There are always frequent accidents when organizing events, and it is hard to guard against them? After an event, it started well but ended badly, and the publicity and hype failed to build? How do you handle the most difficult things when cold starting an event?

In response to the above problems, on August 29, Huodongxing and Xinbang specially planned a hard-core sharing class, "How to Plan an Event from Zero to One", which was successfully launched. The sharing guest is Yi Ge, who focuses on new media industry observation and is the person in charge of online and offline activities of Xinbang. He has rich experience in event operation and shared a lot of information. It is recommended that people in the event industry read it carefully. Enjoy the following——

1. Cognition: 4 questions before the activity

1. Question: Why do we hold events?

When a team starts planning an event, it is usually for one of four reasons:

(1) Panic over traffic: Online traffic is drying up, and in order to increase followers and acquire customers, it is necessary to rely on the potential of offline activities;

(2) Brand PR, to promote and expose new products;

(3) Commitment to fans, regularly provide some user benefits and maintain fan stickiness;

(4) Envy of peers: Another company organized an event that was very successful, so our company also wants to organize one...

Question 2: Do you position yourself as an event planner or an event operator?

What is the difference between the two? Event planning is short-term, emphasizes process and is not responsible for results; while event operation is long-term, result-oriented and emphasizes effectiveness.

Question 3: What is the core purpose of the event? According to the different scales of the event, I roughly divide it into the following categories:

(1) Activities with less than 50 people focus on the sense of participation and can provide some small group benefits;

(2) For conferences with less than 50 and less than 300 participants, we should use practical information to unite everyone and highlight the sense of achievement of the participants;

(3) For conferences with thousands of people, the focus should be on creating a sense of ceremony and highlighting everyone’s identity.

Here we should emphasize:

As an event operator, you must clearly define the core purpose of the event and don't try to grasp all the points. New activities always try to find a lot of incremental gains and end up with a hodgepodge of plans, but such plans are either difficult to implement or not cost-effective. Do the most core things to the extreme, less is more.

Question 4: Is this activity sustainable?

Is this event organized on a whim because of interference from competitors? Is this a one-off activity? Can it be sustained?

In this regard, my advice to everyone is: you must establish a long-term traffic acceptance and operation mechanism, and avoid playing one-time tricks.

Event operation is still an effective marketing method for enterprises to achieve both brand and effect. In addition to short-term and immediate goals, we must consider whether the current event mechanism is sustainable, whether it can provide subsequent sustainable services to the audience after the traffic comes, and whether the traffic can be used efficiently.

Design a set of traffic acceptance and service mechanisms in advance, and be wary of "one-time" operations - I work hard to recruit 500 people, they listen to a forum, and then nothing happens. When it comes to the next recruitment, I have to work hard to find 500 people again.

2. Activity operation pipeline

Next, we will focus on the thinking framework of event operations. For example:

Content operation is like planting trees, which requires painstaking cultivation year after year; event operation is like fighting a war, where you have to mobilize troops and fight for one chance. If you are a novice in activities, the process line of doing activities may be like this:

However, if you are an experienced event operator, your thinking framework for running an event is as follows:

The above activity framework is also the steps for Xinbang’s large-scale event operations. Next, I will explain and analyze them one by one.

1. About market research:

Regarding market research, there are still three questions to consider:

• Who is the audience of the event?
• What impresses them?
• What are the similar activities and what are the data?

（1）Who is the target audience of my event?

When thinking about this question, don't trust your intuition, but trust the data you see. Analyze who the audience of the event is by checking past data, conducting questionnaires, comparing competing products, etc.

(2) Why do I want them to participate in my activities?

The reasons on stage may be the support of big names, valuable content, and scarce information; the reasons off stage may be exclusive fan benefits, social connections, and identity recognition. Summarize the core factors of your event that can impress users, amplify them, and make full use of them.

(3) What are the similar activities?

How about the data? This question can be answered from four dimensions: main event image, event copy, number of registrants, and participant feedback, to examine the initiation, number of participants, and effects of similar events.

