Event Planning
Create an Effective and Actionable Event Strategy
A strong event strategy is clear, actionable, and centred on your big-picture goals. Discover how to create an effective strategy for your event here.
Events are a puzzle with many moving parts, incorporating planning, marketing, and analytics; when these parts come together, they form a big-picture overview. The process, then, of putting these pieces together — deciding where, when, and how — is your event strategy.
It’s useful to think of your event goal as the destination and a good strategy acts as various touchpoints along the way to help you get there. In this guide, discover how to create a clear, actionable event strategy and deliver a creative event your attendees love.
Key takeaways
Begin your event strategy with a big-picture overview of your event goals, your target audience, and your ROI metrics
As part of your event strategy, you’ll need to choose a format — whether in person, virtual, or hybrid — that reflects your event goals and delights your attendees
Compelling marketing should play a key part in your event strategy, so dedicate time to fine-tuning your email, social media and influencer marketing campaigns
Developing a winning event strategy
To kick-start your event strategy, you’ll need to begin with the big picture: your high-level aspirations for the event. With clearly defined targets — including goals, an audience, and success metrics — you’ll then be able to craft a strategy to work toward them. Here’s how to develop a winning event strategy with three key pillars.
Setting goals
Clear SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound) are the North Star of any event strategy. Your goals will vary depending on the nature of your event, but may be based on performance or audience engagement. When setting your objectives, you may find it helpful to begin with a big-picture qualitative goal backed up by several measurable, quantitative outcomes:
Qualitative goals
Think of this as the overarching goal of the event. This may include:
To teach audiences something new
To raise awareness for a specific cause
To offer attendees a joyful experience
To give artists a platform for their work
Quantitative goals
Think of this as a way to measure the qualitative goal above. This might include:
The number of tickets sold to the event
The number of donations received
The percentage of attendees who responded positively in a post-event survey
The funding received from sponsors or partners
Identifying your target audience
The next step to developing a clear event strategy is identifying a target audience. Once you have defined your goals, your audience should become clearer. When beginning to craft an audience profile, it may be helpful to think about the things your target audience has in common. This might be:
A shared interest (such as music or theater)
A shared problem they want to seek support on (such as local neighborhood issues)
A shared life experience (such as a specific demographic based on age or gender)
A shared goal (such as raising awareness for a political cause or charity campaign)
When you begin to identify what it is that brings your audience together, you can start to craft an event tailored to their needs — and build a loyal community.
Define event ROI
Measuring your return on investment (ROI) is a key part of event strategy — and it’s important to define your specific ROI from the beginning of your planning. Your ROI can broadly be defined as the benefit you receive from hosting your event. This can be measured in a number of ways (and the ROI metrics you choose will vary depending on the nature of your event):
Revenue: This may be profit from ticket sales, donations, and/or merchandise sales.
Opportunities: This may be increased brand awareness, exposure for your products or services, and/or interactions with customers.
Brand value: This may be a strengthened brand identity and/or increased customer loyalty.
Selecting the right event format
Once you have the three pillars above to guide your event strategy, it’s time to consider the format of the event itself — and how this fits with these pillars. Whether you’re hosting a virtual workshop or an in-person literary conference, make sure to take into account what you hope to achieve, your target audience, and your ROI metrics.
In-person events vs. virtual vs. hybrid
The format of your event should reflect and facilitate your goals. A book event for an author with a global fanbase, for instance, may best suit a hybrid event, while a music festival is likely to take an in-person format — so make sure to keep your specific event goals front and center in your planning.
You may want to consider the following formats, comparing their pros and cons for facilitating your goals:
In-person: In-person formats are ideal for events that prioritize meaningful connection and audience interaction. This format may best suit events with a live performance element (such as music festivals); a hands-on educational element (such as a cookery class), and/or a networking element (such as a business conference).
Virtual: Virtual formats are best suited to events that are designed to reach a global audience — so attendees can join from anywhere in the world — or those that are designed to increase accessibility. This might include events with high-profile speakers and/or events with an inclusivity focus.
Hybrid: Hybrid formats are often seen as the best of both worlds, mixing the connection of in-person events with the accessibility and wider reach of virtual ones. This format best suits events with both a strong local appeal as well as a national or international one (such as celebrity Q&As or live performances).
Interactivity level
The interactivity level of your event will also determine your strategy for its format. Firstly, consider the benefits and negatives of each format for your event; then it might become clear which would provide the appropriate level of interactivity.
Secondly, remember to return to your event goals. If your goal is to allow guests to mingle with other attendees, they might benefit most from an in-person format, as this allows for connection via body language and face-to-face interaction. If, on the other hand, the goal of the event is less about audience interaction and more about absorbing information — for instance, a lecture series — then this may benefit from a virtual format.
Types of events
From film screenings to live comedy, there are many different types of events — and many are flexible in their formats. Below, discover a range of different event types that may suit an in-person, virtual or hybrid format.
