How To Host A Physical Event In 7 Simple Steps

Event planning is a huge task, whether it’s a small meeting or a large conference.

There are many parts to making the process stress-free and ensuring you don’t mess things up.

In this article, you’d learn how to organise a successful physical event step-by-step. The kind your guests can’t help talking about to their friends.

That’s not all.

To make the process smooth, we also shared four mistakes to avoid and three tips and advice from event planning experts.

Even though you’re a beginner at event management, the tips in this article will help you ace your first event.

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How to organise a physical event: A step-by-step guide

What are the mistakes to avoid when organising and hosting a physical event?

Tips and best practices for planning and hosting a successful physical event

Event planning is easy only if you follow this

How to organise a physical event: A step-by-step guide

By following the steps below, you are bound to organise and host an event that will be the talk of the town.

Step 1: Define your goals and objectives

This step answers the ‘why’ question.

Why do you want to plan this event?

What are your goals for this event?

Do you want to:

Drive conversions and sales?
Launch a product?
Build brand awareness?

Or maybe it’s a combination of all three of them.

No matter your goal, your first step is to determine why you’re planning and organising this event.

The next part of this step is to determine your objectives.

While planning an event, you need to identify objectives to help you achieve your ultimate goal.

Here are a few examples of objectives to give you an idea of what objectives should sound like.

For example, if you’re organising a physical product launch for a new product, your objectives could be to

Increase registration by 10% compared to the last event.
Increase revenue by 25% compared to the last event.
Get 100-150 preorders for your product.
Increase social media traction for your brand by 50%.

Have your goals and objectives clear and written down. This will help you understand the scope of your event.

Here’s another reason why setting goals for your event is essential.

If you build goals and objectives around your event, you could present your project much more effectively to stakeholders and your team.

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Step 2: Establish an event budget

This step can make or break your event.

It is one of the essential early steps in planning that helps to clarify other aspects of the plan.

Also, by establishing a budget, you will avoid unwanted surprises.

So map out your entire budget and keep updating your event variables. Such as the cost of decor, speakers, catering, and other aspects of your event. This helps you stay grounded with the budget.

Here’s a little trick you can use. You can use this formula to break down your budget for organising your event:

43% of the budget for marketing and promotion
30% of the budget for talent
9% of the budget for printer materials
18% of the budget for venues

But this is where you might get it wrong. While it is advisable to decide on a budget amount and stick with it, don’t relent in redistributing your budget as the need arises.

This is because as your planning starts solidifying, you will need to revisit your budget to make changes to the amount you allocated for the different parts of your event.

For example, if you discover that your venue costs less than you budgeted, you can quickly shift the surplus money to marketing and promotion.

It is easy to overextend your budget. So, ensure that you check with your vendors and the different professionals you work with.

After setting up your budget, move to the next step.

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Step 3: Build your team

You can successfully organise a small physical event by yourself, but to organise a successful large event, you need a village.

So start putting your team together.

If you are building a team from scratch, ensure that everyone knows their roles.

To make this even more effective, break your team into smaller teams and get everyone reporting to a team lead. The team lead then, in turn, reports to the project manager.

The project manager (which can be you) maintains complete visibility over the action plan and the entire project.

You may wonder, “how can I organise my event team into different groups?”

Let’s take a hypothetical team for a tech expo, for example, and organise them into subteams and leaderships.

Here’s how we can typically distribute the team into subteams and leadership:

Project manager: Typically overlooks everyone else in your team. The project manager also maintains complete visibility of the execution of the project and makes top-level decisions.
Coordinator: The coordinator is responsible for talking to the vendors and sponsors. As well as the speakers, onsite volunteers and staff.
Designers: Your designers pull off the visual designs for your printed and digital materials for your event.
Registrations and check-in: These guys own and work the registration setup. They manage and set the expectation of your attendees.

This is not an exhaustive list, but you get what we are talking about.

Let’s move to the next step.

Step 4: Pick the right venue and date

The venue and date you choose for your event are significant decisions that define the success of your event.

Why is that? You must be wondering.

It’s simple. It’s similar to going on vacation.

The place and the time of the year you choose to go on vacation determines if you’d have a great time.

Or whether you’d want to run home the next minute.

It’s similar for your event and your guests.

We advise that you start researching venues as early as possible. The event market is flooded, so finding when your venue will be available is crucial.

When zeroing down on a venue for your event, consider the following:

Location
Weather
Travel and associated costs
Budget
On-site staff
Facilities
Response to emergencies

For example, if you’re organising a conference for developers, the best location for the conference is where there are more developers.

Taking it far away from where your demographic reside can negatively impact attendance.

So prepare a list of venues that fit your requirements based on the factors we’ve shared. Once you have a list, your next move is to start your research and discuss it with the venue’s managers.

Here’s the secret to getting the best venue.

Ensure you ask as many questions as possible to understand if a venue is a good fit. Don’t be afraid of asking difficult questions.

Once you sort out your event venue, you have two more steps.

Step 5: Develop event branding

From the event’s name to the theme, website, and look. You need to set the tone of your event.

So, think of it this way, when people think of your event, what do you want them to remember?

A strong event brand will provide a clear picture in your guest’s minds. As well as help steer the direction of the event.

The trick is to choose an event brand that reflects your organisation’s brand. You need to also think of how you will interconnect your event brand with the materials you use in your event.

Now you’re thinking, “what makes up branding for an event”?

Event branding typically includes the following elements:

Event name: This will reflect your vision for the event.
Theme: Something that tells a story to your audience.
Logo, colours, and graphics: These should reflect your organisation’s brand elements.
On-site decor: Every touchpoint in the event should reflect your brand and theme.

