Planning an event? Using node-based architecture

What is the node-based architecture of activities? How to achieve it? This article provides you with a way of thinking.

1. Introduction

Almost all Internet companies hold events for marketing promotion . The activities vary in size and type, but many of the core elements are basically universal. This article aims to provide a new type of activity construction idea for event planners to choose as an activity architecture tool .

From the idea to the execution of an event, there are three most difficult stages: psychological stage, creative stage, and execution stage .

Many novice planners cannot guarantee that an event will produce ideal results, so they are often anxious during the initial preparations for the event. This is a psychological barrier. The creative stage and the execution stage mean exactly what their names imply, and are mainly reflected in the difficulty of creative conception and execution details.

If a complete activity is divided into levels, it can be roughly divided into: creative layer, architectural layer, execution layer, and result layer (impact layer).

2. Concept Analysis

The above introduction is over, and what follows is the main body of the article, which is the node-based activity architecture method.

What is the node-based architecture of activities? To put it bluntly, if we break down the activity, we can think of it as nodes communicating and influencing all the steps and final results of the activity. If we break down the nodes of an activity in enough detail and execute them perfectly, the result of an activity should also be perfect. Of course, perfection is difficult to achieve in real life, but we can try our best to get closer to perfection.

After understanding the node-based architecture, the next crucial step is the conversion method, which is the idea of ​​an activity concept, which is to reverse the activity planning, from the general sequential recursive method (creativity - architecture - execution - results) directly to the result layer.

If I can do this event well, what nodes should I do well? According to the node-based architecture, if I can find some key nodes and execute them well, theoretically the activity will have a better effect.

To use a common analogy, a country has only one capital, but it is impossible to communicate throughout the country relying solely on one capital. So outside the capital, there are dozens of important cities, and around these important cities, there are many towns. The capital, important cities and towns are connected by roads, so that a country has a smooth transportation network across the country.

For an activity, the activity target is the capital city, and the execution steps are all important cities, which are also key nodes. The execution details are towns, which are detail nodes.

Why do I divide the execution process into key nodes and detail nodes? Mainly, among the many nodes of an activity, some nodes have a great impact on the activity, some have little impact on the activity, some activity nodes last for a long time, and some activity nodes can be completed in a short while, so we still need a node level division.

It's like you are an emperor now, so where does your power come from? Some would say that all people are, in essence, yes, but not in appearance.

The ministers' power comes from the people, and the emperor's power comes from the ministers. For a farmer, both the ninth-rank official and the emperor can decide his life or death, and he needs to kneel down when he sees them. So for the farmer, there is a difference between the ninth-rank official and the emperor in their core, but not much difference in appearance.

The farmer thought that the seventh-rank official was more powerful than the ninth-rank official because the ninth-rank official had to kneel down when he met the seventh-rank official. Similarly, the farmer thought the emperor was more powerful than the ministers because the ministers had to kneel when they saw the emperor. The emperor's power needs to be reflected by the ministers kneeling.

3. Activity Node Analysis

With the basic concepts clarified, the next step is to conduct a detailed analysis of each level of the activity.

1. Creative layer

This is the stage where you should be most imaginative, without having to consider the difficulty of implementation or the social impact. You just need to follow the direction of the ultimate goal of the event, which is to get more people involved, or to maximize the influence, or to have a strong contrast. This stage establishes the theme of the event, so the creative layer is a separate node.

Different activities have different requirements for creativity. For example, the main ways to attract new customers are: voting, lottery, Q&A, calculation, etc. The core of event marketing is huge contrast. Only by turning the impossible into possible can you create a deep impression on people and make them willing to spread the word for you. Good, bad, legendary...

Specific creative starting point suggestions can refer to the marketing concept of the seven deadly sins (pride, envy, anger, laziness, greed, lust and gluttony). These seven sins are the most primitive desires in the human heart. Use discounts to satisfy greed, use ugliness to satisfy arrogance, use convenience to satisfy laziness, and use beautiful women to satisfy lust...

Use your brain and think boldly.

