Event portfolio management is an important process in strategic event management that helps organizations manage and optimize their events. It involves a series of strategic decisions that aim to create a diverse and effective event portfolio that achieves the organization’s objectives. A successful event portfolio management strategy requires a deep understanding of the organization’s goals and resources, as well as a keen awareness of the target audience’s needs and preferences.
Here are the seven key points to consider when developing an event portfolio management strategy:
- Define your event portfolio’s purpose and objectives: Before starting to plan any events, it’s important to clarify the purpose and objectives of your event portfolio. These objectives should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART). This helps to ensure that all events in the portfolio contribute to the organization’s goals.
- Conduct market research: Conducting market research will help you better understand your target audience’s preferences, interests, and pain points. With this knowledge you will be able to create events that meet your audience’s needs and attract the right participants.
- Assess your organization’s resources: A successful event portfolio depends on the resources available to support it. It’s essential to assess your organization’s available resources, including personnel, budget, technology, and any other resources necessary. Allocating the right resources to the right events set you up for success.
- Develop a diverse event portfolio: A diverse event portfolio helps an organization reach a broader audience, provides more value to attendees, and mitigates risks associated with a narrow focus. An event portfolio should consist of different types of events such as conferences, trade shows, webinars, workshops, and other types of events.
- Create an event calendar: Once you’ve developed an event portfolio, the next step is to create an event calendar. The event calendar should include all the events in the portfolio, including the event name, date, location, and brief description.
- Develop a marketing plan: Creating an effective marketing plan is crucial to the success of your event portfolio. The marketing plan should include a target audience, a messaging strategy, a channel strategy, and a timeline.
- Evaluate and optimize your event portfolio: It’s crucial to evaluate the performance of your event portfolio regularly. By tracking key performance indicators such as attendance, revenue, and feedback from attendees, you can identify areas for improvement and optimize your event portfolio to achieve better results. Tracking metrics like ROI and ROE across your portfolio will let you evaluate disparate events against each other.
Event portfolio management involves a series of strategic decisions that aim to create a diverse and effective event portfolio that achieves an organization’s objectives. By following these seven key points, organizations can develop an event portfolio management strategy that helps them reach their goals, optimize resources, and create value for attendees.
Seems complicated? It is! Beyond Branding Events can help you set up an event portfolio that will turn your events into tools for reaching business goals and objectives, going beyond just brand or product awareness. Contact us to find out how we can help.
