The communication plan for an event

Communication is essential for the success of an event. Defining a communication plan can facilitate this demanding and difficult work: we present you with some concrete steps that will allow you to carry out this mission successfully.

Develop a communication plan

The object and context of communication‍

To begin with, whether it is to announce an event, the sale of tickets or even a call for contributions, it is important to grasp a concrete subject to start your communication plan.

You will contextualize this well-defined object by evaluating:

• The reputation of your event, of your structure,
• Your networks: involvement of institutions (city, region), companies and sponsors
• The results of the previous event: occupancy rate, sales, invitations, press coverage
• The state of play of your communication tools: graphics, website, social networks
• The number of visitors to your website, the engagement of your community of subscribers on social networks

The objectives of communication

What are your main goals ? In general, there are three main goals of communication: promote, raise awareness or inform.

If you want to announce the sale of your electronic tickets, your objective will therefore be toinform potential participants.

Then you have to Define your targets : the public, your partners or even institutions.

Knowing your target allows you to choose your communication channels but also to choose the tone you are going to give to your message.

This is the third point to specify: What tone do you want to give to your message ?

The communication budget for an event

Determining the means available to communicate is critical to achieving your goals.

Indeed, this decisive element allows you to accurately choose your distribution channels but also your abilities to produce communication materials. You can also consider partnerships to benefit from the distribution power of a third party: sponsor, specialized press, exhibitor...

The message and the tools

It is now time to put your message into concrete words in line with your subject and your communication objectives (objective, target, tone).

This written message will serve as a basis for the design of communication tools: dedicated website, posters, flyers, publications on social networks, press releases... Once all these steps have been completed, a good part of the communication plan is advanced.

The channels for broadcasting an event

An elementary phase of the communication plan is beginning: the planning and distributing the message. As we have seen, the choice of distribution channels is made according to the target but also the budget devoted to this subject.

There are physical channels (retail locations, displays, etc.) and online. We are going to focus on web delivery channels.

Multiply online channels

Generally, it is considered that there are three types of communication channels on the web.

The Channel called “owner” represents native sites, partners, blogs, but also communities, e-mailing...

Then comes the “won” channel, It brings together mentions in the media, external relays on social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, etc.), and reviews on specialized sites, forums, etc.

Finally, we group under the “Paid” channel” advertising actions on social networks, on search engines (Google Adwords), or even on sites (advertisers)...

Some channels are intertwined, a proprietary site or a Facebook page can publish links to reviews or news articles.

The practice of Cross Canal is also common, combining distribution channels for the same objective. She considers the different targets as a whole and will focus on the experience that the target will have through each of the channels.

For example: if the objective is to buy a ticket. It is not a question of copying and pasting a message on several networks but of getting the target to live an experience towards the same act of purchase. More specifically, a buyer can read an article about your event in a newspaper (following the sending of a press release), then watch a video on YouTube presenting the event, discover your website and finally go to the ticket office. The cross channel believes that the overall customer journey includes traffic on several channels.

Online ticketing, a multi-channel tool

 For the organization of an event, going through a ticket office has become almost mandatory. In addition to providing their technical expertise, solutions for online ticketing will optimize certain web distribution channels.

• Mini sales site
• Embeddable widget
• Facebook widget
• Sending an invitation

These are four distribution channels managed from a single location, The back office. In addition, they are generally customizable, which allows them to be fully integrated into the communication plan supports.

It only takes a few minutes to propel the tools of Wilout, an optimized online ticketing solution. In addition, thanks to its dynamic dashboard, you have access to a number of indicators that will be useful for refining your communication actions.

The balance sheet and the results

This is the final step in the communication plan. Ce Assessment consists in evaluating the effectiveness of your communication. You go like this identify and review information relevant to the achievement of your strategy. It is also an opportunity to identify areas for improvement.

Here are some indicators you can look for:

• The budget spent on communication
• The attendance rate, the occupancy rate, and the average basket (available on the dashboard of your online ticketing system)
• Conversion rate: estimate of the number of people who saw your communication divided by the number of tickets purchased
• Media coverage (press articles, relays on networks)
• The satisfaction questionnaire (has the promise been fulfilled?)

The calculation of some of this data is automated on the Wilout dashboard.. They can also be compared to each other to assess the keys to your success. Once the assessment is completed, you are in a position to value it to transmit it to your partners, sponsors and sponsors.

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As you will have understood, the communication plan is a real battle plan that helps you achieve your goals. Thanks to its optimized services, Wilout complements all the tools you will develop to promote your event. In this way you put all the chances of success on your side!