Having an event strategy is the only way to ensure a strong ROI — Event Management Sydney | Workshop Events Sydney

You can have the best AV, superb catering, creative to inspire, but what I know from over 20 years in event production is this: you can’t deliver on a client’s ROI without an event strategy.  And, with the stakes getting higher and the budget more closely examined, it has never been more important to invest in a solid event plan.

Companies like Apple, Salesforce and Google are allocating more budget to events, with face-to-face interactions and experiences at the forefront of marketing strategies.

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And whilst we live in a digital world, according to a recent industry report, marketers believe events are the most important channel for achieving key business goals[1].

With recent investments into events, such as the new International Convention Centre Sydney, extensions to the Melbourne Convention Exhibition Centre, and the Federal Government investing $12 million over the next 3 years into the Australian Business Events there is much excitement in our industry for challenging the status quo and creating new and interesting ways of designing experiences, however, it is imperative the planning and strategy stages of any event remains strong in order to lay sturdy foundations.

An event strategy is not simply a brief, but a clear articulation of the goals of the event, what success looks like, how it will be measured and how every element of the event works to contribute to that overarching goal.

A clear strategy ensures every component runs on time, to budget and is on brand alleviating stress, reducing hours and expense. 

I consider there to be four phases of event planning; 1. Conceptualisation, 2. Strategic planning, 3. Implementation and 4. Evaluation.

The Workshop Events team understand that every event is different, and no two briefs are the same, and as such there is no cookie-cutter event plan. So, what does a good event strategy look like?

Each strategy is built on the needs of the client and their KPIs. 

The first step conceptualisation, involves determining the why, what and who – why are you hosting an event, what are your goals, what are the key messages and who the audience is.

The second step, strategic planning, involves outlining how you can measure ROI and client satisfaction.  This is key to ensuring you can demonstrate a successful outcome and justify the effort.

The third step implementation maps priorities, timelines, budget, suppliers, logistics and production elements.

The final stage evaluation involves ‘closing the loop’ on the event. Gathering feedback from attendees, analysing the results, the key learnings and the recommendations for the future.  This includes how the event has met the goals set , delivered the key messages, successfully entertained guests and ultimately delivered sound ROI.  

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Reporting on ROI

In 2017, 29% of event marketers found the biggest challenge was increasing the overall revenue from a public event, while 75% of large companies expect a 5:1 ROI for live and experiential events[2].

Reporting on ROI can be a real challenge depending on the type of event you have, however, it is vital you set up your measurement tools before the event, to ensure you know what you can report on. 

At Workshop Events, we design unique experiences for our clients through an effective event strategy.  Our focus is to understand the why of your event – to ensure that we deliver your event aspirations, business goals and ROI.

Our recently launched Event Workshop by Workshop Events focuses on nailing down the strategic plan early by guiding our clients through a facilitated session to ensure a clear and precise event strategy, which will deliver a bespoke and tailored event.

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Richard Breatnach, Managing Director, Workshop Events looks under the hood of every event and works hard to gain a true understanding of each project in order to create the best possible solution.  An expert in both corporate and private events, Richard has, for over 20 years, delivered the wild and wacky, the prestigious, serious and amazingly creative events.  As Managing Director, Richard is responsible for maintaining client satisfaction by ensuring the highest quality in all products and services are delivered by the team. Richard has produced event solutions for Atlassian, Scentre Group, Westfield, Herbert Smith Freehills, Lendlease and many more.

View Workshop Events full portfolio here: https://www.workshopevents.com.au

[1] Bizzabo, Event Marketing 2018: Benchmarks and Trends: https://blog.bizzabo.com/event-marketing-statistics

[2] Bizzabo, Event Marketing 2018: Benchmarks and Trends: https://blog.bizzabo.com/event-marketing-statistics

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