The event objective
Knowing your objective is key to understanding and communicating your why to the outside world.
What is the purpose of your event? What is the unique value that you provide? And why should people care?
First of all. Why are you running events? Do you have a clear picture in mind of what you want to achieve with them? If you do not have a straight answer right away. Stop. Rethink. And figure out your event goals now.
The objective of your event is absolutely essential
Without a clear event objective everything can be measured as a success – and you have no way of knowing if you really have achieved what you wanted to.
But just as importantly – you need the why to move people and to get them to take action. And that includes anyone involved in your event – attendees, speakers, event staff, partners, and sponsors.
Because let’s face it: our thinking and decision-making are much more driven by our emotions and feelings than by our rationality. Research has found tons of proof for that.
People get motivated when there is an underlying purpose that resonates with them. If you want them to attend and engage, you need a captivating event objective and goal.
This is simply how the human brain is wired.
And that is exactly why nobody cares about WHAT you <are doing (or at least not in the first place). It’s the WHY that speaks to our emotions and that has the power to drive our behavior.
People do not buy what you do, they buy why you do it. – Simon Sinek
So as a B2B event professional, you want to ensure that your WHY is on the forefront of your communications. And by doing so, what’s in it for me, you may ask? Well that’s an easy one:
- a motivated and inspired event team and enthusiastic speakers,
- a captivated and fully engaged audience,
- and a coherent network of dedicated partners and sponsors.
Let us show you how to get there.
Communicating your why requires you to create a compelling value proposition first.
In short, your value proposition states what you have to offer – and why customers should buy from you over your competitors.
With a compelling value proposition in place, it will subsequently be much easier to derive the WHY of your event from it and to design an event communication strategy with emotional appeal.
Consider these questions:
- What is the general vision of my business? And what are my core beliefs?
- What do you deliver? What is your expertise? What sets you and your events apart from your competitors?
- Who is your target audience?
- What challenges does my target audience face? What are their pain points? And how can I help them (within my area of expertise)?
- What is the unique benefit and value that people can gain from being part of my event (as attendee, speaker, sponsor)? How does it resonate with what they are looking for?
The objective of your event is an ideal bonding tool. The glue between you and your stakeholders.
Sharing an event objective, a common purpose or belief will further help you establish strong and meaningful connections with your attendees in an almost effortless way.
If you believe in the same event objective and goals, it becomes quite simple to convince them of what you have to offer – thereby increasing the chances to convert them into customers and to develop long-term business relationships.
The reason why it makes so much more sense to start with the WHY is also very well explained in leadership expert Simon Sinek’s TED talk about the Golden Circle. An inspirational and innovative approach that you as an event professional should definitely know about.
If you found this blog entry helpful, remember to share it with other event professionals.
Together we can make events easier.
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