How to increase ROI on Corporate Events

As a marketing director, your CEO will ask you to prove her a great return on investment (ROI) for your next corporate event. We will give you some great advice to increase this ROI.

Retailers often use the concept of "the customer journey" in their omnichannel strategy. It is the representation of every experience a customer has with your brand, through all the touchpoints. 

We can apply the exact same concept on your corporate event strategy.

It all starts with the DNA of your brand. What does your brand stand for? What makes it so unique? What message do you want people to remember? What are the values of your brand? And what is your Value Proposition? A tough exercice. But it all starts here...

After defining your Brand DNA, you can start developing a relevant concept for your event. A concept that is relating to this Brand DNA. Be creative. Be original. But always keep your Brand DNA in mind. Your concept must be unique, easy to understand and positive.

Now you can start developing the customer journey on your event. This means that your customer needs to feel the same positive experience during each phase of your event. From invitation to the follow up after the event. Let us guide you...

Invitation

Almost always underestimated. The save-the-date, the printed invite, the confirmation mail with all the practicals, the reminder,...

They are the first points of contact with your customer for your event. They must all reflect your Brand DNA, as they are true brand communication channels. 

The experience starts here! Develop a pre event communication strategy to grab the attention of your customer and to create a conversation before the event even starts. And, yes, this is 2017, so create an awesome hashtag for your event. This hashtag must be short and to the point. 

Parking

The most forgotten part of the event. You can invest tons of money and energy in catering, event interior design and animations : you will never overcome the negative emotion of a bad parking experience.  Make sure there are enough parking spots, that the ground is not muddy (there goes your pair of Louboutins!) and that your parking boys are friendly, elegant and well briefed. 

Welcome and Check In

Many brands have "happiness" as a brand value. Well, can you imagine the dammage if your welcome crew is hungry and unhappy? Or if they pay more attention to their personal iPhone than to your event customers?

This team must be guided and briefed by a professional staff responsible. Your Chief Welcome Officer is so important, make sure this person understands all of your brand DNA. It will lift up your ROI.

Event Interior Design

This is where it goes wrong for sò many companies and brands. Just having a beautiful set-up does not make it a relevant set-up for your brand. Your corporate values, your brand colors, the message you want to communicate,... Think about every aspect of your Brand DNA to make the right choices between wooden furniture, red flowers, candles, rough materials and other decoration. Your event customer will feel a certain emotion when they enter your event. Make sure it is an emotion linked to your Brand DNA. 

Think about Nespresso. What kind of event interior design would they use? 
Then think about Apple. What event interior design would thèy use? 
What about L'Oréal? 

All different styles. Understood? Now pick the right style linked to your Brand DNA for your next event!

Catering

Through all aspects of catering, your customer will experience your brand. Think about the full catering concept. Not just the taste of the food and the choice of the plates. But think about the clothes of the barmen and the look of the waiters. Do they reflect the image of your brand? Think about the presentation of the food and the served drinks.

Ask your caterer about the origin of your food. Are your brand values "sustainability" and "ecologic awareness"? Then you understand you can not serve Canadian lobster during your conference in Rome. 

After Event

After the event, your customer needs the same attention as before the event. Send her a personal thank you card. Send her the pictures of the event, or even the video. It is about extreme customer centricity!

Return on Investment

Your customer will share his experiences to his friends and colleagues. What will he have remembered? Will he pass the right message about your brand to others? Will he buy your product? Will he become a brand ambassador? 

We guarantee your brand a higher ROI if you apply all the tips mentioned above. 

As experts in brand experiences we can help you through this full customer journey. Feel free to send us an email to laurent@lapinquotidien.com or call us on 0032 486 43 43 48 to make an appointment to talk about your brand and your targets.

Written by Laurent Lootens, owner and Founder of Lapin Quotidien and So-Phi.