5 signs you need an event agency

How do you measure event success? For many event organisers, the metric is growth: ensuring that future events have more exhibitors, more sponsors, more delegates, a greater square footage and, of course, more revenue.

It may be that you already have successful events under your belt and are sure you can continue growing – or you may just be starting out with your first event, and believe it’s a challenge you can handle with no problems.

The truth is, organising any event on any scale has its pain points – some of which you may only stumble across when midway through planning. It’s situations like these where working with an experienced event agency can help.

We regularly see five warning signs. If you’re struggling with these, you might need external help from a strategic events partner.

1. Time

Organising an event involves spinning multiple plates – how do you ensure that none of them fall? From setting the events and marketing strategy to creative design and delivery through to the logistical concerns like sponsors, speakers or managing ticket bookings, every single element needs to be perfect for a positive attendee experience.

Having an external, experienced collaborator gives you a dedicated team to oversee the strategy, design and management of your event. A good partner provides end-to-end handling that will allow you to focus on your core business, without being drowned in the details of one aspect.

2. Stress

A 2016 CareerCast survey ranked ‘event coordinator’ as the fifth most stressful job in the world. Only military personnel, firefighters, airline pilots and police officers suffer higher stress levels as a result of their work. This stress has many causes. Short lead times and concerns about budgets, delegate relations, ticket sales and team management can pile on the pressure. This not only affects your personal health, but also increases the risk that things may go wrong.

Stress can affect any event organiser, from those new to the game to more seasoned event planners. There are plenty of ways to reduce this stress, including regular breaks, careful planning, managing expectations and looking after your health – and we’d add one more to the list. Working with an event agency takes the pressure off you, alleviating a large part of the burden and improving your work-life balance.

3. Getting the message across

Compelling content is key to an event’s success: if you don’t appeal to your target audience, it’s unlikely that speakers, sponsors, exhibitors and delegates will be interested. It can help to have a third party thinking creatively for you.

Is there new tech you could be using? Are you keeping up with current event trends, or do you feel your ideas getting a little stale? Do you need an event app? Is your social media presence benefiting your event? Could personalisation help?

Your overall goals and strategy should be linked with the ways in which you communicate with your audience – not only during the event, but before and after too. An event agency can give you an industry perspective, helping you see which types of communication are right (or wrong) for your event, giving you a healthy boost in engagement and getting your attendees talking.

4. A desire to grow

It may be that you’ve organised a first event on a relatively small scale, and are looking to grow the next time around. But how can you do this without understanding the key areas where growth is needed, what attendees are looking to achieve by being there, and what exhibitors and sponsors want?

You may also find resistance from internal stakeholders, who will want you to demonstrate the return on investment or return on objectives of a larger event.

For situations like these, an event agency will bring experience to the table – helping you to create the perfect post-event report that can demonstrate the need for growth and the potential benefits of a bigger event.  

5. The need for expert advice

Defining your event’s goals is the easy part – but do you know how to achieve them?

Your overall objective may be anything from boosting engagement or raising awareness to generating leads or revenue – or even launching a new product. The challenge? Working out how to actually get there.

If you’re having to constantly question yourself about the best ways to achieve your goals, external help is the best place to seek answers. Every successful event has a well-defined purpose, and measurable ways to track how well this purpose is achieved. Talk to an event agency: you may well find that they bring ideas to the table that you never would have considered.

Time, stress, communication, growth, the need for expert advice: these are all key signs that teaming up with an event agency may be right for you. Don’t let planning your next event get on top of you: get help, and ensure that your next event is bigger and better than ever.