Conferences
Seminars
Interviews and Q&As
Exhibitions
Product launches
Webinars
Parties
Club nights
Leveraging event technology
To create a successful event strategy and smooth the planning process, making use of different types of event technology is essential. From registration and ticketing systems to data analysis tools, the right tech can help you to streamline your processes and allocate more resources to where it matters most: your strategy.
Registration and ticketing platforms
There’s one process that plays a huge role in attendee satisfaction: a smooth ticket checkout. When choosing the right ticketing platform, you may want to consider the following:
Ticketing types: Does the platform offer the right ticket types for your event? Whether this is donation tickets, early bird discounts, or custom ticket types, make sure to select a platform with the right ticketing functionality.
The checkout process: Is the checkout experience easy and quick for guests?
Mobile tickets: Does the platform offer mobile-friendly tickets?
Refunds and transfer features: Does the platform offer easy ticket refunds and transfers?
Check-in process: Can guests check in easily via QR codes on their tickets?
Attendee engagement tools
Attendee satisfaction is one of the key indicators of event success — so make sure to utilize attendee engagement tools to your advantage. Here are several factors to take into account when choosing the right tools for your event:
Surveys: Do you want to create post-event surveys to invite attendees to give feedback? Make sure to look for engagement tools with a range of question formats, from multiple choice checkboxes to longer answer boxes for more detailed feedback.
Live polls: Do you want to discover what attendees think in real-time? You might want to opt for an app with a live poll feature to encourage audience participation at the event.
Audience connection: Facilitate discussion between attendees with connectivity tools, such as slide annotation functionality, private social networking and comment features, and note-sharing capabilities.
Data analytics solutions
Making data-driven decisions is simpler with the right tools at your fingertips. To streamline your event planning — and improve your strategy and marketing for future events — you might want to consider the following data software features:
Reporting: Do you want to compile data about your event (such as marketing efforts, survey feedback, or ad spend) into a single resource? Take a look at tools and apps with reporting capabilities to streamline your post-event analysis.
Attendee insights: Do you want to discover more about your attendees? Whether you’re looking for data on demographics or where your audience is coming from, make sure to prioritize tools with robust attendee and web traffic analytics.
Ticket sales: Discover more data about your ticket sales and customer purchasing journeys with comprehensive ticketing platform tools — and use your data to fine-tune your marketing strategy for your next event.
Effective event marketing strategies
Compelling marketing should be a cornerstone of your event strategy. Whether you’re getting creative with video assets on TikTok or designing intriguing email campaigns to create a buzz, you’ll want to spend time strategizing how to spread the word.
Email marketing
Introducing the all-time champion of marketing: email. According to research by Litmus, email marketing tops the list of most effective channels, and 79% of marketers put it in their top three.
Whether you’re creating a series of teasers to get attendees excited for a festival line-up, or offering exclusive early bird discounts to your food and drink pop-up, email can play a key role in your event strategy.
You’ll want to stagger your email marketing campaigns, from pre-launch to a few days before the event takes place. There are endless ways to get creative with your campaigns — get inspired with some ideas below.
Pre-launch: Before the event takes place, why not get attendees excited with an announcement? You might want to offer promo codes to email subscribers or use compelling content from previous events to generate excitement.
Teaser campaigns: This can be a fun way to announce your event. If you have multiple guest speakers, performers, or a series of talks, you can drum up interest by revealing one aspect at a time, offering intriguing clues to attendees over a week.
Countdown: As the event gets closer, you might want to send email campaigns on specific days (for instance, two weeks, a week, and the day before) as a countdown, with exclusive giveaways or exciting info attached to each one.
Discounts: Offering discounts can be an effective way to generate a buzz and drive your ticket sales. Early bird pricing can incentivize attendees to purchase early, while VIP tickets with exciting add-ons (such as table reservations, complimentary cocktails, or early access) can generate more revenue.
Audience segmentation: You might also want to consider sending specific emails to specific segments of your audience. For instance, you might offer those who have already bought tickets the chance to upgrade to a VIP ticket for a discount — while focusing on creating compelling content for those who haven’t yet purchased tickets.
Social media promotion
Next up: social media. To spread the word about your event, you’ll need to discover where your target audience spends the most time online. Whether they’re on Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok, make sure to promote your event on the right platform.
From video reels to giveaways, there are a number of strategies for social media promotion — explore some tips below for inspiration.
Creative content: Get creative with your social media marketing by utilizing video (both longer and shorter form), photos, infographics, and emojis in your posts — all while keeping consistent with your event branding.
User-generated content: This can be a great way to engage your audience online. You might ask followers to take themed selfies or videos to repost to your channel, creating a sense of community and boosting attendee interaction.