If any of these sounds confusing, a brand identity designer (or design agency) can help you figure everything out.

If you have all these branding elements sorted out, ensure you use them to promote your event on all platforms. Such as your website, social media, emails, tickets, and app.

We talk more about how to promote your event in step 7 correctly.

Now to the penultimate step.

Step 6: Plan your program for the event

Plan your agenda as early as possible.

Here are some things you should cross every I’s and dot every T’s.

Finalise the keynote speaker and if you want an extra day just for sponsors. In addition, finalise if there are multiple speakers and workshops or if it is a unified event.

Just lay out on paper how you want the event to play out that day.

However, having your program and schedule finalised before your promotions is optional. You can change the event program and schedule even after you start marketing your event.

The trick is to adopt tech to make organising your event easy.

For example, if you have the budget, you can develop an app or a website for your event. This app or website lets your guests stay updated 24/7 with schedule changes.

In addition to this, if your event is a full-day or multiple-day event, you need to think about the following:

Food and drinks
Entertainment
Wellness events, happy hours, and networking opportunities

There can be more. It all depends on your target audience and the goal of your event.

Your event goals, budget, date, venue, branding, and possible program or agenda are ready.

What is left?

Step 7: Promote the event

Promote your event like everything else depends on it because it does.

Except you’re organising a birthday party for your two-year-old child, you must promote your event. You should even promote your birthday parties. Except you want to eat the food you prepared all alone.

Here’s the key. Promote your event on all the media where you can find your target guests.

This includes your:

Facebook page
Linkedin page
Twitter page
Email list
Local radio and TV channels
Website
Industry-specific forums

Add more media where you can find your target audience.

But it doesn’t end there.

After promoting and inviting people to your event, you must also send them reminders.

Else, they may forget.

And all your effort goes to waste.

Using SMS reminders is quite a nifty option to promote and keep your guest reminded about your event.

This simple yet effective channel will make your event a great success.

How do you get started on using SMS reminders?

SMS reminders can align your attendees, speakers, and team in the right direction.

The reason for using SMS reminders is simple — they don’t need any internet connection.

It means that everyone with a mobile phone will receive your message.

You can also schedule and automate your SMS. Automating your reminders via SMS removes one primary concern from your list.

You can use the SMSCountry bulk SMS service to promote your event and send reminders.

SMSCountry is a premium solution for sending SMSes. With SMSCountry, you can automate and schedule your SMS easily.

This means putting your event reminders and promotion on autopilot. Enabling you to focus on other areas of your planning that requires your undivided attention.

It doesn’t end there.

SMSCountry also offers a pay-as-you-go solution. With a pay-as-you-go pricing system, you can efficiently work with your budget.

As if that’s not enough, you get an account manager to help you with whatever you need.

You’d agree this makes everything super easier.

You can Schedule a quick free demo to see how the platform works.

You can also sign up for FREE and enjoy free SMSes to check out how SMSCountry will help your event.

Phew!

If you read to this point, you want to get it right with your next physical event.

Our promise to you is if you follow each of the steps laid out properly, your event will not come short of amazing.

But don’t stop reading yet.

You still have a few more boxes to check to equip yourself and your event team thoroughly.

What are the mistakes to avoid when organising and hosting a physical event?

When planning events, it’s common for mistakes to occur. But what matters is how you handle it.

Mistakes to avoid when planning and hosting a physical event

Event planners (beginners and experts) make four common mistakes when organising a physical event. We list them below.

Failing to think about the experience of your attendees: Your attendees are your event’s main attraction. Design an excellent experience for your attendees regarding queues, breakout rooms, stalls, and exhibits.
Understaffing your team: You can’t run the whole thing alone — it’s impossible. Especially if it’s a large event. So ensure that you have clear roles and responsibilities assigned to a team.
Failing to confirm with vendors: Establish multiple communication channels with your vendors. Talk to them, gather enough information, and ask questions. Most importantly, discuss their deliverables and confirm with them multiple times before delivery.
Spending beyond your budget: Track your spending and ensure that only one person is in charge of approving the spending.

If these are the mistakes you must avoid, what are some of the things you must ensure you do?

Tips and best practices for planning and hosting a successful physical event

Here are a few best practices you need to follow to make organising your next event effortless and fun.

These best practices are from experts with a lot of experience in event management.

1. Let your stakeholders know everything

Not everyone in your company will have the same sense of urgency. Thinking that is counterproductive.

So to pull off a massive event, everyone needs to share the same goal and be aligned in the same direction. This will help you to avoid last-minute decisions and overbudget spending.

Connect with your team, especially the decision-makers.

Share your vision, ideas, and inspiration with them. This helps foster a sense of engagement and excitement with them.

2. Overcommunicate with your team

“A lot of event planning relies on people and communication. It requires teams working on different elements to stay in touch with each other.

If there are no parameters for clear communication, information could slip through,” says Edward Salas, the CEO of Oliver Productions.

Edward adds, “ So here are a few communication tips you can use.

First, have everyone on the team check-in and regularly call during the planning process.

Also, everyone should help each other understand tasks, issues, and the next steps.”

3. Plan for the expected and the unexpected

Chris Stone, the CEO of Stone Thrones, adds an interesting point of view here “ The more moving pieces in a plan, the higher probability of things going wrong.”

Chris adds,” With event planning, you need to brainstorm the worst-case scenarios and be prepared for them. You and your team need to have a plan B.

So always make sure you come prepared for the expected and the unexpected. Bad weather, check. Tech issues, check. Everything needs a plan B.”