Planning and executing an event involves many steps. Whether it’s a raging theme party or an education-filled industry gathering, the team organizing the event has to pay attention to guest lists, entertainment, catering, lighting, invitations, decor, and a ton of other components. In this busy time, however, many event planning teams overlook opportunities to use the single event to their long-term advantage!
What kind of advantages?
Well, gathering people together in a great atmosphere for fun, networking, live music, and the like creates a great experience for them – but their awesome experiences can be great marketing for your company, promotional material for future events, and a way to help people stay in touch.
Let’s look at a few ways you can make the most of your events even after they happen, simply by adding a few ideas into your planning!
Social Media
People share all kinds of experiences on social media (especially Instagram), and when they’re enjoying themselves, they want to tell the world!
If people are already doing this of their own accord, it only takes a few small nudges to get people to tag your business, mention your name, or use a specific hashtag. You can set up a backdrop for photos (and make sure the lighting is good), and use signage or table tends to prompt people to use tags to your advantage.
Let your guests know that using your designated hashtag will help other event-goers find photos they might be in and that you’ll be reposting images and videos from the event to your own social media accounts.
This is a great way to create content, showcase your awesome event, and get other people involved. When you host future events, potential guests will also be able to see what to expect with a few easy clicks, generating more excitement and even better attendance.
Professional Photo and Video
Perhaps even more powerful than attendees capturing fun moments of the event, bringing professional photographers and videographers as part of your event planning means you’ll have high-quality content that you can mix into your other marketing and social media efforts… Or if the event’s just for fun, you’ll have professionally made memories that are much better quick selfies and vertical phone videos.
Long after the event is over, you’ll have a repository of photos and videos to use however you like – in promotional material for other events, as part of print advertisements, recap videos for social media, website material, and anything else you can think of!
Follow Up
Thank you cards and guest books aren’t just for weddings! Whatever kind of event you’re hosting, you can ask attendees to provide contact information, then follow up with them in the form of a thank you note, a small gift, an email newsletter, and so on.
This is a great way to stay in touch with your guests after the event is over, and will help them remember what an enjoyable time they had!
You can send out a post-event survey to find out what people liked most (or didn’t like), and use that information to make future events even better. These follow-up messages are also another chance to ask attendees to share photos and videos, post on social media, and let other people know about your events.
With just a few small additions to your event planning strategy, you can cultivate media and conversations that last well after the party’s over. Your event doesn’t have to just exist at the moment – you can use it to generate material and relationships that serve you well into the future.
