One of the most commonly repeated pieces of advice for event organisers is to choose a theme for your event. This helps to make the occasion more memorable and enjoyable for attendees and consequently will help to keep your brand fresh in their minds for longer.
A strong theme means that guests will also be more likely to post positive comments and photographs from the event on social media, helping to raise your brand profile through organic word-of-mouth marketing. It shows the world the best face of your business, and that you go the extra mile when it comes to customer relations.
So how do you choose the best theme for your event? Here are a few tips and suggestions.
Consider your brand values and objectives
A theme that is chosen at random and has no discernible link to your company’s ethos, values or objectives will seem odd and not resonate with your guests or benefit the business in the long run. Start by defining the goal of your event, such as to raise awareness of a particular cause or new product, or to communicate a new direction for your business.
If your business is focused in the health and wellbeing sector for example, you might want to follow the trend for making events feel less corporate and more informal. This could be done by having a therapy room where guests could enjoy a beauty treatment or a mindfulness session.
Tech savvy companies might want to explore cutting edge ways that AI could be incorporated into their event. This could be through interactive audience participation, or even augmented reality experiences with the use of AI-equipped headsets. Another idea might be to set some AI-enhanced challenges, such as completing games or tasks.
Creative sector organisations will have plenty of scope when it comes to choosing a theme. For example, they could incorporate live music or other performance into the event, or use the exhibition space to display relevant artworks or installations.
Consider who your audience will be
There has been a trend in recent years (pandemic excepting) for more people-led event planning. This means that there is much more emphasis on listening to audience feedback from previous events to understand their needs, wants, and expectations.
Look at data gathered from audience questionnaires, feedback from comments on social media, and ticket sales to find out how popular previous events have been, and what the audience liked about them.
If you do not have access to this information, you could send out pre-event surveys to your target audience on social media or email marketing lists, and gather opinions on what would motivate them to attend your event.
Lastly, make sure that your chosen theme is within your budget and timescale, and is feasible for the type of venue you are hiring. It is often easier to research exhibition venue hire to identify purpose-built centres that will be spacious, well located and accessible.
