Planning and executing an event is a tedious task!
Corporate events are professional gatherings organised for the employees, business partners and prospective clients to inform, educate and/or entertain them; from meetings, conferences, seminars to product launch events, trade shows and team building events.
The idea is to keep the brand in the limelight because brand exposure is essential for success, and corporate events are the most effective path to grow any brand.
Organising an event requires planning skills, management skills and an ability to execute whatever is planned. You need to ensure that your event is organised perfectly because even a small error can devalue your brand reputation.
Read on to learn how to organise a flawless and engaging corporate event:
Define purpose and theme
What is the purpose of the event? Is it a product launch, a conference or seminar, etcetera. The agenda will help you understand the intensity and style of preparation that will be needed for the gathering. It will also guide the choice of theme that will be suitable for the brand. So, the primary step is to know why are you hosting the event.
Estimate a budget
Once your purpose is defined, the next step is to estimate a budget for the event. You need to consider all possible expenses to figure out how much money will be required to organise and market the event. The expenses can go overboard if you have not planned it correctly. So, fix a budget and make sure you adhere to it.
Create a checklist
A checklist is a must to organise any event. It keeps the planning systematic, manageable and makes sure that you don’t miss out on anything important. Your checklist needs to include the decor preparations, necessary items, guestlist, invites and entertainment options. Set a deadline for each task to make sure you are on time at all tim
Invite the right guests
Corporate events are all about enhancing the market presence of the brand. You can also build fruitful connections, which requires you to invite the right guests to the event. Apart from that, you also have to check how many people are you planning to invite because the venue size and other arrangements will depend on it. Focus on inviting industry leaders or influencers who can make a difference to the event, your business or both.
Engage and entertain
The success of the event does not primarily depend on the venue or decor, but the entertainment options. This does not mean that you have to employ fun activities; rather, it guides you to understand that your audience needs to be involved and engaged on all occasions. They should be able to relate to your content, and only then will you be able to consider it a successful event.
Effective branding and marketing is essential
As already mentioned above, the primary purpose is to increase your brand presence in the industry. You can achieve your targets by utilising the space and opportunities that come your way at a corporate event. Posters, hoardings, press releases, social media promotion and all the other branding & marketing avenues can be exploited strategically to ensure maximum results. Create a checklist for promotions as well. This will help you make sure that you take full advantage of the options available to you. It will also guide you at every step of the way, like when to give out a newspaper article and how many posts a day should you dedicate to your social media accounts. You must invest in tangible avenues to measure the outcome of your efforts.
Not every corporate event is like an away days event, so plan accordingly. There are more opportunities for brand development and growth in a formal corporate event, as compared to corporate away days. All you have to do is think strategically, be thoroughly prepared to handle the event with care and ensure utmost guest satisfaction, i.e. entertain ‘em good.