Events are essential for generating fresh new leads for your business, strengthening its presence in the market, and increasing brand awareness.
On the other hand, in order to ensure all the powerful benefits that organizing an event can bring your company, it's crucial to plan everything well ahead and create an enticing event agenda.
Failing to do so can result in the lack of attendance, meaning that your investment could turn into a complete waste of money and resources.
Here are some best practices for putting together an agenda that will convince your target audience that your event is worth attending.
Decide on the Content of Your Event
46% of event planners say that creating content and agenda takes up most of their time.
The first step is determining what your event will be about and what kind of content will be presented. While you might be aware of what your audience is interested in general, it's a good idea to ask them for feedback.
Once you settle on an overarching theme of your event, use email marketing and social media channels to conduct a survey in which you'll ask potential attendees what they expect from such an event and what kind of sessions they would most benefit from.
These questions can help you craft the content for the event and understand what types of speakers will suit your attendees' needs.
Organize Your Schedule
This way, it will be much easier for your attendees to scan the timeline and find the sessions and meetings that they're interested in most.
Your agenda can serve as a central information and resource hub, which will list everything that will take place during the conference from the first presentation all the way to networking opportunities.
By opting for the right event management solution, it will be possible to prevent your attendees from feeling overwhelmed. It's important for them to be able to filter out sessions by topic, time, and location.
Include Breaks
While making the most of your speakers and offering relevant content is crucial for the success of your event, it's of equal importance to let your attendees have some rest.
Including breaks every 90 minutes will do the trick. Such timely pauses will maintain a high level of attentiveness among your audience. Another important factor is having snacks and refreshments available at hand at the place where people will lounge during the breaks.
This approach will make sure that your attendees are engaged throughout the event.
Secure Your Lineup in Advance
In order to make sure that the ones that you want are available at the time of the conference, reach out to them a couple of months in advance. Bear in mind that if you want to get some big names on board, you need to create a value proposition and highlight what's in it for them.
However, before actually contacting your potential panelists and speakers with a proposal, ask yourself what kind of value each of them will offer to your audience as well as whether they are a good fit for your event.
The versatility of your lineup is another factor that will ensure a number of different perspectives, thus increasing the overall value of the event.
Finally, instead of trying to attract and wow your audience by opting for an overly exposed celebrity speaker, opt for an up-and-coming star who will go out of their way to deliver and exceed everyone's expectations.
Support Your Sponsors
Financial support is what makes organizing your event possible in the first place, and by offering your sponsors exposure through the event agenda, you'll keep your side of the bargain.
The event agenda is one of the most engaging parts of your conference resources as all the prospects and attendees frequently view it in search of relevant information. That's why your sponsors could greatly benefit from this real estate.
They can showcase their brands with the help of sponsored sessions or polls and stay on the attendees' radar throughout the event.
Leverage the Power of Social Media
Facebook, LinkedIn, and other social media platforms are great channels for spreading the word about your event and expanding your reach.
Make your agenda social media-friendly, as your potential attendees will reshare it, thus creating online buzz and excitement around the event.
If you don't want to share all the details in advance, you can use some teasers to spark your audience's interest. Instead of revealing your entire lineup, you can announce a surprise guest.
An event agenda is both your and your attendees' roadmap and you should pay special attention to crafting it. It allows people to navigate your conference, explore the content, and make the most of it.
