In sports, the most valuable player (MVP) is the best-performing player on a team or in a league. On your marketing team, it’s the event planner. That’s right: Event planners – more than any other staff member– bring together skills and people to deliver a program. Don’t underestimate these skills and make sure you engage event planners in the development process. Here are just a few reasons event planners are your marketing MVPs.
Event Planners Are Strategists
Event planners must be good strategists and tacticians. They have to see the big picture and understand how to pull together an assortment of parts. Most events start as ideas, and the event planner brings them to life. Event planners are project managers who manage stakeholders, pull together teams, and work with suppliers to bring ideas to life. They also execute all of the logistics to ensure a smooth and successful event. The best event planners turn strategies into reality and also demonstrate value. They set SMART objectives, develop strong tactics, and measure results to deliver a return on investment (ROI).
Event Planners Are Futurists
Event planners need to continually monitor trends and technologies that might enhance the attendee experience. They are futurists who add value and benefit for attendees. ROI is critical these days and the more unique, experiential, and engaging your events, the better the outcomes.
More than Planners
Event planners are also versatile project managers. They work across different environments and corporate cultures, and they work with cross-functional teams and individuals to create a variety of event types, such as board, training, business development, marketing, finance, and sales meetings, as well as tradeshows, conferences, user groups, and more. They are decision makers, project leaders, HR specialists, social media professionals, financing and accounting pros, leaders, and problem solvers. Event planners juggle multiple demands, motivate teams, and apply their versatility to get things done.
Event Planners Are Problem Solvers
The greatest event planners own every aspect of each event from planning to execution. They learn to delegate tasks as well as solve problems. They consider the possibility of virtually every scenario and execute back up plans before anyone notices a problem. They are not afraid to make decisions, suggest changes, and resolve issues. Bad weather, travel delays, missed flights, hotel changes, missing shipments, collateral errors, and budgeting constraints are just a few of the things that come up where problem solving is needed.
Event Planners Are Master Networkers
Event planners know how to build and manage their networks. If they don’t have an answer, most likely they can resolve it through their network of contacts. Their connections include suppliers, partners, venues, exhibitors, media, event attendees, and many others. Most of all, they can work the room and build new connections.
Bottom Line
Event planners are the MVPs of your marketing team. It’s not just about hitting home runs. Event planners are all-purpose, skilled team members who are versatile and effective hitters. They sacrifice runners and also hit singles, doubles, and triples, as well as home runs. When allowed to work their magic, they turn your event strategies into ROI scoring machines.
Grow Your Events collaborates with event planners and event teams to develop event plans and strategies that support tangible, ongoing measurement, to justify event spends and deliver to your company’s bottom line. We bring a strategic approach to grow your events by developing an enterprise approach that standardizes processes, responsibilities, measurements, and results. If you struggle with event measurement and ROI, let’s work together to grow your events. Request a free consultation