Tips: The search function of the activity row can provide a lot of references~

2. Activity project establishment

In this section, there are three basic and core items: event name, event highlights, and time and location.

(1) Activity name

The name of the event is crucial. A catchy, concise and clear event name will attract people to sign up: for example, two events that Xinbang has held in the past: "New Media Meets the Forbidden City·New Media Salon" and "Not Chasing Hot Topics, Only Chasing You·New Media Blind Date".

The names of the two activities were simple and easy to remember, and they resonated with the industry, so it was very easy to complete the registration process.

So how can we improve our ability to come up with activity names?

You can try the following 3 methods:

• Low-profile version: simple and easy to remember, no additional explanation is needed (however, this is exactly what many teams cannot do. In order to make the words look cool, they come up with a lot of long names that are difficult to understand);
• Medium version: Stir up group resonance and stimulate the spread within the circle;
• High-end version: cross-border, with its own topic attributes.

(2) Event Highlights

In this part, you need to find and strengthen the most attractive points of your event. For example, in a blind date event, the most attractive thing for male guests must be the female guests, not the souvenirs. In a training session, the most attractive thing for trainees must be the instructors and useful information, not the lucky draw after the meeting.

(3) Time and place

Regarding time, online activities should be scheduled on Wednesdays and Thursdays as much as possible, and offline activities should be held on weekends as much as possible, but the particularity of the industry should also be taken into consideration. For example, the catering industry may not be able to hold activities on weekends.

Regarding location, give priority to large cities when choosing a city. The specific address should be in the city center or close to a subway station. Do not let the location become a stumbling block for users to participate in the event.

3. Activity preparation

In this section, do not rely on individual talent, but on the strength of the team and establish an efficient and clear division of labor mechanism.

• Clear division of labor: modular division of labor, avoid transfer, efficient collaboration
• Schedule: Backward method, clear deadlines, dedicated person to remind schedule
• SOP: Establish a self-check list and a library of commonly used tools (so that you can use them right away, reducing the cost of training new users)

4. Event promotion and recruitment

This is the second soul of an event!

Promotion and recruitment are divided into two parts: attracting new customers and repeat purchases. The channels for attracting new customers are mainly official accounts, Weibo, and social networks. Due to time constraints, I will not elaborate on the specific methods of attracting new customers.

(1) Repeat purchase

How to increase the repurchase rate of users? Here are a few suggestions:

• Set up photo spots on site to encourage users to take photos, share, and spread them;
• Create a differentiated experience, give users a sudden surprise at a certain point in the activity, and meet their expectations for the activity (taking our offline classes at Xinbang Academy as an example, we will prepare breakfast and paper teaching plans for students. A student asked a question after the private domain operation class, and our course product manager will patiently answer him. These services were not promised before, but they can give the other party a "wow" feeling);
• To carry out private domain operations.

Tips: Two promotion tools are recommended:

Countdown poster for the wave-like release of the product in the circle of friends (eye-catching countdown + industry pain points)

Through this kind of forwarding, we can continue to awaken user needs in the circle of friends, make everyone feel a sense of urgency and stimulate purchases. The last few days of the countdown are often when users are most willing to sign up.

One-to-one invitation letter

The main elements of an invitation letter: theme, name, agenda, time and place;

Invitation letters with names can evoke a sense of belonging and exclusivity, and stimulate users to forward them to their friends.

How to make good use of one-to-one invitations?

• Recommended tools: Activeline, Indesign (Activeline can generate posters in batches);
• Several major elements: topic, name, agenda, time and place;
• Core logic: Turn event guests, users, and colleagues into communication nodes for better communication.

5. Activity Execution

As the event approaches, the team feels mobile and exhausted, but suddenly new demands and situations arise. Have you ever encountered the following situations?

• Situation 1: The boss called me late at night and suggested that we make a batch of cultural T-shirts to improve the experience of the participants.
• Situation 2: There is an industry leader who wants to come to the platform, but it means you have to readjust the agenda
• Situation 3: The performer cannot participate in the originally scheduled performance for some reason

At this time, what is tested is the activity organizer's ability to judge the overall situation. In response to these situations, the advice given to everyone is: focus on the big things and let go of the small things, and arrive early.

