Making your business stand out

You might already be trying a number of different marketing tactics to get your business noticed, but have you ever considered putting on a corporate event? Handled well, they can be a surefire way to capture attention and make a knockout impression on key audiences including staff, stakeholders and potential customers.

Planning an event is undoubtedly a resource-intensive exercise, so you need to choose wisely when to do it. However, get it right and it can leave a lasting impression and build the kind of relationships that will keep clients and business contacts coming back to you again and again.

That's where we can help. Village Farm Events might be a brand new arm of our business, but it comes with years of experience, know-how, and most importantly, a closely guarded little black book that's bursting with contacts.

Our event planner extraordinaire and (owner of said little black book) Helen Davies knows all the secrets to success. Helen has become widely known for her talent as a wedding planner at the famous Rise Hall, the venue run by TV property star Sarah Beeny, but before this she spent years honing her corporate event management skills at a major corporation.

That role saw her managing huge events across the UK and Europe, catering for thousands of attendees. That said, don't worry if the event you have in mind isn't quite this grand - Helen is equally capable of supporting organisations with small and intimate gatherings as well as large-scale multi-day conferences.

Helen said: "My contacts list is a very valuable commodity, it's what helps me add value for my client by making the whole planning process so much more efficient. For businesses, time is money, and I can make significant savings for them on both counts."

Helen's recipe for event success

So what makes for an unforgettable event that leaves people buzzing for days, as opposed to one where visitors and delegates nod off after lunch or, even worse, slope away before a tray of limp-looking canapes are served? Here are our top five tips to get you started:

1. Ensure you begin with a very clear vision of the event's purpose - what would success look like? Without a clear objective your event could be a waste of money with very little attraction for prospective attendees
   
2. Who are your intended guests - is it staff, stakeholders, existing customers, potential new customers, the general public? If you want a decent turnout you need to know your audience, and target your content to them
   
3. What is your budget? You don't necessarily need to throw a small fortune at an event, but be clear on how much cash you are willing to spend and stick to it
   
4. Theme and content - think outside the box, be interesting, be engaging and consider building something that people just couldn't experience anywhere else, to encourage them to come along. After all, who wants to spend a couple of hours, let alone a full day or two, feeling like they're watching paint dry! Consider activities and workshops, impress with showy audio-visual techniques, book a sought-after guest speaker, hand out fun promotional giveaways that will assist with brand recall long after the event. Bringing your messages to life should never be boring and needn't be expensive either
   
5. Think media - is the event newsworthy in itself, will it garner you some positive PR in local or trade press? Is there an element you can add in that will whet their appetite? Also, use your own social media channels to promote the event in advance, create interactive activity with guests during it (remember to give it a hashtag!) and reflect on its success afterwards.

Creating lasting benefit

According to Helen, number one is the key priority: "I like to sit down with my client and discuss the purpose of the event, and ask them questions like 'what is the experience they want to create?' and 'what results are they looking for?'

"No company has money to waste on bringing people together for the sake of it, there has to be a purpose. If you're investing money and time in taking people out of their jobs for a day, you have to make it worthwhile."

She emphasises the need to make it something people believe will be worth attending, and will talk about positively afterwards. Another tip is to think carefully about providing a bar, especially a free one: "Everybody loves a good party but we'd like to avoid people behaving unprofessionally where possible. A free bar can be a major draw to get people there but it can also lead to disaster."

Team-building events remain popular with businesses of all sizes as a highly effective method of improving team work, understanding team dynamics, and focusing on company vision and values. Helen's advice is to think creatively about activities that will encourage people to engage fully in the spirit of the event. "There are some amazing options for team building, and getting people to work together in ways they wouldn't usually," she says. "There are also practical considerations to bear in mind such as if the event is being held in a remote or rural location, is it still important to have wi fi? And do you need any audio and visual aids?"

Our Village Farm Events service is available with or without marquee hire. In fact, it's completely flexible - Helen can contribute as much or as little as you wish, ranging from full planning and management from start to finish, recommendations of creative concepts and supplier options, or just on-the-day management of your event.

There's a lot to think about with a corporate event and that's where Helen, along with her little black book and the rest of the Village Farm team, can really help to take the weight off your shoulders.

If this blog has inspired you to organise an event to promote your business, you can download our 'Your Perfect Day' event planning and pricing guide for more information, of get in touch via info@villagefarmmarquees.co.uk or (01262) 468160.