If We're Doing This Much Work, The Event Needs To Pull Its Weight

A client said something this week and I have not stopped thinking about it.

She mentioned being worried that people might not know about an upcoming event. 

And apparently my brain heard: let’s think about this at 3:30 a.m. when we’re having trouble going back to sleep.

Instead of hearing "I'm worried people don't know about the event," and thinking, "Aw, I hope it goes well." My brain immediately starts opening tabs.

First I noticed the flyer on Facebook was cropped so the QR code could not actually be scanned.

Then I noticed my client's business name didn’t exist on the flyer even though she is teaching the class.

Then I noticed registering online cost more than calling, talking to a person, and reciting a credit card number over the phone. Two dollars and fifty cents more. 

I do not know how long a phone registration takes. Ten minutes maybe. Even sweeping the floor for ten minutes feels like a better use of a business owner's time than call-in registration. 

So now I’m wondering why we are creating friction for online registration. 

The person laying in bed at ten thirty at night thinking, "You know what? This sounds fun. I should do this," is at the point when they will be most easily swayed. Tomorrow morning they are getting kids on the bus, answering emails, running late, and remembering seventeen other things. That late night scroll moment is when YES should be ridiculously easy.

Next, I noticed there was not a Facebook event. No co hosting. No tagging. No countdown. No registration deadline. No early-bird pricing. 

No little signs that something fun was coming. No, "here are the summer wines we're featuring." No behind the scenes. Nothing that was building excitement.

And somewhere around that point I realized I was not actually thinking about promotion anymore. I was thinking about momentum.

Because then my brain skipped ahead.

What happens after the event? People have fun. They laugh. They drink wine. They make something cool.

Then what? Do they get a discounted registration for the next quarterly class? Do they leave with a free appetizer coupon to bring their partner back for dinner next week? A paint kit they can take home and try again without two glasses of wine (HA)?

Do photos disappear into people's phones forever? Does everybody go home and that is the end?

Because if we are coordinating businesses, making flyers, planning, teaching, setting up, promoting, hosting, and gathering people into a room together, one night cannot be the only thing we get back.

The event needs to work harder for us than we are working for it.

That thought would not leave me alone.

And because apparently it’s still not time for sleep, here are a few other 3 a.m. thoughts. 

They should be talking to every audience in the room. If three businesses are involved, three audiences should be involved too.

Give people a reason to get excited before June 13. Build anticipation. Create urgency. Give a registration deadline. Offer an early-bird price. Make procrastination cost a little extra. 

How about teasing what will happen that day. The new Summer Wine menu. A new paint product or bundle offering.

Decide what happens after everybody has fun. Do not let all the excitement evaporate in the parking lot. Announce the ladies night at the Antique store. The tasting menu the chef is offering for July 4. 

If all this effort is happening anyway, squeeze every ounce of value out of it.

Photos. Stories. Relationships. Future customers. Future events.

In marketing, like many other things, the best results come from layering. In a home, a living room sofa and a chair do the job. A chunky throw blanket, a piece of art from a local artist, grandma’s brass swans, and a picture of you and your sister in Italy create a room with depth. 

In this event, one flyer is fine. But a Facebook event with co-hosting, a countdown, a registration deadline, a shared hashtag, and reason to come back after the night is over, those layers build something that keeps working long after the event ends. 

Thinking through all of this, illustrates why I’ve chosen the line of work that I have. I enjoy helping people untangle messy business situations. I start pulling on loose threads and asking annoying questions until we figure out where things are getting stuck and where more value is hiding. If you have a situation that feels like there is more here than you're currently getting out of it, you can grab a Clarity Call here.