Is it possible to pick the best events to attend, host and sponsor in 2019?

Seasonality to some degree affects each industry. Events are not an exception here. While planning to organize your own events and participate in external ones, this fact is worth taking into account. So how to approach the event marketing strategy and the event calendar for 2019? How to choose the best events for employees, for the company and how to plan the organization of own events during the year? I leave some advice in the article. Dig in!

Is ‘event season’ a real thing?

According to Ivan Reic, the author of Events Marketing Management: A consumer perspective, Event industry is strongly affected by seasonality. Of course, it depends on the event’s nature and profile. Nonetheless, the event cycle varies during the year. Sometimes, even more than the regular calendar, event presence during the year is influenced by the business cycles. Reic claims, that there are a few causes of event seasonality.

• Natural event seasonality – it depends on climate conditions
• Calendar event seasonality – it depends on seasonal demands
• Traditional event seasonality – it is affected by established social customs and traditions
• Tourism event seasonality – it is based upon geography
• Institutionalized event seasonality – it is related to public holidays
• Sporting event seasonality – it depends on the given sport cycles
• Economic event seasonality – it is strongly related to the given industry’s customs and business cycle
• Religious event seasonality – it connects with religious holidays and cycles
• Social event seasonality – it depends on the local social calendar, current trends and fashion.

If I had to pick the one factor that affects event industry the most, it would be definitely the geographical location of the event. It affects following conditions such as local customs, holidays, trends and fashion or economy.

Seasonality is one of the key factors that determine the form of the event. You don’t organize a garden party in the middle of the Alaskan winter. Seasonality also determines your event marketing activity. During the high season, you rather don’t throw a new event. Instead, you should look for popular ones to sponsor, partner or participate in them – according to the goals you want to achieve.

When you should host an event in 2019?

It is obvious – if you organize your event, you want to get the most out of it. That’s why the events you organize should have a precise goal. You must be sure, that it will bring a tangible benefit. Organizing an event just for the sake of making it is just a waste of your money. What’s more, you have to provide yourself with enough attendees who can become leads of the highest quality, boost event’s fame or enhance its ROI.

When choosing a date, pay attention when there is a holiday season in the industry you are addressing. Do not organize an event then. Also, look at when important business decisions are made within a given target group. Set the date of the event a little before this moment. Look also at the dates of holidays and celebrations in your country.

Another important thing to consider is whether you want to organize your event at the highest event peak of the season. If you work for a huge, internationally recognized brand and you have already built a reputation for your events, then yes, it is a good idea. But in other cases, you might want to search for the niche. If you fill the event gap of the low season for the attendees they will be more than happy to visit your conference or party. You even have a chance to hold the event of the season if you don’t compete with giants.

If you absolutely must throw an event during the highest peak, try to fix the date so it won’t collide with the most important events in the industry. Tickets cost, so attendees will rather pick the event with an established reputation, so they know what to expect.

In a word, fix the date of the event so that potential customers, partners and sponsors can appear on it. Arrange it when you have a real influence on the purchasing decisions of your recipients to ensure the success of the event.

How to choose the best events for employees to attend in 2019?

To choose events worth sending employees in 2019 to, look at the case from two sides. First, think about what goal a specific event will help you achieve. This could be, for example, generating leads albo driving growth in sales or raising the employee’s qualifications. Look closely at who will be at the event. Will your employee benefit if they meet these people? To choose the best event, a smart event attendance tool may come in handy.

The best event attendance planning tool will allow you to track who, from the employee’s contact network, is going to attend particular events. If you want your employee to close a big deal, send them where they can meet their clients live. They will ‘refresh’ the contact and warm up the lead, and thus make a few steps towards closing the deal. They will have the opportunity to work with them in a face-to-face, pleasant atmosphere. This, as a result, may accelerate the decision-making process.

Also, take into account the employee’s preferences. Find out which events they would like to go to and how it can contribute to their professional development. Sending an employee to a desired event can be a real motivator and a form of reward!

The solution that grants both described insights can be, for example, Eventory Planning. In this tool, you can follow the “wishes” of employees. Moreover, you can check if they meet their contacts during particular events.

Also, take into account the seasonality – compare the industry cycles with the profile of the event. If, the most important business decisions in your industry are made at the end of the year in the third and fourth quarter send salespeople to events where they will be able to finalize the deals they have been working on for a long time.

How to choose the best business networking events in 2019?

It’s a bit similar to the case above. The best events for networking are those at which you meet people who can help you achieve your marketing goals in some way. What’s more, it is good to attend networking events all year round.

Business networking events are great for making contacts. Networking events that take place at the beginning of the business cycle of your industry will be great if you want to build foundations for some lucrative contracts. But it isn’t the sole purpose of business networking events. The people you will meet there will help you widen your perspective and learn something new. The exchange of working experience can be refreshing and beneficiary to everyone.

When determining the best events for networking, also pay attention to what kind of audience they attract. Send competent, but above all, sociable and talkative people who are good at working with others and making new contacts.

How to choose the best events to partner with in 2019?

When you’re not throwing an event, you may become someone’s event partner. Many organizers look for partners who will contribute to the event. Often, they invite companies that can provide a solid and substantive contribution and whose values correspond with the organizer’s vision.

You can use these conditions while selecting an event in which you want to be a partner. Check if you want to support a particular event. Examine its target audience and compare it to your buyer personas. If you partner an event that gathers your potential customers, you will get the chance to start a relation with them… Imagine how the event affects your company’s image. Look for people and companies you want to be seen with. Also, think of how you can contribute to the event and what you would like to get in exchange.

Then, check when events on which your potential clients appear take place. Seek for those who may be interested in your offer, but are not your regular clients. Thanks to this, you will expand your reach in new directions. You’ll also gain the chance to show yourself to potential customers in low season and strengthen your employer branding actions by supporting a good cause.

How to choose the best events to sponsor?

The line between the partner and the sponsor is thin. Usually, a sponsor is a company or institution whose contribution to the event is mainly financial. The partner works more on the basis of barter. Sponsors often have many privileges, such as the possibility of prolonged appearance with elements of self-promotion, logo display and so on.

If you decide to sponsor an event, choose the one where you can find the most benefits – top quality leads and the best business contacts. Pay attention to what the sponsorship packages cover and what information and KPIs are monitored and reported by the organizer. Make sure that they use the best event app, an event platform that offers good event measurement so that data is properly collected for further analysis. Here’s a little cheat sheet on what you should look for in a post-event report.

When it comes to dates, remember that there are several spikes during the year when it comes to organizing events. Choose one of those popular for your industry, during which you do not organize your events. This way, you maximize your event activity throughout the year.

Wrap up

Prepare the event calendar that covers the organization of own events and your company’s event attendance in advance. When choosing events, base your decisions on data and research and forecasted profits. Remember! Events are associated with costs, so each time make sure that the investment will be returned. With this number of events every year as we have today, it’s hard to stay on track of those that are worth attending. Take a precaution of a good event attendance tool to prepare your event strategy and event attendance calendar like a boss.

Do you have any experience with planning an event strategy for your company? How do you choose the right events for your business?