Event planner startup

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 I set up an email automation campaign one month or more before the event. My automation will include a series of 'if/not' decision trees; If my prospect opens and clicks on the first ever email I send them one which is more personalised and has more detail in it.

 If not, I send them an email that will try to capture their interest with a catchy subject line and a variety of topics.  If my prospect hits on the event landing page but does not sign up, I will send them a reminder email a few days later, again, perhaps with some video of a previous keynote and so on.

I create an excellent Landing page to maximise the number of attendees. 

Create 'buzz' around the event. Fortunately, I have a lot of friends in Branding who know a lot about this. One used to work for HSBC, another ran EMEA Brand Management for Hyatt Hotels,  and yet another friend of mine was Chief Creative Officer at Coca Cola. It helps to talk with 'ideas' people to come up with events and marketing that will 'hit them between the eyes'. 

For example, right now we have a software tool that enables engineers, architects and contractors to manage their email inbox. Our company, Arup, built the Shard building in London. We are running an event in the Shard with a project manager talking about how he used our software to master the engineering of that building. My architect friends say that every Arup building is a masterpiece, from the Sydney Opera House to the new Apple HQ in California. This event will speak to them on so many levels.                                                                                                                                                                                          

You can use social media to understand your audience better.  Posting titbits on linked or Twitter will get you many reactions. Monitor these religiously to get a feel for what your prospects want to see and hear, not only at the event but before and after it. I also use surveys at the event and online tools like Survey Monkey. However, keep these short and sweet. No one wants to spend twenty minutes filling out hundreds of questions. Limit it to five, with the option for them to leave comments. 

My last event, one of our prospects asked if we had sent an outlook calendar invite to him for the date. I had not done that. But I checked into our new CRM system and saw that I could send invites en mass. I will certainly be doing this for the next event. Your prospects and customers know what they want better than you. Don't ever forget that.

I'm a startup to mid-size kind of guy. I tend to do well in those nimble, fast-growing companies. But we all like to hear about the big names, whether it's celebrities, billionaires, supermodels or large organisations. Some names I've had at events I've run, have been anyone from Verizon Wireless to Black rock, from Mckinsey to TJ Maxx.

 I always want to show my prospects that I care. I want great food, interesting talks, fantastic giveaways and attractive hosts. I may be getting a bit old to be 'young and beautiful', but I dress up and wear a suit and tie to look my very best.

My attendees has taken valuable time out of their busy schedules to see us. I want to do the absolute best to make that an exceptionally good  and hopefully memorable and useful, experience for them.