t anticipating (but can do), and the best case is that you’ve sussed everything and now have spare time on your hands.
So, you’ve got your event planned, your assets are all accounted for, and there’s a strategy in place. All that’s left to do is execute the plan.
This is where all the hard work pays off, it should be a case of putting content up on the right days, confirming final details, and watching your outreach event unfold!
Lastly, don’t forget to thank those who attended! Gratitude goes a long way in showing potential clients that you’re there for their best interests.
Event organisation isn’t too tricky, but it does take time. If your business is low on time, get in touch with MarketMaxNZ to organise your next event. We’ve got the experience and expertise to help your business gain the recognition it deserves.
