What do you need for a truly successful event? There are obvious factors: the venue, cutting-edge audiovisual equipment and an agenda packed with interesting speakers and presentations. But even the latest technology and a high-profile keynote address won’t make much of an impact if you’re missing one critical element: engaged attendees.

As any event planner knows, creating an event that draws in guests and leaves them with a memorable experience takes more than just an e-vite and a stage. You need to make specific, strategic choices to ensure that you supply relevant and engaging content to your target audience.

“Attendee persona mapping will help shape every decision made for your event.”

To provide value to your client, your first step should be to develop personas for marketing. Attendee persona mapping will help shape every decision made for your event, including your event technology requirements.

Marketing personas for events

Creating an ideal attendee persona for your event starts with determining the characteristics that define your target audience. This process will need to be completed in close collaboration with your client. Those working within the business will be intimately familiar with the consumers that they wish to reach and which metrics will prove most valuable. Usually, you’ll want to look at categories such as age, gender, job title, job responsibilities, annual income, media habits and geographic location.

Defining your audience is important for a number of reasons. Personas for marketing will help event planners with the following:

  • Direct advertising and marketing efforts.
  • Shape targeted content and the formats in which they’re delivered.
  • Influence audiovisual choices and other event technology decisions.

Keep in mind that you may not have a single persona for your event. Sometimes it may be helpful to break the audience down into several key demographics. You may have one group that is likely to attend the event in person and another that is more likely to want to live stream or webcast the presentations remotely. Understanding both types of guest will ensure that you cater to the entire spectrum of attendees.

Once you and your client have developed these personas, you’ll have a map to follow when determining the elements required to create a successful event, particularly in terms of technology.

Event technology requirements and persona mapping

When it comes to the AV requirements for your event, you’ll need to start by examining your persona map. If you neglect to do so, you may end up with unnecessary multimedia elements or find yourself scrambling with last-minute additions.

Your event content should target the requirements and preferences of those personas. For instance, if the majority of attendees work in creative industries, scenic solutions such as projection mapping may be especially important to their experience. Those who are particularly tech-savvy may want to see presentations that leverage the latest in technology, such as virtual reality or augmented reality elements. If your anticipated guests spend a lot of time online, consider adding a social media wall where attendees can interact with your client’s brand and view posts from others at the event.

And don’t forget to consider busy professionals who may find it easier to engage with content via live stream or webcast as opposed to attending in person. If you know that a significant portion of guests will need these alternative options, you’ll be able to provide appropriate solutions to increase your client’s reach.

By putting in the effort to research and develop marketing personas at the beginning of the planning process, you’ll save valuable time and resources in creating an event that will strategically target your desired audience.

Comments

Leave a comment