Guide to writing event operation plan!

No matter what kind of operational activities you do to attract new customers or promote sales, you can’t do without a plan.

Reporting upward, assigning tasks downward, collaborating externally, and dividing work internally all require an activity operation document.

However, an event operation plan is not just a document. Behind a complete and beautiful plan document is a comprehensive design of event analysis, creative planning and on-site operations. It is necessary and important to write a good event operation plan.

What is the use of activity plan ?

An activity operation plan refers to a written plan document and execution instructions developed for specific operational activity goals to better ensure that the activity goals are achieved.

A qualified event operation plan has three criteria: evaluable, which answers the question of why to hold an event; executable, which answers the question of how to hold an event; and measurable, which answers the question of how to evaluate the effectiveness of the event.

Writing an activity operation plan is, on the one hand, for yourself to help you better design and sort out the ideas and elements of the activity. On the other hand, it is also for "others":

• Write to the leader: report, evaluate and communicate to improve, strive for activity resources, and improve the feasibility of the activity;
• To colleagues: Synchronize the planning division of labor and progress information of all parties involved in the activity to promote efficient implementation of cooperative activities;
• To the team: Ensure consistency of goals, make division of labor arrangements for activity execution, and promote activities to ensure implementation.

From this perspective, the event operation plan is still very useful, so write it well.

Activity plan 5W2H1E

There is a guiding model for writing activity plans: 5W2H1E. You guessed it right, it is also the first letters of a bunch of English words:

• What：What is it? What is the direct perception that the theme and content of the activity plan give to users?
• Why：Why? What is the background and reason for the activity? Why is it done? How to do this?
• Who：Who? What are the respective roles and tasks of the organizers, collaborators, and participants of the event?
• When: When? What is the time rhythm of the activity and the operational actions at each node?
• Where: Where? What are the scenarios and channels for the activities? Where do users participate in the activities?
• How: How to do it? What are the rules and implementation methods of the activity? How to achieve the goal efficiently?
• How much? What are the quantities, budget and expected benefits of the activity?
• Effect: Effect? What are the expected results of the activity, what goals can be achieved and what impacts can be achieved?

It is easy to understand. The 5W2H1E model can help us quickly evaluate the feasibility when writing an activity plan, build a systematic activity idea, and ensure the comprehensiveness of the plan.

So before writing the plan, ask yourself 5+2+1=8 questions. After writing the plan, ask yourself these 8 questions again.

10 elements of activity plan

A complete activity plan includes 10 elements, which will have different emphases depending on the importance and complexity of the activity, but we will still share them in detail.

1. Event Background

The background of the activity refers to the background conditions and problem requirements under which this operation activity is initiated. The background part can explain the necessity of the activity, that is, "why should this activity be done".

The SCQA model (from "The Pyramid Principle") can be used to write the background, which can describe the background in a more structured way and explain the cause of the activity:

• Situation: The current situation is explained by familiar facts, data and situational phenomena;
• Complication: Find out the gaps and conflicts between the current situation and operational goals;
• Question-Problem: Propose current problems to be solved and operational directions;
• Answer-Answer: Introduce the solution and main function of the activity.

The more important, complex, or newer the activity idea is, the more important it is to explain it in the activity background section. For activities with a high degree of consensus or that are more formulaic, the background of the activity can be appropriately simplified.

2. Activity Objectives

Activity goals, that is, the operational purposes and results to be achieved through the activities, should use quantitative indicators to clarify specific goals as much as possible. Activity goals are estimates and expectations of activity effects, reflecting the orientation and feasibility of the activity, and serve as a measure of activity effects during and after the activity.

There is also a smart principle for goal setting, namely specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. I won’t go into details.

The specific indicators are determined more by referring to historical or similar activity data of competitors to set overall goals, and then the overall goals are adjusted by summarizing the estimated data according to the activity links.

3. Active Users

Activity users refer to the user group that the activity is aimed at. Binding activity goals and limiting user groups can guide the design of activity gameplay and improve gameplay effects.

When the active user group is relatively homogeneous, it is sufficient to define the user group and describe the main characteristics of the users. The diverse user composition requires differentiated activity strategies, breaking down the user composition for user stratification analysis, and guiding subsequent activity design.

4. Activity theme

The theme of an event, or the "gimmick" of the event, is often a title-style copy that highlights the core benefits and highlights of the event. Clarify the core interests of the event and ensure consistency in event planning and operations; at the same time, highlight the highlights of the event to facilitate the promotion and dissemination of the event and attract more target users to pay attention to and participate in the event.

