{"id":183968,"date":"2024-12-19T15:05:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-19T14:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spotler.com\/guides\/event-blueprint"},"modified":"2025-09-01T15:19:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-01T13:19:10","slug":"event-blueprint","status":"publish","type":"guides","link":"https:\/\/spotler.com\/en-de\/guides\/event-blueprint","title":{"rendered":"How to successfully run a B2B event: Spotler’s blueprint for event managers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Events are successful when they seamlessly meet the needs and expectations of your target audience. Determining this success is only possible when the need and the desired impact are clear. We have compiled our experiences and insights from over 25,000 events organised with Spotler into a universal method. This 10-step plan provides more structure, direction, efficiency, measurability, and added value for live, online, and hybrid events. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Know your organisation’s (growth) goals<\/h2>\n

This may seem like the distant future. Yet it is essential to see where your organisation wants to grow. Events are an important tool in any growth strategy and are often part of a company’s Sales and Marketing activities. The more aware you are of this, the better you can work with all stakeholders towards the result. In this way, you prevent events from becoming an “island” in the organisation and reduce the chances of events being initiated ad hoc. <\/p>\n

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Form a relationship management and event strategy<\/h2>\n

To grow, an organisation must invest in existing and new relationships with customers, partners, stakeholders, press, investors, employees, etc. An organisation’s approach to this is called the relationship management strategy. Because it involves people, this is the basis for all events. It actually involves two essential questions:<\/p>\n

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  1. Who would you like to see\/talk to (who are your most important relationships)<\/li>\n
  2. When do you want to see\/talk to these people (what events fit this) <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Question 1 constitutes the relationship management strategy<\/a>. If you know which relationships contribute to the organisation’s growth, you also know who to invest in. Question 2 forms the event strategy. After all, when you know who you want to talk to in the coming year, you can start scheduling moments to bring these target groups together in an event.<\/p>\n

    This way, you plan the event calendar for an entire year and avoid ad hoc events. This seems logical, yet people often think the opposite: We have an event, who will we invite? Instead of: We would like to speak to these people, which event fits that? <\/p>\n

    For example, a company’s investors are an important target group. They are a small and exclusive group of people. For this, a roundtable meeting or a business dinner lends itself well. When you want to (continue to) engage customers, a larger event or an (online) product presentation is a better form (perhaps with a VIP sneak peek). The choice of online, live, or hybrid events is also related to this!<\/p>\n

    Formulate event goal and objectives. First, it is crucial to consider the difference between a goal and an objective. These two words are often mistakenly used interchangeably. The big difference is that an objective and a goal are not always measurable. <\/p>\n

    For example, the event aims to inform or increase engagement. The corresponding objective is a SMART formulation: for example, “15% of participants will contact you within two weeks for more information”<\/em> or “all employe<\/em><\/span>es will present their new plans for project X within a week.”<\/em> <\/p>\n

    S<\/strong>pecific – M<\/strong>easurable – A<\/strong>cceptable – R<\/strong>ealistic – T<\/strong>imely<\/p>\n

    A good objective concerns the measurable behaviour of your target audience within the foreseeable future, preferably no longer than two to four weeks after the event. After all, you want your target audience to move. Discussing the objectives with all stakeholders in advance can address any bottlenecks that come to light. This is the time to discuss them because once you enter production mode, you often don’t have room for this. <\/p>\n

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    Target audience and core message<\/h2>\n

    Who is the target audience for this particular event (see step 2)? For which relationships is this event intended? Often, the target group analysis<\/a> for events is superficial: female, 25 – 55 years old, highly educated, London-based. But what does this really say about the target group? What drives these people? What are their challenges? What do they struggle with? How can you help them? And why would they want to come to the event or not?<\/p>\n

    When you delve deeper into these questions, you can assess how your event will add value to them. Your colleagues in Marketing or HR often have a lot of information about the target audience. And the more events you do, the more you learn about your target audience. <\/p>\n

    Once you understand the challenges and aspirations of the target audience, it becomes much easier to explain why they should make time for this event. This way, you can make a clear promise. You should include this in the invitation email and all event communications<\/a>. The more concrete you can explain, your contacts will likely sign up for the event.<\/p>\n

    Core message: the thread of the event <\/h3>\n

    Think carefully about the message or experience you want to convey to the audience. What do you want them to remember? We call this “the core message”: the sentence the attendee “takes home” after the event. Try to make this the common thread that runs through the different parts of the program. <\/p>\n

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    Determine budget, team & tools<\/h2>\n

    You determine its worth only when you know what the event should bring in. An event budget is not a sum of cost items (catering, venue, speakers, AV) but an investment the organisation wants to make in reaching its target audience. Again, this is different from how event budgets are often looked at.<\/p>\n

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    “Only when you know what the event is supposed to produce, you can determine what it is worth”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    Of course, the aforementioned line items help set a guideline. Selecting the right crew, tools, and vendors is closely related to the budget. As an event professional, you can estimate your dream team to talk with the client about the budget size. Don’t forget to include event software in your cost estimate! The right software saves time by automating many manual processes. <\/p>\n

    In addition, the likelihood of errors is much lower. The choice of live, online or hybrid also plays a role in this phase. This is because the budget determines whether it is feasible to organise a hybrid variant, for example. Remember that a hybrid event involves multiple audiences: an online audience and a live audience. A hybrid variant only makes sense if the event adds value for both audiences. Therefore, a hybrid event needs a (much) larger budget than a “pure” online or live event. <\/p>\n

    Come up with a format\/concept<\/h2>\n

    Only now is the time to start thinking about a format or concept for the event. This step makes many event managers’ hearts beat faster, but it also brings a lot of pressure. Deciding on a concept or format becomes much easier after gathering all the information from the previous steps. <\/p>\n

    Remember <\/strong>that the objective and message guide the event’s success, not the concept. <\/p>\n

    As long as you get the message across, the event is successful. Of course, there are 1001 creative ways to do this; as a software company, we have very little to add. However, we regularly see that these two things are lost sight of, so the event is very creative, but ultimately does not produce the desired result. <\/p>\n

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    A format is a proven concept<\/h3>\n

    A recognisable format gives structure to your event and ensures that the viewer immediately understands what to expect. After all, you want the audience’s attention to stay with the content. A proven format may not be as unique, but it makes it easier to convey the core message. Remember: no matter how special your event is, you take time away from your target audience. They must fit the event into their busy work lives, making it worthwhile! <\/p>\n

    Examples of popular formats (online\/live\/hybrid)<\/p>\n