Business events and the event industry, in general, have both taken a break, a long break at that one. Revenues from live events fell as the pandemic caused a worldwide cancellation of events.
According to a survey conducted in April 2020, 87% of business event professionals canceled their event plans while 66% postponed them. The major reasons include travel bans, lockdowns, and fear of widespread infection.
But with the decline in the active cases and restrictions gradually being lifted up, it is safe to say that events are now going back to normal. It is now high time to get back to your event marketing game to reconnect with your customers and strengthen your branding by launching business events.
So how can you win at marketing your event in the Post-Covid World? By onboarding with these essential event planning skills.
10 Top Event Planning Skills
1. Be versatile
One thing that this pandemic has painfully taught us is that change is inevitable and it can be instant, real instant. The pandemic changed event design and structure, event platforms, and participants’ engagement.
With conditions changing from time to time, event planners and business owners should be versatile and flexible enough to meet the changing demands of both the client and participants. Though in-person events are back, virtual and hybrid events are here to stay.
Shift your event design that will offer a unique and relevant experience both virtual and in person. And to do this, you need to consider these important factors:
- Virtual streaming provider and equipment for online participants
- Marketing platforms
- Physical venue
- Event moderator
- The registration process that will be feasible to do both online and on-site
- Event schedule – Are you going to have the sessions done simultaneously for both on-site and virtual attendees? Or would you rather have separate sessions?
- Engaging and relevant content
2. Strong leadership and negotiation skills
As an event coordinator, you need to possess strong and powerful leadership skills. You’re not just a planner but you are a leader of a highly competent team. You’re not only responsible for event management but you’re also tasked to manage the whole team.
You need to do everything from making important decisions to ensuring that every member does his tasks excellently. You should effectively use your authority to direct your team in achieving your event goals and objectives.
In addition to this, negotiation skill is also very important especially in dealing with vendors and other event professionals. This will allow you to get the best deal out of anything.
3. Multitasking ability with keen attention to details
It’s a no-brainer that event managers are also multitaskers. Working with a limited time will require you to attend and do multiple tasks at the same time.
You might be making calls while instructing the crew on some event logistics of your upcoming conference. Or deal with an inquiry from an attendee while checking any last-minute check of the event program.
However, though multitasking is an important skill, strong attentiveness to detail is equally important. Attending to multiple things at once might cause you to have a divided attention. Strong attention to detail will prevent you from missing anything or making a mistake.
4. Have genuine care and service
Your events should have an emotional appeal and impact on your customers. Events are a great marketing strategy because it cultivates connection, builds relationships, and generates engagement which increases customer retention. Some positive effects of events on people include fostering positive well-being and providing means for people to unwind and rest.
Furthermore, people always seek belongingness and community. And even more so today after a long time of isolation. And events meet this particular need.
Remember, events are about the people. Your future events should offer genuine service that meets your customers’ current needs. By doing so, you don’t only increase your revenue but you gain the trust and loyalty of your customers which are far more valuable than revenue.
5. Have the design and management skills for observing health protocols
In case you’ve missed it, hybrid events are not going away and live events are back in the game. With that being said, you need to have a new set of skills suitable for the changing times.
While there is still a threat from the virus, making sure that health protocols are met in in-person events is a must. Thus, events should be designed following the health protocols.
Choose a venue that will allow physical distancing. Station areas for sanitation and admissions. When you ensure a safe and secure environment for your event attendees, you put their minds at ease.
6. Relationship-building and human engagement skills
The pandemic provided many opportunities for virtual brand activation. However, promoting your brand virtually has several downsides which include keeping the participants interested till the end. The lack of physical interaction during virtual events in addition to virtual fatigue may result in attendees dozing off, losing interest, or worse, dropping off.
While you might want to keep your international customers, you need to consider a lot of things in pursuing online events. Staying engaged keeps participants from feeling left out. Before launching, your event marketing strategy should focus on knowing your audience both virtual and live. Know what catches their attention and what keeps them involved.
In order to know them, it’s best to do a pre-event survey. And this should not only be done to the participants. Before hosting an event, it’s best to ask your prospective client some necessary event planning questions to fill in the basic details of the event.
7. Don’t be afraid to take risks
“In a world that is changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.” -Mark Zuckerberg
If you want to win at event marketing, then, you need to be a risk-taker. Risk takers are history makers. As an event planner, you shouldn’t be afraid to test and research approaches that will work best for your upcoming event.
Ask your peers. Research your competitors. And in order to stay on top, be aware of the event trends this 2022. Knowing what to expect will help you to effectively strategize. Data never lies. Don’t just come up with any crazy and baseless idea. Always support it with reliable data.
8. Technology navigation and management skills are a must
Event planners are not just stage-managing live events, they are now actively producing programs. It is important that you are a master of the new platform and event technology.
Many have realized the effectiveness of having a website as a marketing tool for their business. Websites are a great avenue to promote your brand, launch new products, and promote events while reaching a worldwide audience.
Furthermore, they are not only able to promote events, but you can also utilize them to personally manage your event. You just need the right event manager to do that. Event manager software like Event Smart makes it easier for you to get started with your events by taking care of event registrations, attendee payments, and custom registration emails for you. Start a free trial today.
9. Outstanding skills for hybrid events
You need to possess the necessary skills to make both in-person and virtual events work for you. The nature of live events will not be the same as during pre-pandemic. And synchronizing it with online events would make it extra challenging. While constant adjustments are inevitable, having the necessary skills for hosting hybrid events would help ensure that you are on the right track.
According to Brella, the 6 top skill sets you need to host hybrid events are tech skills & platform knowledge, virtual event production skills, customer success skills, time management skills, marketing skills, and sales skills. Mastering the skills for managing hybrid events will go a long way. Therefore, developing these skills is a wise investment.
10. Communication skills
When combined with interpersonal skills, an event organizer can effectively lead the whole team to success. You should be able to listen to every person involved in the whole event planning process: from clients, sponsors, team members, vendors to attendees.
Learning how to listen will allow you to take note of suggestions, things to improve or just to know what they’re feeling. You can’t communicate well if you don’t know how to listen.
When you communicate effectively, you avoid any misconceptions, future mishaps or any ill emotion directed at you. A successful event planner doesn’t only produce a successful event but he makes sure that every person involved is satisfied and happy.
11. Creative is the new sexy
What really makes you stand out from your competitors? It’s your creativity and uniqueness. People crave fresh and new ways of engagement. Do you want to leave a lasting impression? Be unique not just by being different but by relating to your audience in a personal way.
The post-pandemic world may mean freedom for most.
Plan your events which include free time in between activities. Don’t overwhelm your attendees. They have had enough of that from the previous virtual events they’ve attended. Allow them to socialize and breathe.
Maximize the return of live events by creating unique personal experiences. Event attendees today prefer entertainment over information. It doesn’t mean that you put lesser effort into content but rather allow engagement to represent content.
Conclusion
Most businesses are now ready to aggressively launch promotional and business events. Take this time to introduce your brand again and to engage with your customers after a long time. In summary, in order to maximize your event marketing, you must possess the following event planning skills:
- Versatility
- Strong leadership and negotiation skills
- Multitasking ability with keen attention to details
- Genuine care and service
- Design and management skills for observing health protocols
- Relationship-building and human engagement skills
- Ability to take risks
- Technology navigation and management skills
- Outstanding skills for hybrid events
- Communication skills
- Creativity
Develop these event planner skills and you’ll definitely transition smoothly into the post-pandemic world.
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