Planning one event alone is never plain sailing. So imagine planning multiple events in a short space of time spread out in different cities or countries 😲. Sounds daunting, right?
The demands for running multiple events in different locations are never-ending 😳. But that doesn’t mean that they’re out of reach or unachievable. In fact, if you’re a big brand that operates in different cities or countries, or if you have a number of brands and products then chances are you’ve already done this.
It could be for a popular student brand operating at freshers fairs across the country. Or, it could be for the global product launch of a new mobile phone 📱. Or, it could be for a company like Unilever which owns multiple different brands.
From targeting specific audiences and increasing awareness to generating leads and launching new products. Whatever the reason may be, brands rely on these events to contribute to their marketing strategies and business goals 📈.
The big ask here is to ensure consistency across all events and to make sure that no details go overlooked. To explore this further, we’ve identified 6 major problems that you’re likely to encounter when planning multiple events in different locations.
📌 Problem #1. Troublesome logistics and the lack of a specific brand planning protocol
Working with different languages, staff, and venues (there are plenty more examples) adds a whole new element to what is already one of the hardest parts of running events – logistics 📍.
Up to date technology and advanced planning are vital in making sure the event keeps running smoothly. Without this, it becomes much more of a challenge for you to communicate 💬 the same brand image at each of the events.
In such situations, cracks start to appear and discrepancies over branding across the events have a big impact on the attendee experience and quality of the events.
📌 Problem #2. The lack of insights aka a general overview of the impact your entire event marketing strategy has on your business
You’re running events but why? This might sound like a silly question but a lot of the times brands get it wrong by not looking at the bigger picture 🖼️ i.e. what sort of impact your event marketing strategy has on your brand.
Running events just for the sake of it is never going to have the same sort of success as when you’ve got a real strategy aligned with your business. Not only does this help you identify goals and objectives that you want to achieve, but it also helps you to communicate a clearer, more refined message 💬 to your attendees who in turn will receive a better guest experience.
📌 Problem #3. Not having absolute control over the events
As much as you don’t want it to happen, the reality is that you’re going to lose control over a lot of things going on at each of the events. Whether that’s the type of sandwiches 🍞 on offer to the size of the venue, there are a lot of different factors involved with planning multiple events.
In order to not get bogged down in this ⬇️, make sure to create standards that provide uniformity across all of the events. Creating documents that specify the check-in or catering requirements helps staff understand what’s being asked of them regardless of the different circumstances that they’ll find themselves in at the different events.
📌 Problem #4. Not being able to centralize the events
Being able to control and view all events from a single centralized point is key to successful event management. However, this becomes tough when managing multiple events at once, and even tougher without EMS 😳.
As already mentioned, you’re going to lose control over all the events and this is down to a lack of centralization. Without one central hub to plan, manage, and control everything, each event will be done in its own way with little consideration for the company-wide standards that have come to be expected.
This also makes things a lot tougher for management who have less of an idea about what’s going on before, during, and after the events 🕵️. It also creates problems understanding performance and creating future events, as there is no way of tracking data and key metrics.
📌 Problem #5. Having to streamline the work of your team and the support provided by the local event providers
Event planners often refer to managing multiple events as a juggling act and this is especially true when dealing with multiple teams and their local event providers which could be anything from event agencies, to sound technicians 🔊, and catering brands.
Imagine mapping out 🗺️ all of the different actors onto a diagram and you quickly start to see the intricate relations of them all for each event. Every event has its own setup which makes streamlining every team for each event extremely tough.
The important takeaway here is to have workflows and processes in place which double up as a guideline for your team when they’re working with the various actors.
📌 Problem #6. The use of multiple scattered planning and marketing tools
Going back to the point of centralization, event technology and marketing tools are a big contributor in creating this but they can also play a big part in causing silos across the different events.
That’s because when each event team is using their own software 💻 there’s no way for it to be viewed in one central hub. Whilst this doesn’t cause problems for each of the teams, it does cause a big headache 🤕 for management who are unable to view what’s going on at each event.
Without any real insight into the events, each team is effectively working independently which means key processes such as registration, check-in, and tracking aren’t standardized which has a big impact on providing consistency.
Key takeaways
- The biggest challenge when managing multiple events in different locations is ensuring consistency.
- Catering to the different needs and requirements of each event causes discrepancies over branding and has a big impact on the attendee experience.
- It’s a given that you’re going to lose control over your events and to overcome this you need to create standards that provide uniformity.
- Without one central hub to plan, manage, and control everything, each event will be done in its own way with little consideration for the company-wide standards that have come to be expected.
