How to plan a successful and beautiful event?

As an operator, event promotion (event operation) is the most commonly used promotional method in our work. It is also an effective way to attract traffic and interact through event planning , creative planning, event reciprocity, and interactive feedback . Therefore, event promotion in marketing promotion is the main job of event operation and also the most outstanding highlight in this line of work.

Users, that is, traffic, are the audience groups and precise targets that product and service type companies target. Marketing, operations, and products are core businesses. They are the most direct optimization paths for attracting new users (traffic), retaining users, activating users, and converting and monetizing users . They need to understand user needs, know user portraits, optimize products, and iterate and update. An important part of this is marketing promotion activity planning . Internet business models vary greatly. Although they emerge in an endless stream, they are all highly homogenized in their respective fields. More promotional activities are needed to increase the brand effect of a company's products or services and its ability to convert and change. The era of operation-led products has arrived!

If a product’s inherent advantages are not particularly obvious or there are relatively many competing products on the market, it will need to constantly plan and innovate to attract users.

There are many online and offline activities, such as: red envelope subsidies (fission), hot spot marketing, fission increase, etc.!

Like the previous subsidy war between Meituan and Didi (red envelope subsidies), Vatti World Cup (hot spot marketing), New World View’s first public class (fission growth), etc.! I believe everyone still has an impression of it.

However, not everyone can plan a classic or even screen-sweeping event.

Many people don’t know how to carry out activities or allocate resources when planning them. Some are not even clear about the purpose of their activities. This is very scary.

So when the company gives you an indicator to plan an event, in addition to some necessary directions or links that need to be planned, I believe you will have a complete idea.

Next, I will mainly talk about the main ideas of event operations, how to successfully plan an online and an offline event plan, and be able to implement and coordinate the implementation, and finally conduct event review and data statistical analysis.

What is event operation? 】

Event operation: Plan different marketing activities around the company's products, and try every means to promote sales volume and other indicators!

It refers to the operation of event companies for different activities and activities of different natures, including activity planning, activity implementation, activity execution tracking, analysis and evaluation of activity effects, etc. Event operations are like new media operations, e-commerce operations, user operations, community operations, etc. They only control and are responsible for one link, and also require both strategies and methods.

【Activity planning ideas】

The so-called planning is actually a relatively good idea. Event planning is to express it through good creative planning, so that it can produce the actual effect of aggregation and fission, so as to achieve the purpose of event promotion.

There are three specific requirements for event planning:

1. Rationality of resource integration;

2. Controllability and operability of implementation and operation;

3. Pay attention to the audience's participation and interactivity.

Steps for event planning:

Event planning format

1. Activity title: The title should be attractive, with a clear theme, concise language and novelty;

2. Activity Directory: Make an overview of the entire activity;

3. Interaction time and activity location: The activity time and location should be accurate and detailed;

4. Target audience: main popularity, what kind of people are targeted, how many people are expected, and what kind of effect will be achieved.

5. Purpose and significance of the activity: the benefits and effects that the activity can bring;

6. Activity form: Activity forms such as exhibitions, performances, competitions, etc.;

7. Activity content: including the entire activity process and detailed activity rules. The entire activity must be logical and executable, including the name of each small activity, prizes and special instructions.

8. Activity template: The activity template including the pictures should be consistent with the theme. If there is no suitable template, first determine the content and allocate time reasonably. Pictures can be hand-drawn, photographed, or Photoshopped;

9. Activity quotation: After planning the activity, each activity should be quoted in advance. The initial quotation can be a rough overall price, and a few large blocks can be named. The principle of activity quotation is that everything must be paid for;

10. Activity Execution:

Bill of Materials – name, size, text, notes;

Implementation Manuals – other implementation manuals can be referenced;

Personnel division of labor - detailed division of labor and personnel for each stage, which is also indicated in the implementation manual;

Promotion: time, outlet, content;

Expected goal - what effect can be achieved;

Purchase list – all materials needed for the entire activity;

Staff recruitment - such as part-time jobs, etc.

Activity Operation Thinking Framework

【Sharing of offline event planning】

Our original intention of doing this series of activities is to attract new customers.

Next, when designing each link, we will first ask ourselves: Is this helpful to our target users? If you don't think about this, the force will be dispersed and the movement will become small punches hitting your boyfriend.

