Defining Your Event Goals and Objectives to Help Make an Impact

Firstly, it’s important to think about what your event objectives will be…

Take the time to think about what goals you would like to establish for your event. Is your goal realistic, and is it really attainable?

Consider Key Questions and Resources to help achieve defined event goals:

• What is the purpose of your event?
• Does it align with the companies’ marketing strategy and target audience?
• Is it likely to be a good use of your marketing budget and be able to generate sufficient interest in your product or services?
• Sometimes fewer, well-thought-out events with reasonable budgets can be better than a ‘scatter bomb’ approach.
• Which attendees should be invited to your event?
• How should you make your event memorable or your exhibition stand ‘stand
  out’ amongst your competitors? Contact: Hello@i3-uk.com
• Will you need speakers or any educational content to reach your goal?
• If it’s a social event, what is your social goal for your attendees and how
  will you encourage this interaction?
• How will you measure your success against given objectives?

Developing the Event Strategy
Once you have your event goals confidently defined, brainstorm the steps and strategy to help achieve them. When thinking strategy, it is helpful to look from two perspectives – the companies and also, from the perspective of your attendees. How will both the planning team and the attendee realize their individual goals?

The strategy might involve some mini-goals so ideally, map out a plan either in outline or as a more detailed project plan.

Make Connections?
No two events are the same. Some events lend themselves to making connections and not necessarily delivering content. For other events, the goal is to teach attendees. In cases like these, think about what attendees are learning, why, and what you want to teach them? With these answers you can then start to build out the essential items like speakers and content, ensuring that you are selecting the right content for the defined target audience.

Once you determine your overall event goals and objectives, all other planning seem to just be pieces to the puzzle. Your event budget, theme, speakers, and entertainment each have a place and will ultimately aid commonality with your given goals.