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Top tips for hosting client events

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16th Jun 2010
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SWATUK Limited's Vicki Banthorpe explains how to use events to effectively market your firm.

Organising events can be a very effective part of a firm’s marketing strategy, if organised well, promoted extensively and followed up in a timely manner. Below are some handy hints to help you through the process.

What are your objectives for the event?
Organising any event, be it a seminar, social occasion or launching a new service, can be very time consuming and costly. Ensure that the event is the best method of promoting your firm, or its services, before you start this process.

Key objectives to set could include:
a)    What is the aim of the event?

  • Providing topical information, e.g. Budget breakfasts, tax planning strategy days.
  • Developing relationships with existing clients.
  • Attracting new clients.
  • Raising awareness of the firm with the local media and business community.

b)    Who do you want to attract to the event?

  • Specific client/prospective client types (e.g. farmers, high net worth individuals, finance directors etc).
  • Third party introducers.
  • The media.

Agree the logistics and format of the event

  • Agree your budget first: all future decisions will depend on how much money you’re prepared to put into this activity.
  • Do you intend to run this as a joint venture with another organisation?
  • How many people do you intend to attract to the event? (Be realistic!)
  • At what time of day will the event be held and will this be appropriate to your target audience?
  • Is the choice of venue critical to the success of the event, e.g. a smart restaurant, somewhere which has free parking, the size of room(s) etc?
  • What type of refreshments will be served and at what times during the event?
  • If presentations are to be given during your event, it is vital that the person doing them is a good speaker. If no one in your firm is comfortable speaking in public then it is worthwhile bringing in an external speaker.

Implement a structured marketing plan to promote the event
Once you have identified who you would like to attend your event, you need to consider how you are going to communicate with them. The first place to look is your firm’s database. This may be as simple as pulling off a query which highlights the people you want to attend the event, whether from their business sector, size of business, location, or the types of services that you currently provide them. However, more often than not this process involves each partner going down a list of their clients and contacts and ‘ticking’ those they want to invite!

You should give some thought to the types of marketing activities that you use, and how likely your target audience is to pick up on these. For example, some people are more receptive to mailings than an email; others may prefer a phone call.

If your aim is to attract potential new clients you may want to consider raising the profile of the event through:

  • Newspapers or local magazine adverts.
  • Being mentioned on the ‘what’s on’ section of your local radio station.
  • Buying in lists of local businesses to whom you can send mailings/emails.

With regards to sending out invitations you should also allow some time to make ‘chase’ calls to those people that you haven’t heard from.

A period of six to eight weeks should be plenty of time to implement your marketing plans before the event. However, larger events may require several months of planning and marketing to ensure they are a success.

On the day

The day of the event needs to be managed from start to finish to make sure it runs as smoothly as possible. You will need to consider: 

  • Signage from car parks or other locations to show where your event is being held.
  • A reception area/signing in desk, so that you can monitor who’s arrived.
  • Name badges so that clients can start their own conversations.
  • Issuing handouts or notes on the day, or offering to email them afterwards.
  • Checking that all PA equipment, laptops and projectors are working.
  • What refreshments will be served, where and when. 
  • Getting your partners and staff to circulate with guests to make them feel welcome.

After the event
My experience of working with firms who organise events is that all too often the most crucial part of the event is forgotten: the follow up. This could involve:

  • Emailing handouts to anyone who didn’t attend whilst offering them a further opportunity to contact you to discuss the event topics.
  • Sending out information that attendees have specifically requested.
  • Telephoning attendees to thank them for attending and to ask them what they got out of the event.

The end of the event should herald the start of ongoing communication with the attendees, with a view to building closer relationships with them. Any enquiries that you generate should be entered into a database or tracking system, so that you can monitor what work is gained as a result.

The final aspect to consider is whether you would do the event again; if so, what changes would you make? It is far more effective to evaluate the event a couple of weeks afterwards, rather than 12 months later when you’re about to start planning the next event.

Vicki Banthorpe is marketing director at SWATUK Limited and is responsible for the company’s marketing and business development activities. In addition, she provides marketing consultancy and support services to accountancy firms. Vicki is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.

 

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