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Create Your Recipe for Success Hosting a seminar for current and potential clients can be a lot of work, but, if done correctly, events can also be a lot of fun and yield great new leads for your business. This article is designed to help you plan ahead and think about what it will take to make your event a success. Develop Attainable Goals |
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Before jumping into details such as location or lunch menu, develop a list of goals that are specific to this seminar. Clarifying what you want to get out of your event from day one will save you time down the road, and you can refer to your list throughout the stages of planning and execution to stay on track.
Here is a sample list of goals you might set during your planning process:
- Anticipated number of registrations
- Anticipated number of attendees
- Target industry(s)
- Target attendee role (customer or prospect or both): Business decision makers, Decision influencers
- Outcome goal for event: Number of qualified leads, Number of closed sales
- Estimated opportunity close timeframe: 30-60 days, 90 days
Target your audience
A large part of planning for your event is defining who your audience is, so you can correctly target them for your seminar. Your target audience will determine your focus for driving people to your event, and your content.
When choosing a particular audience, ask yourself:
- What are the needs of my target audience?
- What are the specific benefits we provide to this audience?
- Do we have specific industry focus/experience/understanding?
- Can we offer a clear point of differentiation to this audience?
Answering these questions will help you define who you should target and what value you can provide at your event. If your audience is broad and you anticipate representation from various industries, you can create multiple breakout sessions—one focused in each direction.
Clarify your logistics
Mapping out the event specifics is another significant portion of preparation.
- What is the topic of the seminar?
- Who will be your speaker?
- Where will your event location be?
- How, where, and when will you publicize your seminar?
About eight weeks before your event, begin sending out invitations through varied media—email, postcards, and telephone calls. Integrating multiple methods of outreach will help boost your registration. Make sure to announce your speaker in your invitation and consider providing an agenda in advance. Your speaker should be well versed in topics relevant to your target audience, and your content should reflect current industry news or education.
