When a company holds an event, there can be any number of reasons – from fundraising and networking to partnership with worthy causes and raising awareness. But one key element that’s always in consideration is establishing the brand’s presence and perception.
If you’re in charge of managing your company’s event in Utah, you’ll find that it’s challenging to be unique. The booming economy has brought in many tech startups and creative professionals – you’ll need to step it up if you want a memorable event. And while you work on realizing large scale visions – for instance, enlisting concert production companies for a night to remember – it’s essential to ensure that everything, from top to bottom, is on point and communicates the desired brand experience.
Here are some ways to make your event strategy more effective.
Breathe values
It’s crucial that your approach to the event brings perspective, rather than being myopic and focused only on the event itself. And reflecting your brand’s vision and values in everything, from the minor details to the biggest highlight of the show, is how you make the event stand out with authenticity.
Your event doesn’t exist in a vacuum; it is part of a series of efforts by your company. Making it memorable is great, but setting a standard that can be modeled and repeated in later events will create brand success. You draw attention from customers and potential partners with novelty, but you build loyalty and relationships with consistency.
Foster participation
Increasingly, customers in today’s world are gaining control and rewarding those brands that respond by offering interaction and a willingness to work with customer preferences. Use your events to find ways to have meaningful and direct dialogue with your customers.
Be proactive, not reactive – don’t wait for customers to grow frustrated and resort to working the phones with your customer support. Head off problems at the source, and allow people to have a voice. You can bring on key company figures such as production designers or executives for a talk and discussion, or you can give attendees a chance to experience your newest product before its official launch.
Customer power has transformed brands into relationships and experiences, and finding the opportunities at your event to grow that relationship and offer a unique level of interaction with your brand, makes things fun and exciting and gives them a reason to care about your company’s efforts.
Anchor the digital
We know how much today’s customers are engaged in digital experiences. It wasn’t too long ago that businesses would consider whether to get a website; now, it’s mandatory, and most companies consider developing apps as well.
Customers consume digital content more and more each year. But events provide a unique form of interaction and direct experience. Connecting both worlds will make your event a lasting success for the brand. Making use of event hashtags and social media posts, uploading videos and transcripts of speakers’ discussions, are all great ways to link your event with online channels.
The reverse direction works just as well – for instance, offering exclusives to attendees who signed up for the event online or using a mobile app will reinforce that connection. It helps you to build buzz for your event, but also generates anticipation for succeeding ones.
There’s no denying the importance of a great production or highlight presentation during an event. Just make sure that you don’t overlook the details, and see to it that everything is coherent and ties together in the long run, and you’ll be set up for brand success.