2. Architecture layer

The architecture layer is to turn an idea into an executable plan and to implement an idea into the execution details of an activity, which requires logical architecture. At this stage, we will complete the exploration of the main nodes.

There is a key point here. The nodes must be complete and the plan must be detailed. Simply put, you can imagine that the people who execute the plan are fools. They can only understand the literal meaning and responsibilities in the plan. The plan writers need to anticipate each execution link, clarify responsibilities, and make good plans during the drafting process.

For an event, which nodes are the most important? At this stage, we must first understand the activity goals and structure the nodes based on the activity goals.

Taking a new customer acquisition event as an example, when should the event be held, how long should it last, how much human, material and financial support is needed, which channel do users come from, is it necessary to expand the channel, what operations do users need to complete when they come in, which operations are more likely to retain users, what to do in case of accidents, etc. These are all issues that need to be solved at the architecture level.

Therefore, a complete event must at least include several key nodes such as the event theme, event execution time, event cycle, whether it is a series of events, event location (platform), execution team, publicity channels (user entry solution), event venue preparation and layout (event website architecture), event budget, material preparation, risk plan, and result estimation.

In more general terms, a complete event plan should include the following key items:

• Activity Theme
• Activity Objectives
• Event Time
• Event Location
• Person in charge
• Executive Team
• Event Background
• Feasibility Analysis
• Preliminary preparation
• Execution steps
• Promotional Plan
• Budget table
• Risk Plan
• Result prediction

At this stage, our most important consideration is how to ensure the effectiveness of the event. The ultimate factors here may be publicity, execution, etc.

Here are some common communication channels:

(1) Free

① Baidu system

Baidu Knows, Baidu Encyclopedia , Baidu Library, Baidu Baike , Baidu Bear, Baidu Tieba , Baidu Experience

② 360 series

360 Encyclopedia, 360 Q&A, 360 Security Community

③We Media

Weibo, WeChat , Toutiao , Yidian Zixun , Tiantian Kuaibao, Baidu Baike, UC Dayu, QQ public account , NetEase media open platform, Tencent content open platform, Phoenix media open platform, 360 public media account, NetEase Cloud Reading Author Center, MiLiao subscription and publishing platform, cover account, Jianshu

④ Online community

Tianya , Zhihu, Douban , and related forums

⑤ Entrepreneurship service platform

Lieyun.com , 36kr , Venture Capital Circle, IT Orange, New Bud, Huxiu

⑥ Authoritative media

Sutu.com, Paidai.com, Webmaster.com, Lu Songsong Blog

⑦Community :

QQ group, WeChat group , Momo group

(2) Payment

①Search engine promotion

Baidu, 360, Sogou , Shenma

②Network Alliance

Baidu Union, Guangzhou Union

③ Advertising platform

Huadu advertising, Bilibili , Meipai , Douyin , Tencent social advertising, mainstream video website advertising

④Other marketing methods

KOL , community marketing , cross-industry cooperation, event marketing, email marketing , live broadcast advertising, H5 sharing page

3. Execution Layer

Now that you have a complete plan, the next step is execution. Execution is the implementation and refinement of the plan, that is, execution and supplementation based on existing important nodes and actual conditions.

The execution process can be completed according to three tables: timetable, material table, and character table

• The timetable organizes matters in chronological order and standardizes the execution process of activities;
• The material table organizes the online and offline execution materials needed for each matter to facilitate preparation;
• The character table organizes the matters that each person needs to be responsible for and clarifies responsibilities.

The timetable, material list, and personnel list basically include most of the detailed nodes of the activity execution.

4. Result layer

The result layer is when the activity has ended and entered the closing stage. The focus of this stage is to actively spread the impact of the activity and review the data of the activity, which are the two most important nodes in the result layer.

To sum up, the node-based architecture of an activity is to split all the processes of the activity into nodes through reverse thinking, and achieve the ultimate goal of controlling the activity by controlling each node . This article only provides an idea, and everyone can improve the specific plan.

Author: Dou Yongqiang, authorized to publish by Qinggua Media .

Source: Dou Yongqiang