How to Plan a Field Marketing Event as an Account Executive
As an account executive or account manager, your time usually is better spent not brainstorming creative marketing events to win over prospects and customers. With budgets getting cut and event teams getting smaller, bandwidth may fall upon your shoulders in 2023 to plan, manage, and execute field marketing events. Planning a field marketing event as an account executive can be a daunting task, but with a clear plan in place, it can be accomplished with ease. In this blog, we will walk you through the basic steps to help you plan a successful field marketing event.
Why Focus on Field Marketing?
Field marketing events are a powerful tool for businesses to connect with their target audience in a more personal and engaging way. A successful field marketing strategy leads to raising brand awareness, influencing new business and expansion pipeline, generating leads, building customer relationships, and gathering industry insights. They also can be fun and allow one to interact with their customers and prospects in an organic way.
Although it may seem intimidating planning a field marketing event as a sales rep, the outcome can be very rewarding. Start small, and build a scalable process from your first event. We usually plan these events with little to no programming. This allows attendees to truly organically connect with other attendees and simply have a great time. We recommend keeping these events small and intimate with around 30 people. Let’s jump in on how to plan!
Step 1: Define your Event Goals
Before you begin planning, it's essential to have a clear understanding of what you want to achieve with the event. This could be to generate leads, increase brand awareness, or launch a new product. Once you have defined your event goals, you can tailor the rest of the planning process to align with them. Make sure to share your goals with your leadership team to get approval.
Step 2: Identify your Target Audience
Once you know what you want to achieve, the next step is to identify your target audience. Understanding who you want to reach with the event will help you choose the right location, format, and messaging. This will ensure that your event resonates with your audience and achieves the desired results. We recommend creating a simple excel sheet to outline your target list’s industry, location, deal size, and any other important information.
Step 3: Create a Budget
No event can be planned without a budget. Determine how much you can spend on the event, including costs for venue, marketing, staffing, and other expenses. This will help you stay on track and avoid overspending. Again, make sure to share this budget with your leadership team.
Step 4: Research Venues and Vendors
The next step is to research venues and vendors. Look for a venue that is accessible, affordable, and suitable for your target audience. For ease of planning, try to pick a venue that offers resources in-house. For example, selecting a nice restaurant for an intimate dinner will be way easier than planning a dinner in an industrial warehouse. Some easy events to plan can involve cooking classes, mixology classes, private rooms at restaurants, breweries, or wine tasting rooms.
Step 5: Develop a Promotion Plan
Promotion is key to the success of any event. Develop a marketing plan that targets your audience and includes various marketing channels, such as social media, email marketing, and press releases. This will help ensure that your event is well-attended and achieves the desired results. To keep things simple, start with a sales outreach cadence and social media template.
Step 6: Plan The Event Experience and Logistics
If budget allows, try to add a branding touch to your event. Order branded name tags, cocktail napkins, a small welcome sign, and place your logo on any menus. As far as logistics go, make sure to coordinate any transportation needs, final food and beverage selections, and communication to attendees. This will ensure that the event runs smoothly and that attendees have a positive experience.
Step 7: Measure and evaluate the event
After the event, measure the success of the event by evaluating the attendance and engagement, and gather feedback from attendees. This will help you plan more effective events in the future.
The Bottom Line?
In conclusion, planning a field marketing event as an account executive requires a clear plan and a collaborative effort. By following these steps, you can ensure that your event is a success and achieves your desired results. Field marketing events are fun and creative ways to bring together customers and prospects for organic conversation, networking, and camaraderie. Don’t forget to bring your brand into the mix through swag and customizations and try to create an experience where attendees get to do something they normally wouldn't do.
Not Sure Where to Start?
PlanWell helps small-team marketers bring their event strategy to life. We’d love to serve as the team within your team and help elevate your event experience. To learn more about our services check out our full list. If you are interested in learning more, you can book a call here.
