When you’re working on event strategy planning for the year ahead, its critical to consider how your events will align with your wider business planning. Here we look at a range of considerations.
We know the best times of the year to organise events and major events next year will influence our choice of locations and dates.
Key global events like the Paris Olympics, which runs from 26 July – 11 August 2024, and the Men’s football Euros taking place from 14 June to 14 July, are just two to consider.
We can sometimes look at our event planning in isolation. We can drop the strategic from the Event Strategy Planning. “We’ve just launched our latest impact report so we should have an event” or “We’d like to celebrate Black History Month so we should have an event in October”. In the busyness and excitement of event creation, tactics and logistics this is a trap many fall in to.
Don’t forget the strategy bit in your event strategy planning!
Why do you want to host these events? What is the purpose behind hosting your events in 2024? What are the outcomes you want to achieve?
There will be a host of different answers, from lead gen to community building, positioning your company as thought leaders, celebrating your team, getting your stakeholders together to increase collaboration.
It’s so important you are clear on your event strategy – the purpose behind your events, your why.
Operating within the community-building space
A community-first approach – putting your people at the centre of why you are organising events, is a great benchmark for finding your why. We used data from the Digital Community Leaders Report which we launched in partnership with Steadfast Collective. Find out more about the launch event, which took place at The Royal Society of Arts.
‘Events are essential to galvanising and strengthening (online) communities’ – Digital Communities Leaders Report pg76
Creating opportunities for your community to meet online and in-person helps to energise and strengthen your communities.
Organisation’s biggest pain points when creating and delivering events – 38.5% of respondents said: ‘creating a seamless online and face-to-face experience’ . Identical numbers – 38.5% of respondents said ‘getting people who register for events to attend’ – Digital Communities Leaders Report pg77
Events can be a golden thread that runs through your community building strategy. Read our dedicated page all about Community Based Marketing.
If you are struggling to create and deliver events smoothly we can help with that. We can also help with strategies to keep attendees engaged with your event beforehand and get their attendance on the day.
Create your best yet event strategy for 2024. We’re happy to set up a call for a chat and some free advice to get you started. Book in a virtual coffee with us!