Offline promotion activities case

Just like in a relationship, if you show off your "perfection" in front of a girl from the beginning, you may end up losing points cruelly.
A better way is to be yourself from the beginning and slowly get better with her. This is a positive and positive process. She has expectations and surprises, and you also have motivation.
There is also some control over user expectations. This is an event for sharing useful information. Users are willing to participate, and 80% of them come for the high-quality content, so we should focus on making the content outstanding.
For the remaining 20%, there is no need to over-commit at the beginning. Actively collect user feedback after the event and continuously iterate and improve.

To summarize:

• Communicate with users to clarify their expectations (e.g. ask them: if you can only get one thing from the event, what would it be?);
• Don’t over-promise, which will lead to disappointment.
• Users will be happy to help you improve. Collect feedback in a timely manner and improve a little at a time.
• For example, through three activities, we have gradually improved these details:
• The best state is to overcome the formulation of various SOPs and eventually digest each link of the SOP, so that you can easily control it and reproduce it perfectly.

1-1 Preparation period

During the preparation period, you must fully think through the overall plan, which will consume 80% of your energy. After laying a solid foundation, the subsequent execution and activities will be very easy.

1-1-1 Solution

1-1-2 Schedule

(1) Hold a meeting with all collaborators to clarify the division of labor, deadlines, and feedback methods.

(2) Use a Gantt chart to synchronize work items, responsible persons, assistants, deadlines, daily progress feedback, etc. to everyone. Gantt charts can be created using Excel, or using more efficient online collaboration tools such as Teambition.

Activity Scheduling Gantt Chart

1-1-3 Venue

(1) When choosing a venue, the first thing to consider is its quality. Maybe because we ourselves are a venue booking platform, we pay special attention to this aspect.

(2) Site Selection SOP

1-1-4 Guests

We not only need to give topics, but also serve as assistants to help guests get into the state quickly, refine the content and implement it.

After getting a preliminary agreement, she was given a database of topics to choose from.

After the topic is determined, read all the text and video materials that can be found on the Internet, including the guest’s circle of friends, within 1 day, and quickly make an outline for him.

Topic table

1-2 Execution Period

I mentioned an important principle earlier: manage expectations. During the execution phase, digging deep into the details often exceeds user expectations.

1-2-1 Promotional copy

1-2-2 Activity Registration Process and Scripts

The devil is in the details. After the event is launched, corresponding operations and scripts need to be prepared for different users at different stages.

Generally, it can be divided into after registration – after joining the group – after passing the review – after failing the review – activity overview information – early collection of user information.

After the user completes the registration, a special invitation letter will be sent to him/her in a timely manner, and the user is advised to post it on WeChat Moments.

1-2-3 Event Materials

(1) Every profession has its own specialization. Just deliver the copy in the designer's language and expect the style, don't talk too much. If you master simple PS, there will be continuous communication channels and partners coming in later. You can change the words and add the LOGO by yourself, which will be much more efficient.

(2) Offline physical posters are generally useless. They will not be photographed and do not have the function of providing directions.

(3) The three-dimensional lettering effect is very impressive and is highly recommended, but you must be particularly careful when moving it.

(4) Business-related gifts, such as playing cards and venue guide booklets provided by Baichanghui, have received good feedback from users.

1-2-4 Implementation of promotion channels

If you can add a channel ID, you must add it to facilitate tracking of results and timely optimization of the channel.

1-3 On-site

1-3-1 Sign in

Signing in is the first impression a user has when arriving at the site, and its importance goes without saying.

Take #CEO talks about employing people# as an example. The weather has been hot recently and it is not easy for users to arrive at the site.

Therefore, when we sign in, we will give users wet wipes.

Because the users who come here are basically management, when they sign in, we don’t say, “Hello, please sign in here.”

But it’s Mr. Chen, hello, you are here. Come here and sign your name.

Usually users will be confused for a moment, and then this small detail exceeds their expectations.

1-3-2 Before the Opening

Some users arrived early, or the activity was slightly delayed by 10 minutes, etc., which can be regarded as boring waiting time.

(1) Playing videos of various partners ensures that the partners are exposed and that users do not feel that the atmosphere of the venue is cold.

