When most people think corporate event planning, they probably imagine picking out color schemes, choosing chairs, and setting client expectations. If numbers are involved, they’re only in consideration of attendance, budget, catering, or how many chairs and giveaways you need. Rarely do people consider a deep dive into the data that goes into corporate event planning long before you get into deciding between two different styles of maroon chairs.
At New North, we base all of our marketing off of data. Our goal: to take the mystery out of marketing and make it into a science. Why not apply the same principles to corporate event planning in Frederick MD?
Data drives actions. Actions drive results. If you want the best corporate event in Frederick MD, then you need to take a hard look at the data. Here’s how.
Who Are Your Attendees?
So you’re attending a trade show. You’re about to get your materials all lined up, you have your pitch ready to go, and your speech for a presentation you’re giving is all set too. But take a hard look at your materials. Who are you writing for? Who’s your audience?
It’s more than likely that the majority of your materials are about you. Are you providing value to your customer or just talking about how great you are? And don’t try to tell me they’re the same thing- most often, they’re not.
To truly have a successful presentation or get conversions from that trade show, you need to have hard data on your audience. If you’re giving a presentation at an established trade show, there’s a good chance the powers at be will have already collected some data on their audience. See if you can take advantage of what they have. But if they don’t, you need to start doing some research.
In order to best cater to your audience’s needs, start with the basics and look at the demographics of your audience. How old are they? Gender? Job industry? Income? Some of these questions will be easier to answer than others, but you should at least have an idea for all of them.
Take it one level further. What do they spend their day doing? Are they busy, rushed? A single parent or busy C-level executive? Let their values mold your pitch. If they don’t have time, neither do you.
What Do They Want?
Now you know who your audience is, but do you know what they want? What are their goals? Where do they see themselves in five years? What are their pain points?
Why is this information valuable? Once you understand a common problem among your audience, you can solve it for them. When it comes to corporate event planning in Frederick MD, these problems can be everything from “the event hall is too cold” to “I need to generate leads for my business.” A great event planner can solve it all.
Set up your presentations, literature, and event graphics to solve their problems. For example, I just attended Leadercast for Women – an inspirational women’s webinar and seminar. The whole event was designed to inspire. From the moment I walked in the door, you entered a hallway with inspiring messages along the wall. Event activities included inspiring others and the presenters who did the best were those who understood what their audience wanted. We wanted actionable items and inspiration to help us further our careers.
Make your event cater to your audience’s needs, from the simplest to the most complex.
Where Can You Reach Them?
You know who your audience is and what they want. But do you know where to find them?
All of the data you’ve collected doesn’t have a use in the world if you can’t find your audience. At a large trade show, this can be simple. They’re already there, they’re already coming, and they’re ready to listen. But this isn’t true all the time for corporate event planning in Frederick MD.
When you host your own event, you have to go out, find your audience, and make them want to come. Are they on Facebook and Instagram? Or are they more likely to be found on LinkedIn and Twitter? What about email?
Getting the word out about your event is a huge part of corporate event planning in Frederick MD. You need to find the best most engaging channel to reach them. Use the data you’ve collected and the pain points you know to find the best way to get there.
Developing the Best Story
You know who your audience is, you know what they want, and you know how to tell them about your event – all based on data. Now for what may be arguably the most important part of corporate event planning Frederick MD: developing the storyline for your event.
From the moment of entry to the moment your audience walks out your door, your event needs to have a story that your audience can engage in. Hopefully the story addresses their pain points. The story can be as simple as:
- This is where your pain points are – the antagonists
- What about a new solution?
- Let us help you
Simple. Some may say too simple, but this should be your basic framework for an event that sells.
Yet if you’re hosting a company anniversary or an open house, two events that occur relatively often in the world of corporate event planning in Frederick MD, your story may look entirely different.
For an anniversary, you may want to tell the story of your company. What did it start out as? What does it look like now? Where will you find yourself in the future? If you’re hosting an open house for your new office, use your event to tell the story of your space. New North is housed in a historic bakery. Because of the uniqueness of our event, we’ve really leaned into its history with conference rooms named after baking themes, i.e. “The Oven” and “The Fridge.”
When you have a unique space, don’t be afraid to tell its story. It can be very engaging for your customers, especially if you make the event interactive.
Location, Location, Location.
Location matters for corporate event planning in Frederick MD. It matters where your booth is at a trade show. It matters where you host your anniversary party. It matters when you establish the floor plan layout for your open house.
Don’t decide based on your intuition alone. Look at where the most successful booths were at last year’s trade show. Ask your event venue options to provide you with hard numbers for the attendance of previous events and ask what types of events they’ve hosted before.
Corporate event planning is a collaborative process. Your location matters just as much as your pre-event marketing strategy. If your location is over an hour away from your audience- your attendance will most likely be dismal, no matter how great your marketing strategy is.
Look at the audience data you’ve collected and identify the most convenient location for them.
Leave the Data Gathering to the Professionals
Collecting data is oftentimes about as exciting as watching paint dry. New North is an expert at gathering data. We believe the best results are data-driven results. And we believe that you shouldn’t have to waste your precious time on finding out data.
Leave the corporate event planning in Frederick MD to us. We’ll help you receive the best ROI on your event. Hosting an event? Contact us today.
