Twelve truths and one lie to the makings of a winning event experience
Marketers across functions and industries are often charged with delivering events. These help to drive some combination of professional development, reputation, relationships, engagement, leads and revenue. Live events can also provide the forum for a unique customer experience.
According to a , customer experience will overtake price and product as the key brand differentiator by 2020.
How do marketers design events to deliver authentic, relevant, positive and valuable experiences?
The following insightswhich Ive organized into 12 truths and one lieare garnered from my own career, in which Ive spent decades serving as organizer, exhibitor and attendee.
1. The Experience Window is Wide
Dont box yourself into the time frame of the agenda. Expand your experience thinking to include a lead-in and follow-up. How do you seed and fuel a great experience in advance and reinforce it post-event? This creates opportunities for content, logistics and networking. But beware of overpromotion: Use this opportunity to make it easy for your attendees to prepare for, absorb and capitalize on the experience you are creating for them.
2. Everyone Counts
Youre creating the experience for attendees, but you cant do this without your speakers, sponsors, staff, volunteers and vendors. Theyre in the room experiencing the event from their unique and often expert perspectives, which can translate into testimonials, referrals, social media engagement and potential business. Dont leave out these essential constituents but avoid diluting your message. You can deliver a great support-system experience without sacrificing your primary audience experience.
3. Turnkey is for Turkeys
Sometimes a template can impede continuous improvement and differentiation. People attend events to experience something new. Even if its a regular occurrence, your event and audience deserve positive change. Theres no need to reinvent the wheel, but remember not to rest on your road-worn laurels.
4. Energy Powers Experiences
When it shines, the program moves. When it doesnt, crank up the generator. Setting the tone from beginning to end is a must. Dynamic speakers, enthusiastic greeters, engaged staff and a lively environmentincluding energetic sights and soundscan turn even a modest part of the program into a feel-good experience. Dont go overboard, though. Fake is easy to spot and becomes a detractor.
5. Small Stuff is Worth Sweating
Mapping out every detail can seem tedious, but it pays off. Some of the greatest moments of truth in a live event are the in-between spaces that often get overlooked in the designits where the most unexpected things go wrong. But beware of losing the forest in the trees; you dont want to forget to experience your own event.
6. The Best-Laid Plans Change
One of the most important lessons Ive learned is to be flexible in the moment. Watch for signs that you need to course-correct and be ready to adapt quickly. Dont panic; it never helps the experience. Build some give-and-take into your design, be present and be decisive. Often youre the only one who notices when something is amiss, so dont make things worse by over-apologizing or explaining.
7. Gamification Plays Well
Knowledgeable, inspirational speakers and practical takeaways are table stakes. No one needs that tip. But delivering with flair is unfortunately still a bit of a unicorn. Sometimes you need something different to deliver a memorable experience. Interactive, competitive gamification can steal home. Make it uncomplicated, fun and relevant.
8. Automation and AI Cut to the Chase
Personalization, convenience and data are increasingly essential components of customer experience. AI-based technologies provide tremendous shortcuts and enhancements to deliver timely, tailored information and resources. But dont lose the soul and potential of the interaction; enable the technology before it enables you.
9. Networking is Awkward
Small talk seems frivolous, and no one wants to get cornered into a sales pitch. But its also one of the main reasons people attend live events, and part of designing a great experience is to provide a forum for people to connect. Be overt; tell them its networking. Get creative, draw them in and facilitate. Youll never get everyone talking, but if you focus on willing participants, theyll love you for it.
10. You Can’t Fake the Feels
Visceral is memorable. Incorporate shared moments that get people out of their chairs and comfort zones. The best experiences Ive had involved music, tears, laughter, dancing, inspiration and even puppies. But trying too hard or being too silly can make you lose authenticity or make people uncomfortable. Epic is possible, but not guaranteed.
11. FOMO Sells
Weve focused on designing and delivering experience through events, but its a longer game than that. Youre not just aiming to make people happy in the moment, you want them to rave about it later and attend again. This list of tipswrapped around your relevant, valuable contentcan create FOMO (fear of missing out). When you deliver a truly differentiated experience, people will share it and others will wish they were there.
12. People Love to Give Advice
Seek feedback before, during and especially after the event, and make providing it easy. Dont just rely on a survey, ask attendees in person. This gives your audience a sense of ownership and ultimately turns your event into a co-creation with your customer. The truth hurts sometimes, and although you cant please everyone, it always makes you better. Remember that requesting feedback creates an expectation that youll use it, so be sure they know you listened.
The Lie: You Control the Event Experience
Experience design is all about caring, not control. If you care how people feel, why they show up, who they meet and what they take away, everybody wins.
Your audience knows that youre human and that you dont have to be perfectyou just have to care enough to try. Experience design for events sets the stage for exceptional delivery with real people in real time. Caring is the single most important thing you can do. Prepare to deliver, co-create and be present. In my experience, attendees will feel it.
Gina Bonar is CXO and founder of 5 Whys Marketing LLC, a Cincinnati-based marketing consulting and services provider focused on strategy and content development and delivery.