How Will Effective Communication Lead to Successful Events
We’ve all heard the key to any successful relationship is communication, and the same goes for successful event management. With numerous parties involved such as your team, guests, and various vendors, developing a communication plan that is effective and thoroughly detailed, will ensure your event planning goes off without a hitch.
Communication is key
A well-thought-out communication plan provides transparency to all people involved in the event you will be hosting. Once the date and time of your venue booking are set in motion, providing clear expectations through a built-out communication plan will guarantee tight deadlines are not missed. The absence of an effective communication plan could ultimately be detrimental to your event.
With Piovra being an established force in venue management and venue consulting, we are confident when it comes to our communication planning skills, providing top-tier and detailed timelines that help all of our events stay on track.
Pre-Event Communication
Laying a strong foundation for your communication plan will allow for all parties involved to be as clear as possible when it comes to dedicated tasks and responsibilities. The plan should be easily accessible to everyone involved and should address the following:
Event timeline: Guests attending the event will want to know what to expect when showing up. Your event timeline should cover when and where presentations will be taking place, key speakers, attractions, and so forth.
Communication avenues: How are you going to get the word out about your event? How and where to meet your audience and potential attendees should be considered carefully to make sure you have a successful attendance.
Detailed considerations: Will there be attractions at your event venue such as a photo booth or props? Are you going to have food and drinks at your event? Will it be a buffet style or serving style? Open bar with tickets or guests pay for their drinks? You will want to make sure all of these details are carefully considered and thought out to make sure your event runs as smoothly as possible.
All of these considerations should be built into a master plan so everyone is on the same page and knows what they are responsible for.
Communication Tools and Avenues
There are countless avenues in today’s digital age where an event can be effectively communicated. Depending on the type of event and its purpose, you should consider the following when it comes to announcing your event:
Event landing page: Make sure you provide a landing page where attendees have all the details about your event consolidated in one place. You will want to make sure all forms of communication lead back to the landing page in order to create a one-stop shop for guests seeking out information. This could also be developed into a mobile app for increased accessibility and convenience for guests.
Digital billboards and banners: Depending on the purpose of your event, creating digital banners or billboards can increase visibility and exposure for your event. These avenues of communication can be targeted at specific audiences so that you are reaching your target market for your event.
Social Media: In order to spread the word about your event, social media is a great way to do so quickly based on shareability. With people constantly consuming their social feeds, you can create social media ads or group chats within a specific social platform.
Email Blasts: Email is another way to communicate quickly and effectively, without being invasive. You can create larger email blast lists and use analytics to see who opened the email to measure your success. Email also allows you to send updates to your guests as it gets closer to the event.
During Event Communication
Communication during the event is crucial because it’s real-time. Making sure all parties involved understand their duties and responsibilities, and who to turn to if they run into an issue, will ensure that your event runs seamlessly. Communication with the attendees during the event should be considered as well. Will you be making overhead announcements? Sending push notifications through an app? Posting on social media or going live? All of these details should be included in an extensive communication timeline that takes place during the event.
Post-event communication
Communication after the event could be a missed opportunity if not taken advantage of. This is where you have time to thank your guests and vendors for being a part of your event. You can send out a post-event survey, asking for feedback on how the event went, as well as continue to keep them involved in future communication. This will keep you top of mind when you host your next event.
Following these different phases of communication during planning, pre-event, during event and post-event will ensure you have a strong foundation for success.
Please see here for an additional article revolving around communication specifically geared towards COVID-19.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is the most important factor when choosing between event management companies?
A: Experience. You want to make sure you are choosing a company that knows what they are doing and has the portfolio to prove it. The last thing you want is your event falling apart because the right players weren’t at the table.
Q: How will I know what communication avenues are best for my event?
A: Having an event management company by your side ensures that all of your bases will be covered. Depending on your event’s purpose and what you want the outcome to be, will determine which communication avenues are most appropriate for your event.
Q: What if something were to go wrong during the event?
A: This is where having a detailed communication plan comes in handy. Not only should all details be laid out within the plan, but you should also have necessary backup plans in case something were to go wrong during the event. This allows you to plan ahead and have a written-down execution.