(2) Let your business colleagues contact users during this golden time, distribute business cards, introduce business, etc.

(3) Allow users to get to know each other and communicate with each other. A catalyst is usually required, which is a supply and demand table prepared in advance. Let everyone know who has what resources on the scene that I am interested in.

1-3-3 Opening

Three must-haves for a host:

(1) Review the process with the guests at least half an hour in advance and ask them about some interesting jokes and stories, which is very effective in livening up the atmosphere.

(2) When the guest is giving a speech, it is the time when the host cannot relax the most. It is very important to summarize the key points and ask questions after the speech.

(3) Sell advertising openly and with confidence. The more you hide it, the more uncomfortable the users will feel. Our usual line is: "Okay, now it's finally the moment everyone is looking forward to today - commercial time!"

1-3-4 Speech

(1) Remind the time (2) Summarize the key points and output the golden sentences in time (3) Quickly export the on-site pictures

There will be many accidents on site. I have encountered these strange situations before and summarized some coping strategies:

(1) Power outage: Therefore, the venue must have a backup power supply, a writing board, and a handheld speaker;
(2) PPT issues: prepare a spare computer, spare conversion cable, and spare page-turning pen;
(3) Speaker is late: move the interactive session forward, socializing first, then giving lectures;
(4) Too few people: Therefore, it is recommended to charge a "seat reservation fee" for free events, which will be refunded on site.

1-3-5 End of the show

The worst thing about doing an event is to start well but end badly, because of the principle of recency, the feelings afterwards are often related to the ending. At this time, it is even more necessary to exceed users' expectations.

(1) Materials: Wet wipes when it’s hot, hand warmers when it’s cold, raincoats when it rains, etc.
(2) Show off: Prepare the on-site pictures, introductions, short videos (VUE is recommended) and so on that you will need to post on your Moments.
(3) Create an atmosphere: Prepare an area nearby for users who need questions to communicate with the guests. At the same time

We need to release the supply and demand table to continue to let everyone get to know each other. Remember to take photos at this time so that you can recreate the lively feeling later.

1-4 After the event

From a brand perspective, the scale of offline activities is limited after all, and online communication is the ultimate goal. The finishing kick requires all the martial arts in the world, and only speed can be defeated. When users still have the desire to share, you should proactively provide them with materials.

1-4-1 Content Production

(1) Article

Activities on Saturday afternoon, shorthand draft produced in the evening. Start organizing on Sunday and send it out on Monday. The structure is wonderful quotes – user reviews – useful content – ​​on-site pictures – video viewing link.

2) Video Production

It is best to use two cameras and directly use the microphone to pick up the sound. The second best is "Little Bee". Avoid recording with the machine's own radio equipment, as the effect will be very poor. When making a video, you should set the SOP in advance.

(1) Follow-up visit to the event site

Before the event was about to end, everyone was asked to scan the QR code and fill out a feedback form, writing their feedback on the event and guests on the spot. They were also given gift incentives. Our prize was a book.

There are two main purposes for doing this: to understand users' views on the event and to collect positive feedback for subsequent dissemination and endorsement.

(2) Follow-up visit

After the event, we added participants to the CRM system, conducted follow-up visits and provided feedback via WeChat, phone calls, and emails, introduced the Baichanghui business once again, and used preferential prices to attract event users to become users of our products.

1-4-3 Review

Finally, if you have come here, I believe you must be a patient person. There are too many things to take care of in operations, but if you sort them out, you will have the feeling of commanding thousands of troops and making plans. Once you have this feeling, remember it! It will take you far.

This way you will have a clear operational structure diagram for your event

We built the activity operation structure diagram step by step with user-oriented thinking. Of course, each activity has its own special circumstances, so we can't copy it completely, and there are various methods that cannot be listed one by one. We need to understand the logic behind it, combine it with the actual situation, innovate, break through, and explore more effective methods, so that we can organize activities that gain great reputation.

Finally: After all, activities are only an effective way to acquire customers or promote sales in the short term. If a company does not maximize its product improvements and serve its users, it can only rely on activities to maintain the product’s life cycle. Putting aside your marketing costs, the market is becoming more and more homogeneous, and the strategies used by various products are basically similar. If you don't innovate and improve, you will eventually be eliminated by the market.

Author:joanna

Source: joanna