5 key elements of event operation!

Event operations are more explosive and require a short-term improvement in a certain indicator, such as the number of users, transaction volume, brand reputation, etc.

In the long-term event operation process, I found that as long as you grasp the five elements of an event, an event will mostly achieve the expected results.

These five elements are the purpose of the event, the rhythm of the event, gimmicks and benefits, gameplay, and resource integration. Next we will analyze them one by one.

1. Purpose of the activity

Every activity has a first priority purpose; don’t try to have everything. The purpose of the activity is to serve the current operational strategy. I remember that one year Tmall’s major strategy was to improve fashion sense. This seemingly vague goal, when applied to Tmall clothing, was to increase the average order value through a series of activities. Please note that indicators such as brand favorability, transaction volume, and conversion rate are not mentioned here, but the focus is on the single indicator of average order value.

Because this is the indicator most positively correlated with fashion. If consumers buy clothing from international first-line brands on Tmall, the average order value will naturally go up, the platform will naturally appear more fashionable, and more fashion brands will move in one after another.

Therefore, the activities during that period were not aimed at promoting Taobao brands that are well known to the public, but rather a selection of internationally renowned brands, trendy labels, and cutting-edge products. Merchants were not forced to offer discounts, but the activities were presented through celebrity endorsements, limited-edition gifts for purchases over a certain amount, and content provided by fashion bloggers. In this way, the average order value for the current period will definitely increase. As for whether sales will increase, it is not our top priority at the moment.

If there are many objectives for an event, it is easy for the operator to feel overwhelmed during the process, and often ends up not taking care of any of them.

2. Activity rhythm

Experienced operators have a strong sense of rhythm, which is part of the art of operations.

The rhythm of an event is usually divided into: a momentum-building period (optional), a warm-up period, a formal period, and a closing period. There are things to do at every stage and responsibilities to shoulder. It is not just a process.

The campaign building period is usually two weeks to one month before the official campaign begins. The focus of work during this period is to release PR drafts to reveal some highlights of the event. The complete preview will be placed in the next stage. However, companies without such strong appeal generally remove or weaken this stage. After all, information in the online world is too explosive, and users may not be so patient with you for long.

Warm-up period: usually 3-5 days before the official period. The focus of work during this period is to announce the highlights and benefits of the event, which on e-commerce websites means exposing event products, playing games, drawing prizes, receiving coupons, adding items to favorites and shopping carts, etc. The more important the event, the more energy will be focused on the warm-up period.

Formal period: usually 1-3 days. The focus of work during this period is transformation. For e-commerce websites, it is important to select products well, ensure a smooth shopping process, and convert traffic into sales to the greatest extent possible. For offline brand communication activities, the main focus during this period is to make the on-site experience exceed expectations, allow users to become fans and spread the word spontaneously.

Final stage: The event is definitely not limited to the official stage, dear friends! Remember to end it with a beautiful tail. The significance of the ending cannot be ignored. Internally, it is a time to review and summarize and draw lessons from experience; externally, it is a time to announce the successful conclusion of the event, package the highlights and explosive points of the entire event, and do a great public relations job. Tmall did a great job at the end of Double 11, with sufficient external voice and highlights, and the site also used the remaining traffic for return promotions.

3. Gimmicks & Benefits

After talking about the rhythm of the event, let’s talk about the gimmicks and benefits of the event. Gimmicks and profits are a natural match and always go hand in hand. This is similar to what we usually call the theme of an event, but it is divided into two words: gimmick and interest point. The main purpose is to remind everyone that the theme of the event must be "both hard and soft".

Gimmick: It is the soft part, finding an eye-catching reason for your event. For example, holidays (such as Valentine's Day), anniversaries (such as anniversaries), milestones (such as 1 million registered users), hot events (such as the World Cup), etc.

Benefit point: the hard part, the benefits that users can enjoy. For example, discounts, cash back, one person gets the meal free when two people travel together, increased user benefits, etc.

"Soft and hard tactics" is also the golden rule for making banners. The banners we see on e-commerce websites are basically a combination of the two. Gimmicks + profit points + hot pictures are the guarantee of banner click-through rate. Find out what the gimmicks and benefits of the following two banners are?

4. How to play the activity

The gameplay is the link between the gimmick and the interest point, and it is also the amplifier of the activity. A good way to play should be novel, fun and easy to operate. The way to play the activity is not to let you get the benefit points for nothing, but to give them to you after you do something fun and interesting.

For example, common ways to play include red envelope rain, fission red envelopes, collecting five blessings, collecting stories, posting photos, forwarding lottery, collecting likes, etc. The principle is not to actively give users coupons and red envelopes, but to wait until he participates in an interaction. The result of this is that it will stimulate participants to share and spread, which greatly mobilizes user enthusiasm. Moreover, the coupons and red envelopes that users receive after their hard work are more likely to be used during the event. If you pay close attention, you will find that during the warm-up period of Double 11, many ways of playing will be prepared and presented one by one, making users feel fresh, fun and stimulating, and they will forward them to their friends circle or group to invite friends to play together.

5. Resource Integration

With the previous elements, the activity is basically complete, but sometimes the resources are insufficient and it always feels like something is missing. Maybe it is the lack of an attractive prize, maybe it is the lack of a good idea, maybe it is the lack of a perfect venue, maybe it is the lack of some content that can make the event more comprehensive. The most common problem is the lack of a target group that can be reached. At this time, event operations are needed to integrate resources. You should use your strongest point to exchange for the strongest point of others, thus forming a powerful alliance.

The startups I've experienced mainly use creativity and content to exchange for other parties' users. For example, the first startup I joined after leaving Alibaba was "Dongjia" APP, an e-commerce platform for handicrafts by artisans. After the angel round, what it lacked was not money, but how to quickly acquire accurate users.

Generally speaking, our users are those who are wealthy, have free time, have taste, experience, and demand for quality of life. This group of people accounts for a very small and scattered proportion of all Internet users, so placing advertisements will not work. We found that it may be difficult to pick out this group of people online, but they do form certain clusters offline, such as in teahouses, tea expos, cultural and creative conferences, design weeks, high-end real estate projects, high-end shopping malls, bank VIP customers, MBAs, etc.

So in the early days we did a lot of offline activities, and most of them were free. How do we do this? We play the role of "craftsman agent", packaging the craftsmen's works, stories, on-site demonstrations, etc. into excellent event proposals to BD the other party's venues and users.

Many high-end venues/high-end communities also want to use such activities to serve their users, but it is too troublesome for them to find and hire craftsmen themselves. It is better for them to cooperate with "craftsman agents" like us.

This way, cooperation between the two parties is a win-win situation. We are responsible for inviting craftsmen and planning events, while the other party is responsible for setting up the venue and inviting their users. After coming into contact with our craftsmen and their works, a large proportion of these offline participating users will be converted into our users.

If an activity has the above five elements, it can basically be considered a good activity. But if we want to fully gain nourishment from each activity, we also need to review the activities. You can reinterpret a completed project from six parts: activity background, activity goals, process review, activity data, experience summary, and follow-up plans, so as to gain a deeper understanding of the matter.

Author: Ponyfish

Source: Ponyfish