Giveaways: Competitions to win tickets can be an effective way to generate excitement — while also getting your audience to spread the word to their networks. You could run ticket giveaways on your social media platforms, asking followers to repost, tag a friend, or answer a fun question to be in with a chance of winning.
Recycled content: Utilize visuals, such as photos and videos, from your previous events as promotion. Focus on sold-out events, large crowds, and attendee enjoyment (coupled with some guest testimonials, if you have them) to generate interest in your next event.
Partnering with influencers and sponsors
Another way to get creative with your event marketing is to use influencers and sponsors to spread the word. Firstly, make sure to select the right platforms for your partnerships — whether this is TikTok or Instagram.
According to research by the Influencer Marketing Hub, TikTok is the most popular channel, with 56% of brands using it for influencer marketing (followed by Instagram at 51%, Facebook at 42%, and YouTube at 38%).
Here are some ideas to incorporate into your influencer promotion strategy:
Sponsored content: Whether this takes the form of reels or posts, you might want to pay an influencer to promote your event or brand on their social channel. This can be an effective way to widen your reach by accessing their followers, while also providing you with more content for your channels.
Custom promo codes: You might choose to work with an influencer or sponsor and give them an exclusive promo code to share with their followers, incentivizing them to buy tickets to your event.
Live Q&As: If an influencer has a large audience, you may want to create a virtual spin-off event in the form of a live Q&A hosted on their platform (for example, Instagram Live, or YouTube). This can help you to spread the word about your event to their followers, while offering them exclusive and unique content.
Giveaways: As with your social media strategy above, you might also want to work with a sponsor or influencer to create exciting ticket or merchandise giveaways.
Measuring event success and ROI
How did your event perform? Part of your event strategy is not only planning the execution of the event, but its delivery afterward. Specifically, how you will measure your success.
How you do this will vary depending on the type of event you’re hosting (for instance, the success of a charity gala would be measured differently from a film screening), so it’s important to keep your event purpose clear in your mind when assessing its performance.
Identifying relevant KPIs
Think back to the SMART goals you identified at the beginning of your event strategy — these can help you formulate your key performance indicators (KPIs). As a guide, your KPIs should reflect your big-picture event objectives, and should follow the same SMART criteria: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. Your KPIs might include:
Attendance numbers
Customer satisfaction ratings
Donation figures
Overall revenue
Social media engagement
Email campaign engagement
Calculating ROI
Next, you’ll need to see how you measured up to your KPIs. These metrics are usually quantitative, based on statistics of revenue or engagement. As a guide, here are some ways to measure the KPIs identified above:
Attendance numbers: this might be measured by the number of tickets sold, or the number of registrations
Customer satisfaction ratings: this might be measured by the percentage of customers who responded positively in a post-event survey
Donation figures: this might be measured by the amount of money received in donations
Overall revenue: this might be measured by the profit made on sales of tickets, merchandise, and/or refreshments compared to expenses (such as staff costs and venue hire)
Social media engagement: this might be measured by the number of likes, comments, or reposts, or leads generated
Email campaign engagement: this might be measured by the open rate, click-through rate (CTR), or leads generated
Utilizing feedback for continuous improvement
After you have measured your own standards of success — such as overall revenue or social media engagement — the next step is to analyze feedback. You might want to do this in the following ways:
Assess positive feedback: Are there trends or patterns in what attendees said they enjoyed most about the event? You may also want to pick out longer pieces of positive feedback to use as testimonials and social proof on social media for your next marketing campaign.
Assess negative feedback: Next, look at negative feedback for the same trends or patterns. If, for instance, many attendees complained about the variety of food stalls at your festival, make sure to take steps to rectify this in your next event.
Compile data: Gather all positive and negative feedback into an easily digestible report, accompanied by visual elements like graphs or charts. This will make it easy to see at a glance what to take forwards into your next event — and what to improve.
From setting the right goals to defining a target audience, strategic thinking is the root of all successful events. Your event strategy — guided by your big-picture objectives — should help you put all the pieces of your event together. Whether you’re crafting your email marketing plan or analyzing the right ticketing tools, make sure to keep your goals and audience at the heart of your strategy.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the 5 Cs of event management?
The five Cs of event management are as follows: Concept (the event idea and theme itself), Coordination (organization, such as booking staff and sourcing suppliers), Control (such as problem-solving and effective time management), Culmination (the execution of the event), and Closeout (post-event analysis).
What does an event strategist do?
Event strategists create clear event goals to maximize returns. They review and evaluate existing strategies, discover potential for growth, and manage ties with significant stakeholders. This is so that they can build a comprehensive plan on how to realize the intended objectives and craft a winning event strategy.
What are the 5 Ps of event planning?
The five Ps of event planning are: Product (the event itself), Price (the costs involved in executing the event), Place (the venue, or virtual platform), Promotion (marketing strategies) and People (your target audience). Keeping these five pillars in mind will help you to stay on track when creating your event.
