Events create a great opportunity for a corporate event planner to assist small businesses promote brand awareness and boost employee morale.
Whether your corporate event planner duties focus on an intimate event attended by colleagues or a big affair for the whole company, there are specific strategies you’ll need to focus on to increase attendance at your client’s next company event.
Planning a corporate event comes down to asking the right questions and making educated decisions. For a corporate event planner to make the right choices when selecting the audience, they will first have to understand the purpose of the event and select a venue that will help impact the success of the event.
Most Effective Ways to Increase Attendance at Corporate Events
The six event planning tips below will help any corporate event planner plan a successful company event.
Identify your Audience
The first entry on your event planning checklist needs to focus on the audience you are targeting for the event. By knowing the right type of crowd to invite to your event, you can concentrate on ways that increase attendance.
Knowing your audience helps your event be more engaging and memorable because you can ensure that the elements and activities associated with the event are appropriate.
Identify the Purpose of your Event
As a corporate event planner, you must first identify the purpose of the event because doing so will also help you identify who the correct target audience will be.
By clearly understanding what you are trying to accomplish reduces the risk of low attendance.
For example, if your event purpose is to increase brand awareness, create an event app that creates an emotional connection to your brand by increasing engagement, asking questions, shows your logo and provides an up-to-date event itinerary.
Location! Location! Location!
If you want butts in seats at your company event, you take the event’s location into consideration.
Location is an important component in event planning because certain types of locations attract a certain kind of crowd. So, it’s crucial for a corporate event planner to figure out if the target audience is likely to go to that venue, if the place is easily accessible, and if there are options when it comes to transportation.
Get a Media Partner
A corporate event planner knows that large events work better with partnerships and sponsorship. If your event is a large-scale function that requires a large audience, ask yourself if your customer base is large enough to attract the required number of attendees.
In most cases, small businesses do not have enough numbers in a particular area for large scale events. So by partnering with associated businesses or getting sponsorship from appropriate brands can reduce costs while increasing your pool of attendees.
This is also a great way to target likeminded individuals to engage with. It’s a great opportunity to attract new customers and increase your reach.
Pay Attention to the Numbers
Before you send out your invitations, take the numbers into consideration.
If it’s a free event, it’s a good idea to send 40 percent more invitations. If it’s a paid event, your signup will be lower, but the percentage that shows up will be higher.
Where you and your target audience are located can also influence how many people attend.
For example, in big cities you’ll experience more competition for the time and attention of the target audience. So be aware of these variables when you send the invitations out.
Engage in Social Media
Once you get the ball rolling, create a hashtag for the event and a social media page(s).
It’s a great way to connect with your audience during and after the event.
Pay attention to their feedback (make changes, if necessary), start a dialog, and build community around the event.
Initiating and maintaining contact with the audience is a great way to build brand value and nurture brand advocacy. Additionally, fostering this engagement can guarantee that your next event will increase attendance and be successful.
Even if your company is small without a large workforce, this won’t be a mammoth task to take on if all the steps are followed correctly. By having a few dedicated individuals working on the event, you are already on your way to working towards a successful company event.
Now we’d love to hear from you…
Which of these shared event strategies do you need to focus on the most? Comment below and let us know!
Each year The Event Planner Expo invites keynote speakers to deliver material that can help any corporate event planner improve attendance at corporate events. Join us for the 2019 Event Planner Expo to hear the infamous Gary Vaynerchuk deliver marketing solutions that will help you grow your brand.