Some ideas for writing activity themes:

• Arouse interest: free or 0 yuan for multiple uses/special dates or events/celebrity effect/feelings/pain points;
• Explanation of benefits: red envelope gift rewards/exclusive limited benefits/new experiences;
• Guide actions: limited quantity and time/social participation/low threshold.

5. How to play the activity

The gameplay of an activity is the core content of activity planning, namely the main form packaging, participation process, and rule description of the operation activity. This part determines the final effect of event planning and operation, and is also the core of program review and operation.

When writing activity rules, the user perspective should be the main consideration, supplemented by the operation perspective, and more attention should be paid to how users participate in the activity.

The main forms of presentation of the activity in the form packaging (lottery, bargaining, coupon issuance) can be assisted by key page prototype diagrams; the participation process is the specific behavioral process and feedback rules for users to participate in the activity, which can be assisted by flowcharts; the rule description is the detailed rules of the activity, such as reward rules, failure rules, etc., which should be as comprehensive and clear as possible.

6. Time period

The time cycle refers to the time stages and operation arrangements of the entire activity operation process, including the start and end time, and the stage time of the activity. The binding of activity time nodes affects the specific actions and effects of the operation, and the operation arrangements in phases can effectively promote and improve the effectiveness of the activity.

The time cycle is not just writing a simple time and date, it includes activity time nodes and cycle stages. Under the premise of ensuring the timeliness of the event, give priority to festivals/event nodes, and you can also combine limited-time and regular methods to amplify the event operation effect. The stages of longer-cycle activities include: promotion warm-up period, climax period, closing and encore period, etc., taking into account the operational focus and actions of each stage.

7. Promotion

Promotion refers to the promotional activities used to reach more target users and the channels and methods used to increase activity exposure. Reach out and attract more users to participate in the event, ensure the scale of users participating in the event, and maximize the effect of the event.

This part requires sorting out various promotional resources inside and outside the site, determining the available resources and schedules suitable for the event, and designing matching promotional content in a targeted manner.

8. Cost-benefit

Cost-benefit refers to the activity’s cost budget and expected ROI (return on investment). The scale and efficiency of the activity's investment are the basic support for the activity's operation costs and determine how the activity is operated.

Cost items include reward costs, promotion costs, subsidy costs, etc. They should be estimated in combination with the activity goals, taking into account the overall cost, cost per user, or fixed cost and variable cost, and clearly listing the expenses of the activity.

Combined with the estimated target revenue and cost, the ROI (return on investment) of the activity is calculated, which is also part of the activity goal, to determine the expected activity revenue effect.

9. Division of labor and cooperation

Division of labor and cooperation refers to the external resource support and personnel teamwork involved in the operation of the event. This is a prerequisite for the effective implementation and implementation of event operation projects, and it is also a means to reduce communication costs and problems when cooperating with external parties.

Larger e-commerce activities involve the participation of production and research teams, product teams, data teams, marketing teams, and community/customer service teams, and the matters and time arrangements of all parties must be clearly stated in the plan. Division of labor and cooperation usually takes place after the core gameplay of the activity is confirmed, and is planned and managed in the form of a project Gantt chart before implementation.

10. Risk Assessment

Risk assessment refers to the risk issues that may arise during the operation of an activity and the ways to deal with them. Clarify activity risks and response methods in advance to reduce problems during activity operations and maximize the guarantee of activity progress and effectiveness.

Common activity risks include experience risk, customer complaint risk, and cost risk. Refer to historical activity experience and data analysis to determine the probability of risk occurrence and the size of the impact, and rank and explain the risks. For risks that can be reasonably avoided, modify the plan to avoid them; for risks that cannot be avoided, design and prepare response methods in advance.

The above is the discussion on the preparation of activity plan. The activity plans have different focuses and are constantly improved at different stages from event initiation and planning to final implementation.

In the early stage of upward reporting and evaluation of the plan, the plan rhythm is basically complete, the activity background, activity goals, activity users, activity gameplay, cost-benefit, and risk assessment content are complete, and the activity theme, time period, publicity and promotion, and division of labor and cooperation can be weakened.

During the cooperation preparation stage after the plan is finalized, we will further improve the gameplay of the event, clarify the theme of the event, and promote it, with the focus on the time period and division of labor and cooperation to ensure effective external communication.

During the subsequent execution and operation phase of the activity, the time period will be further clarified and refined, the specific content and time schedule of the division of labor and cooperation will be determined, and the internal division of labor and SOP content of the operation team will be increased.

That’s about it, write a plan and think through the activity.