Small Business
Planning an event for your small business is no easy feat. Get your venue, budget, suppliers and social media marketing strategy in order with the ultimate event plan checklist.
Adobe Express
02/05/2024
Budget? Check. Theme? Check. But what about the other finer details? Whether it’s a webinar or a UK fundraiser, planning an event can be as challenging as the occasion itself. With countless moving parts, having an event plan checklist can help you stay on track.
From posters and flyers to social media marketing templates, plan a marketing event in 10 simple steps with Adobe Express. Tick off each step on our checklist below.
Before starting your event marketing planning, ask yourself what your event is for. Is it to boost revenue, strengthen customer relationships, or just for fun? Fine-tuning your goals will help you determine what kind of event to host and every decision you make going forward.
Without a solid goal, you run the risk of too many changes happening before or during the event, which can affect ticket sales and confuse your audience. Why not use a handy goal worksheet to help you get your ducks in a row?
Understanding your audience is key to planning a marketing event. Once you know exactly who your audience is and what their expectations are, everything else falls into place. Afterwards, you can determine other key factors, like ticket levels, budget, venue size, and catering. It also helps you prepare for sending out invitations, organising travel and other logistics.
Everything – literally everything – revolves around budget. But even small budgets can create great events. That’s what makes it such an important addition to your event plan checklist. Your budget is constantly changing, so you’ll want a suitable template to store all the important info, like a spreadsheet or a pie chart.
Once you obtain quotes from different vendors, venues and suppliers, you can begin to make the most of your event budget.
Talk to UK staffing agencies for quotes and figure out your staffing budget. Large-scale events call for bigger portions of your budget to hire event staff. Smaller budgets – not so much. Alternatively, you can advertise your event in nearby towns or cities and scout for volunteers to reduce costs.
You can’t escape the logistics. They’re a crucial part of your marketing event planning, helping to keep the cogs turning. This is where your goals and budget will come in handy, so make sure you have a clear, coherent plan to avoid any oversights.
Generally, logistics can include the following elements:
With the foundations covered, it’s time to put everything into a cohesive plan. You can plan out your event schedule using a timetable, or compile your to-do list into an event planner for keeping track along the way – whatever speaks to you most.
Be aware that your event plan checklist should also include all the practical elements of your event – such as social media marketing, ticket sales, purchasing and more.
Planning your print marketing is where you can start to have some fun creating the aesthetic of your event. Whatever promotional materials you use, your brand should have a distinct visual identity that represents your event.
For flyers and invitations, choose a colour scheme and typography that reflects your event. Brochures, meanwhile, should have the right messaging and tone of voice. Consistency across your print marketing is key.
You can then start to spread them around. Ask to hang up posters in local shop windows, give out flyers to your customers or hand deliver invitations to your top clientele.
While print marketing can get the ball rolling, it’s social media that really knocks your event planning and marketing out the park. The most relevant platforms will differ depending on your event and target audience. For example, Instagram is a great platform for marketing local festivals, while LinkedIn is ideal for professional conferences and networking events.
Make the most of your social media marketing strategy with the following tips.
How and when you launch your tickets depends on your event type and audience. You want to promote tickets as early as possible – ideally when you first announce your event. Integrate your ticket sale posts into your social media calendar for a clear idea of timing and frequency.
You might use an event listing platform to distribute tickets, create your own event website page dedicated to ticket sales, or make a Facebook event.
Early-bird tickets can create a sense of urgency for those looking for a bargain, helping to boost engagement. You could even do ticket giveaways on posts to drive engagement on social platforms on the run-up to the big day.
With the venue secured, you’ll want to start reaching out to various suppliers to tie your event together.
To give you an idea, here are some external suppliers to consider.
You might have made some tweaks to your event plan checklist by now. Don’t worry! It’s all part of the process. As the big day approaches, you’ll want to do some final checks on the following.
The day’s finally here! Make sure you have copies of all important materials – directions, phone numbers, seating charts and guest lists – with you. Check in with staff and attendees from time to time, and assist sponsors, speakers and other teams as needed. Encourage guests and influencers to take photos and videos of the activity to post on socials.
With all the moving pieces finally in a row, you can finally tick the last item off your event plan checklist. Host a successful event? Check.