(1) Focus on the big and let go of the small

First ensure that the original activities proceed smoothly. In the process of executing the activities, we will encounter some things that are icing on the cake, but this means that they will distract our attention. In the face of the overall situation, you can consider giving up the details and things that are icing on the cake.

(2) Arrive early

Arriving at rehearsal at least 2 hours in advance, or even a day in advance if conditions permit, can eliminate 90% of temporary situations. Lei Jun is a very busy man, but Xiaomi’s press conferences usually rent venues some time in advance and rehearse repeatedly. Why can’t you do that?

Remember, during the execution of an activity, there are two prerequisites for making incremental changes: being able to help you complete your original plan and being able to serve your most core demands.

6. Review of the activity

There is no perfect activity, only activities that are constantly iterating and improving.

There are two aspects of activity review: collecting user feedback and executing team review:

(1) Collect user feedback

After the event, create a return visit form and ask users to fill it out on the spot. Remember, it must be filled out on the spot. When the user is still there, put the QR code on the big screen. In 1 minute, you can get their most direct and profound feedback.

(2) Internal review

Iterate the original SOP and use it directly in the next activity. It should be mentioned that you should print out the parts that you focus on iteration as much as possible and stick them on the wall . This can urge you to iterate. Electronic documents may not be remembered in a busy schedule.

Activity iteration, which is also team iteration, is a process of breaking out of your comfort zone. For example, I have run 10 events this year. We can stay at a low level and repeat ourselves, and we can get by with 70 points. But every time you actually make improvements, a year later, you look back at the first event and you’ll find a qualitative leap.

Putting aside the budget, this is also the reason why, when we watch some activities and press conferences organized by start-up teams, we can see the gap between them and established companies. It is the iterations in these processes that shine.

3. Q&A

Q1: The company has a limited budget, how to invite KOL guests?

A: When inviting guests, first of all, you should provide them with tangible benefits and tell them that you have awesome audiences and guests on the same stage who are even more awesome than them. (Forming a positive cycle) The second is to show enough sincerity. In order to invite a certain guest, I once read all her books, courses, and public accounts, so that we can answer questions fluently when we meet.

Q2. How to find creative ideas?

A: We always pursue what is unique in an activity, but ignore what has remained unchanged in the activity. First, I suggest you strengthen the core services of existing activities and set up a WeChat group for staff to store creative ideas. Whenever you see something new, post it in the group and then refine it when preparing for the event. Also, pay more attention to posters in your circle of friends and participate in other people's activities more often. Once you feel the internet, creativity will naturally come.

Q3. How to promote the event and how to obtain the precise audience group?

——It is difficult to accurately reach customer groups and it is difficult to recruit people for activities

A: One is to attract new customers: find the corresponding channels, which can be Weibo or WeChat, social networks, or KOCs in the industry to discuss replacements. The second is repeat purchase and referral: establishing a mechanism for old customers to bring in new customers.

Q4. How to solve the problem of user churn?

A: In event operation, user loss is inevitable. You can set up multiple layers of retention during the event: service account, community (event site group, improvement group), and staff WeChat.

Q5. How to combine branding and customer acquisition during activities?

A: Brand and customer acquisition are not two opposites. Integrate your products and services into the event. (The premise is that it is intuitive and not abrupt), Mubu is a tool for mind mapping. They cooperate with many forums and provide mind maps to participants after the meeting.

Q6. What should I do if the expected effect of the activity plan is very different from the actual situation?

A: There are two reasons. First, are there any benchmarking activities in the preliminary research? Failure to conduct sufficient research led to misjudgment of expectations. The second is whether the activity meets the users’ real expectations.

Q7. Activities are usually rushed, so the final version of the plan takes about a week to prepare for the event?

A: Plan ahead and add one to two weeks of preparation time to the estimated time. (When faced with a task assigned by the leader, the project leader cannot just save face and say that the task will be launched in a week).