The Importance of A Long-Term Strategy

Events can so often feel like a sprint—an exhilarating, fast-paced dash to ensure everything comes together in time. But even if you give yourself plenty of leeway, there’s always something that requires some quick thinking and some pulling of strings, right? Sometimes, it’s all too easy to get swept up in that whirlwind, where we think and act quickly, and it can become harder to step back and take time to see the bigger picture.?

That’s the best part about a strategy—it recognises that business is a marathon, not a sprint and that when it comes to long-term growth, not only does a strategy need to be carefully planned, but for the results to come to fruition, it takes time and patience to execute.?

So, what’s the difference between short and long-term strategies when it comes to events? And just what exactly do we mean by long-term strategy?

What’s The Difference Between A Long And Short-Term Event Strategy?

A short-term event strategy focuses on immediate objectives that need to be achieved, prioritising quick results, for example, ticket sales or attendee satisfaction ratings. It primarily involves being reactive and thinking up quick solutions to real-time problems, such as boosting registration numbers or reacting to an immediate problem. With a short-term strategy, there is more of a focus on adapting quickly to the situation at hand rather than looking at the long game, and there is far more of an emphasis on instantaneous or fast results. Essentially, a short-term strategy is what gets you through a single event with success.

A long-term strategy, on the other hand, is guided by detailed visions and goals, which are often broken down into incremental steps to achieve over a longer course of time. It involves brand identity and awareness, social responsibility, collaboration, innovation and a meticulous plan that extends far beyond a single event. Instead, it collectively ties into business goals, with a view to achieving prolonged, sustainable growth that consistently drives the company forward.?

Both have their place. But with a long-term event strategy, there is far more emphasis on relationship building, both through partnerships (think sponsors, vendors, attendees, and stakeholders) and community (engaged existing and potential new attendees).

The Benefits Of Implementing A Long-Term Event Strategy

Implementing a long-term event strategy can help shift you from being reactive to proactive, allowing you to focus on your long-term vision and truly build lasting results that can be effectively repeated across each of your events. There are numerous benefits to a long-term strategy, which can be divided into several areas:

• Brand Awareness. Imagine this: You're at an industry conference. There are dozens of booths, all vying for your attention. But you spot a booth with a vibrant design, engaging activities, and attendees visibly having a great time. Maybe they're running a contest or offering a free consultation. Or perhaps the team on the booth are just great vibes. Either way, this booth has immediately sparked your curiosity and you find yourself heading over to learn more. This is the power of strategic event marketing. By creating a memorable and positive brand experience at events, you can significantly increase brand awareness because people will not only remember your company name, but they'll also start to associate it with positive feelings and a strong industry presence.

• Relationships and Loyalty: Many large corporations struggle to connect with their audiences on a personal level. Their company size can often make them seem faceless and distant. But events offer a unique opportunity to bridge this gap. For example, a large tech company may host a customer appreciation, or partner event. Providing attendees with a way to get hands-on experience with new technology, have the chance to network with industry leaders, and participate in Q&A sessions with company executives. This event fosters a sense of community, prioritises attendee needs and strengthens relationships, creating a more positive perception of the brand and making it move beyond being just a company name.

• Strategic Goals: Big picture, big impact. Let's say your company sets a goal of becoming the industry leader in sustainable practices within five years. A long-term event plan wouldn't just focus on random conferences. Instead, it would strategically target events focused on sustainability initiatives, clean technology, and eco-conscious business practices. This long-term thinking enables you to position your company in front of the right audience, showcasing your sustainability efforts, and building relationships with key influencers in the process. It also demonstrates your commitment to sustainability and tangibly moves the needle in favour of your long-term goal.

• Efficiency and Optimisation: If you need to rush to meet a critical deadline and need a new supplier to help you achieve that, chances are you'll pick the first company that seems adequate to solve your problem. This reactive approach could lead to problems down the line, as the chosen supplier might have compatibility issues with existing systems, a history of unreliable deliveries, or hidden quality control problems. But with a long-term plan in place, you know what your future needs are, which provides you time and space to find suitable suppliers. This enables you to carefully vet a pool of qualified suppliers beforehand, negotiate better pricing and terms and ensure a smooth integration process. This helps you to save money in the long run by avoiding costly mistakes and achieving optimal resource allocation.

How To Create A Strong Long-Term Strategy For Your Events

Overall, the foundation of any long-term strategy needs to have a vision for what you want your events to achieve. Whether that's to increase brand awareness, generate leads, drive sales, or establish your company as a thought leader in a particular space. It doesn’t matter what the vision is per se, you just need to have one so that you can create a plan to work towards it!

If you’re not sure where you should be focusing your energy and want help working through this, our workshops are a great place to start as they facilitate team alignment, and stakeholder buy-in and combine expertise and support to help you get clear on what you want to achieve. Or if you prefer a DIY approach, we have an event strategy template that you can use to edit, brainstorm and collaborate with your colleagues for seamless integration and alignment.

Either way, it's important that you set some time aside with your team to ask, “What are we doing with this event? What do our attendees need? How can we set out and achieve this?”. Because once you have that vision, the rest is just details. Once you have that vision you can set the goals and objectives that will get you there. Once you have that vision, you can establish your timeline and break it down into manageable chunks. Once you have that vision, you can create a detailed roadmap.

And when you have that roadmap, the one that aligns your goals and objectives, covering all the touchpoints of the attendee journey, with a plan of action, from marketing and sales to operations, and allows time for regular reviews to track progress and make any required tweaks and changes for your next milestone, your events will be unstoppable.