How an Effective Communication Plan Leads to a Successful Event

Creating a plan for effective event communication is not an easy task, but it is well worth the time and effort. There need to be clear, transparent lines of communication between everyone involved in your event including your team, vendors, and attendees.

In the following guide, we will outline the best practices for maintaining communication between all of the interested parties before the start of your event, during your event, and after your event has ended.

Why is it Important to Communicate in Event Management?

Once an event is scheduled and the dates and times are set in stone you must deliver. This is precisely why you have to communicate effectively with every single person in the event planning process. Building an event communication plan allows everyone you work with to have clear expectations of their tasks, and increases productivity. Productivity is of the utmost importance when working in event management due to tight time constraints and deadlines. Without effective event management communication, your event could fall apart at the seams.

Here are some tips on how to communicate effectively in event management that will be sure to save you a few headaches for your next event:

Before the Event

From the time your event is first thought up, to the minute it starts; you should ensure that your team and any potential attendees are kept apprised of all of the important information. There are critical pre-event details that should be conveyed to and easily accessed by all those who need to know.

Important Pre-Event Details to Communicate

Your pre-event communication should, at a bare minimum, address the following:

• Names of Presenters: This will not only serve to keep everyone involved in the event informed of the presenters, but this information will also drum up excitement from registered attendees.
• Event Timeline: Attendees will want to know when and where certain presentations and activities within your event are taking place so that they can plan accordingly.
• Communication Methods: Your event communication channels need to be clearly defined. Luckily, for in-person, hybrid, and virtual events, much of this communication can take place through apps and digital methods during the pre-event phase.
• Food and Drink Considerations: If there will be food and drink available at the event, this is important information that needs to be conveyed to your attendees so that they know whether or not they should eat beforehand.

Pre-Event Communication Tools

Thankfully, technology can make pre-event communication an easy, reliable process. The following is a list of options you may want to consider for your communication strategies leading up to your event:

• Event Website: The event website will likely be the first stop for anyone looking for information on your event. Your website should be clearly labeled with intuitive links and all of the necessary information readily available. All other event communication tools should funnel your potential attendees to your website.
• Email Marketing: Email is one of the best, unobtrusive ways to reach a wide audience. Ensure that your event communication strategies include email marketing to provide regular updates to all potential attendees.
• Social Media: Marketing your event on services such as Twitter and LinkedIn is an essential step in your pre-event communication process. Each social media platform has a different user base with unique demographics and you can appeal to a wide audience through the effective use of these platforms.
• Mobile Event App: A mobile event app is a versatile tool that can serve as an incredibly effective means of communication for everyone involved with your event. With an event app, you can create polls, surveys, and group chats to engage with your audience and team throughout your event and make modifications as necessary.

During the Event

Once your pre-event communication tools have all been put in place, and the day of your event arrives, communication is equally important but changes slightly in form. At this point, there can’t be any delay in communication, as people will quickly become frustrated if they can’t get an answer to a question during the event.

Important Details to Communicate During Your Event

It is essential that you have a clear system of communication regarding the timeline of your event. All team members should know where they are supposed to be and when they should be there. This includes, but is not limited to when certain social media announcements are posted when live polls open to the attendees, and when each presentation is starting.

As far as communication strategies concerning event attendees, you’ll want to consider the following tools:

Communication Tools to be Used During the Event

• Mobile Event App: Stress the benefits of all attendees downloading the mobile event app. Regardless of the specifics of your event, having the app will be an invaluable resource during the event for both you and those in attendance.
• Live Polling Survey: Gathering real-time feedback from your event is an invaluable event communication method that allows you to make changes on the fly and address any issues as they are developing. This can be easily done through the mobile event app.
• Push Notifications: Whether the event is hybrid, in-person, or virtual, event-goers can become distracted and miss a presentation if they don’t have appropriate prompting via push notification.
• Social Media: While social media is an essential tool to use before your event, it can be handy during your event as well. You may choose to post real-time updates to your Twitter account or live stream portions of the event through Instagram. Social media makes this integration seamless.

After the Event
Now that your event has ended, there is important after-event work to be done.

Important Details to Communicate After Your Event Has Ended

You’ll want to be sure that you appropriately thank everyone who was involved with the event from your event team, to your vendors, to your attendees. Everyone in attendance will appreciate this recognition. Additionally, you’ll want to capitalize on the information you’ve gathered during the event in several ways using your communication tools:

Post-Event Communication Tools

• Post-Event Survey Feedback: Even though you likely gathered survey data during your event, you’ll also want to allow attendees to answer survey questions afterward. This will enable you to determine what went well and what needs to be tweaked for next time.
• Email Marketing Follow Up: Don’t let your communication channels dissolve just because the event is over. You should maintain regular communication with attendees and follow up through email. This will make it easier to have an audience base for future events and to convey any further information about the event that just concluded.

Final Words

Event planning can be a very stressful job with too many moving parts at once, but effectively communicating with your team and clients can make your job much simpler. Communication is one of the most important aspects of being an effective event planner. Being successful in event management is multifaceted, it is much more than just communicating with the people on your team as there are many pieces to the puzzle when pulling off an impeccable in-person, virtual, or hybrid event. Knowing just how to speak and communicate with people well is a skill that takes time and practice, and it is one of the most useful traits in the realm of event management. Incorporating an effective communication plan is a must. Once you can see why it is important to communicate effectively with others, your productivity will soar to new heights.

Stova’s fully integrated event management platform helps keep your team on time and on track to effectively manage hundreds of event details from start to finish. Request your live demo today to learn how.