There are many ways to promote a business including online marketing, television advertising, print advertisement and radio spots. One very effective method that is often overlooked though is running an event. Events are a fantastic way to showcase new products, increase brand awareness and meet new customers.
Unfortunately, running events can be complex if you don’t have time to focus on the essentials of event planning like booking a venue, sending invitations, organising catering, structuring workshops and much more. For this reason some small businesses choose to use agencies or virtual assistant event planners, who can manage the event planning tasks on their behalf.
Many virtual assistants have experience in providing event planning for conferences and trade shows. They can help your business understand the details of event planning and design to ensure the event is a success. Here are some of the ways they may be able to help you.
Event research
Before getting into the details of event planning and design, it is important to research all aspects of the event. You can use a virtual assistant tor event planning research including the research of venues, speakers, vendors, entertainment options and catering. They can present all of the relevant information for each option, helping you to make the right decision.
Event promotion
Event promotion is one of the essential elements of event planning. After all, customers and business partners need to know the event is happening! A virtual assistant can help you promote the event with social media marketing support. Social media is increasingly an important part of promoting events, so it is important to get it right! They can also help with other marketing support services to make the event a success such as liaising with attendees and sending promotional materials out via email.
Event bookings and payments
Virtual assistant event planners can help you deal with bookings and payments for the event. Once you have decided on service providers for your event, your virtual assistant can negotiate on the price and make a booking. They can also manage payments from attendees, send invoices and chase up late payments on your behalf. Full virtual business assistant services can even manage the bookkeeping associated with the event, to ensure it remains on budget.
Handling event speakers and stall holders
One of the most important elements of event planning for conferences and trade shows is managing the various speakers and/or stall holders. They must know all of the details of the event, what they will be required to do, and any costs involved. Virtual assistants can help manage these aspects for your business to ensure that invited parties can participate effectively in the event.
Managing event attendee
Managing attendees can be one of the most time consuming details of event planning and design. Handling enquiries, communicating via the phone, replying to emails, organising name tags and preparing goody bags can take a huge amount of time. So outsource tasks such as appointment setting, email management and sales support to a virtual assistant rather than getting bogged down in the detail of these non-value added jobs.
Handling event related services
There are many service providers involved when holding an event including caterers, printing companies, venue operators, security companies, and more. Virtual event planners can liaise with service providers on your behalf to ensure the event runs smoothly.
Other ways that virtual assistants can help with event planning
Many other tasks performed by virtual assistants can be useful for businesses planning an event, including:
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Task and time management
Virtual assistants can help you develop an event schedule, ensure your personal schedule for the event is well planned, help to arrange meetings and create a to do list.
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Virtual assistant marketing support
In addition to promoting the event with social media marketing, they can help with your overall marketing campaign including content generation, website updates, crm data entry and market research.
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Sales support
Virtual assistants can also ensure all attendees are confirmed and have paid prior to the events.
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Business travel and event planning
In addition to event research and event design, a travel management virtual assistant can look after your business travel planning to help ensure you and your guests get to the event on time.
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Business finance support services
Another one of the essential elements of event planning is financial management. Virtual assistants can ensure the event stays on budget by providing expense management, book keeping, invoicing, and credit control services.
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Business admin support services
These services can be used to ensure the event runs very smoothly. In addition to some of the business admin services already mentioned some others include business call answering services, online secretarial services along with product and service sourcing.
Performing event follow up
After the event has been completed, a virtual assistant can help you determine if it was a success and take advantage of the new opportunities gained from running it. They can organise a questionnaire for attendees and receive feedback. They can then create a report based on this feedback to help you evaluate how the event succeeded or failed. They can even provide sales support to follow up on any leads that were gained during the event.
We hope you enjoyed “Essentials of event planning – how a virtual assistant can help”. If you are looking for some event management help feel free to call us on 0800 994 9016 or use our contact form in the menu above.