Event coordination with a marketing eye
Events play an important role in modern business and have a positive impact on your organisation’s bottom line. As we head into the thick of work functions, corporate drinks and social luncheons for the Christmas and New Year holiday period, there’s a huge opportunity to capitalise on and drive multiple benefits from these events, far greater than the idle chin wagging and corporate gift giving on the day.
It’s easy to get caught up in the planning of events, trying to ensure that everything is on point for the occasion – do the balloons match the napkins, should I be hiring or purchasing the centerpieces and what should we be providing as corporate gifts to our clients and staff? But a corporate event can be so much more than a takeaway set of business coasters and a few trays of canapés and sparkling wine. Taking a broader outlook on event coordination can be that missing link helping you achieve strategic business goals and offer an opportunity to showcase your products and services more broadly.
The staff Christmas party, for instance, not only gives employees and their partners an opportunity to interact on a social level but can also positively impact your organisational culture by giving staff an opportunity to further develop their interpersonal relationships outside the office. Staff social functions offer the opportunity to breakdown barriers between departments and teams, strengthening workplace bonds and reinforcing a positive workplace culture, ultimately creating better employee engagement and worker enjoyment.
Recent studies into worker satisfaction and organisational loyalty indicate that employees measure their job satisfaction, including happiness and wellbeing at work by the benefits provided outside their normal salary. Ranking highly on the satisfaction wish list are benefits including:
• Additional holiday leave (outside the standard four weeks), rostered days off (RDOs) and the ability to take Time Owed in Lieu (TOIL or Time in Lieu, TIL).
• Fitness incentives like free or reduced gym membership, pool entry and workplace physiotherapists and childcare.
• Workplace flexibility and autonomy – options to work from home or negotiate your working hours based on mutual respect and trust.
• Social activities – clubs, memberships, discounted events, end of year functions and industry award submissions.
The event season is a great opportunity for businesses to celebrate achievements throughout the year and build positive workplace culture and client relationships. The measure of success does not depend on the overall cost but rather the impact and rewards felt from being involved.
The people at the frontline of your business are a representation of your company – and if your employees are happy, it’s more than likely that your customers in turn are also happy. We can use this approach at an event where we are hosting clients and allow it to be an opportunity to showcase a business’ full range of products and services. Most clients only utilise a portion of a business’ full capabilities and a lot of the time, they are unaware of the full breadth of products and services available. Rather than putting guests through a lengthy barrage of speeches, producing a fun video showcasing your business capabilities and achievements will be enjoyed and remembered further beyond words alone. Reinforcing positives and social photos taken from the event across social media channels will keep the energy and affirmations lingering on for that little bit longer, giving you added value for money.
If your event is one that guests look forward to each year and has people talking, wondering and wanting more, then you can relax and celebrate in your success. Using events as part of your marketing can help achieve your business goals and objectives, by seamlessly intertwining fun into the way you carry out business.
Ensuring that your event showcases a professional image from the invitations all the way through to the entertainment on the night, along with making these moments of great celebration last is an art that the team at The Marketing Factory has been delivering since starting in 2007.
Over the past 10 years, our team has brought some of our region’s biggest corporate events together, namely the launch of Stockland North Shore, multiple display villages and neighbourhood shopping centre openings to name a few. As seasoned event specialists and marketers, we can bring any event, of any size and budget to life, knowing that the true measure of success does not depend on the amount or expense, but rather the impact and rewards felt from being involved.
Happy event planning!
