At some point in our lives, we’ve had that cold gut sinking feeling that comes from planning an unsuccessful event.
At some point in our lives, we’ve had that cold gut sinking feeling that comes from planning an unsuccessful event. There is nothing as devastating for an event organiser than to put countless hours of work for attendees, only to eventually feel as if your work was not good enough. The secret to getting over it is to understand what’s going on. Below are four mistakes organisers make and how they can turn the faults into future success.
It’s so tough to impress attendees or guests at your events nowadays. A lot of ideas have been tried out by other organisers and the audience is looking for a new experience. Something they have never seen or felt before. Coming up with original ideas is not an easy thing to come by. With that in mind, organisers are likely to be tempted to copy-pasting an idea from other events they have attended or organised by their friends. It’s important to go a little deeper, push boundaries, open up possibilities, entice conversations, add colour to client requests. In most cases, it is the little twists you add to small details of your event that change perceptions. However, one thing to note is that the distinctiveness of your event should not be fixed to the idea itself. Planning and execution matter, too.
While an event organizer keeps looking out for new and fresh talent for their events in some instances they have often fallen into the temptations of drafting an artist they like at the expenses of the preferences of the audience. They fail to consider whether the attendees will actually be willing to attend the event or whether or not the artist is the right performer for the event. It is important to keep in mind that views or message attributed to a certain artist may not go well with the audience profile. NEVER draft an artist because you like them. That should be your last reason for picking an artist.
When you fail to plan, then you are planning to fail. Failure to promote effectively promote your event then you are bound to fail. Organisers ought to develop a marketing plan. Your goal for your event marketing should be to spread the word far and wide so a broad audience hears about it. From there, you can focus on connecting with niche audiences who are most likely to purchase tickets. A good marketing plan should include email marketing, paid search advertising, social media advertising, re-targeting advertising, social media marketing, offline advertising. Ensure that you conduct thorough research and find out your ideal ticket buyers, and where they spend time online and offline.
Like so many things in life, Murphy’s Law has a firm grip on most events. This old adage, “Anything that can go wrong, will”, is so strong that if you’re not preparing for it, you’re really not prepared. Conduct a risk assessment do it early in the planning process. Outline the things that could derail your event and develop a plan to mitigate them. Don’t ignore your intuition. If you feel something might go wrong, act and verify.