How entrepreneurs can plan an event on a small budget

Author: Tinique Hay, 3 min read

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Did you know events have become powerful marketing tools in providing a unique experience for small business owners seeking increased brand awareness?

According to recent statistics 98% of consumers are more likely to buy a product or service after attending an impactful event that gave them an experience, closely followed by 74% of event attendees say that they have a more positive opinion about the company, brand, product or service after attending an event. Hence why small business owners tend to find that one of the best ways to retain and attract new customers is to meet them, and what better way to attract new customers than to plan an impactful event to help increase your brand awareness.

As small businesses owners you may be thinking "can I really plan an impactful event (virtually or in-person) on a small budget to help increase my brand awareness?".

Yes, you most absolutely can!

Here are 6 top tips to plan an impactful event with a small budget:

1. Set Budget

Before you start the event planning ensure you set your budget on how much you want to spend overall, as this is a crucial step during the planning phase. Determine what will be your expected fixed costs and your expected variable costs. Fixed costs are related to items such as marketing, whereas variable costs deal with food and other items where prices could fluctuate depending on the number of guests. (click on this link for a copy of your own Event Budgeting template.)

2. Set Goals

It is extremely important to set at least 3 goals you would like to achieve from planning your impactful event to keep you focused, and to identify the main areas you want to heavily invest more into, to ensure your goals for this event are achieved. The goals can be related to increasing your brand awareness by 50% for example, which could result in obtaining new customers from the event.

3. Consider Hiring a Professional

Seeking help from a professional Event Planner is an amazing investment to consider as an addition to your budget. As Event Planners have the ability to work with a variety of budgets, as well as, have great industry connections meaning they are able to attract a number of discounts. Furthermore, Event Planners also have incredible negotiation skills and are able to negotiate a mutually beneficial contract. When you hire an Event Planner, you can relax and enjoy the event like every other guest, knowing full well that everything is being taken care of leaving you stress-free! (Click this link to find out more info on hiring an Event Planner.)

4. Get Organised

Alongside your event budgeting which will help you to monitor all expected variable and fixed costs against actual costs, you should also create an event planning checklist. This will enable you to keep on track of all tasks involved within the planning process of your event e.g., finding a venue, caterers, suppliers etc, and set deadlines for each task. Getting organised is a key tip to ensure you are on top of your tasks and expenditures. (Download your free event planning checklist.)

5. Seeking Sponsorship/Collaboration

Someone in your community may be willing to contribute cash or in-kind donations in exchange for you showcasing their business at your event. Use this to offset some of the costs that arise after you’ve set your overall budget. Take the first step and reach out to your community to see who raises interest in being a part of your impactful event.

6. Power of Social Media

Take advantage of social media to market and advertise your event. Use IG, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to spread the word about your event. Create a buzz around your event through engaging content, produce your events very own hashtag and ask your community use it when re-sharing posts, frequently show up on IG stories/IG Live to keep your community consistently aware of your up and coming event. The best part about social media is that it’s FREE.

To Conclude...

It is 100% possible to plan an impactful event on a small budget to help you increase your brand awareness. The key is to get organised and to clearly know the overall budget you want to spend on your event. Also it would be fantastic if you had additional budget to invest in hiring an Event Planner who can take the lead and sure you are within budget leaving you stress-free.

For more event top tips and advice click here.

Tinique Hay