Events Locked And Loaded

How to build a ready-to-implement, soup-to-nuts toolkit

Typical Events-In-A-Box include everything needed to host educational seminars, industry networking collaborations, client appreciation events, internal training sessions, and more:

• Physical supplies, such as branded signage, professional name tags, and informational brochures.
• Digital assets include PowerPoint presentations, email templates for event invitations, social media graphics, event registration tracking platforms, and event check-in sites that track attendee information.
• Guidelines and checklists are an absolute must to ensure nothing is overlooked. They should include detailed set-up instructions, schedules of events, and even industry compliance standards.

For example, a “Home Financing 101” event toolkit might include these tactics:

• A predesigned invitation to “pop-by” invitees’ offices, including a mini calculator and the message: “Calculate your success at our Home Financing 101 Event!”
• Email invitations to attend the event.
• Social media marketing assets with pre-defined messaging and a call-to-action with the event registration link.
• Flyers overviewing mortgage products, dos & don’ts, and mortgage terms.
• An interactive PowerPoint presentation covering mortgage types, advantages, real-life scenarios, and testimonials.
• Branded Swag such as pens and notebooks.
• An event set-up plan that outlines venue booking, online registration, and on-site signage.
• Post-event marketing plans to post a summary video on social media, send thank you emails that share additional resources, and requests for feedback.

Establishing a robust Events-In-A-Box strategy starts with creating an annual calendar. Determine the number of events for the year. Plan topics that align with business goals and schedule them to coordinate with national events. For example, hold home-buying events in June, National Homeownership Month. Add marketing timing to the calendar, typically starting two weeks out from the event date. Once the event calendar is established, proceed to tactically develop the overarching Events-In-A-Box toolkit. You can then easily supplement it with specific toolkits tailored for each event, like the detailed one for Home Financing 101.

6 best practices enable stellar experiences — and improve overall marketing

1. Understand the target audience and address their needs and preferences. For example, an event designed for first-time homebuyers should focus on the basics and include educational materials.
2. Pay strict attention to brand standards to elevate the professional tone of the event, enable brand recognition, and foster trust. Include brand-appropriate colors, fonts, logos, and taglines in all materials.
3. Tailor content to current industry and market trends, ensuring discussion guides, presentations, and informational brochures are relevant and valuable to attendees.
4. Integrate events with other marketing strategies, using events to cross-promote other services such as future webinars. Market the event across all digital marketing tactics. Leverage event data, including feedback, preferences, and engagement levels to optimize overall marketing plans.
5. Apply a continuous improvement strategy by implementing post-event surveys and holding post-mortem team reviews to identify successes and opportunities for change. Encourage experimentation in smaller settings to test new ideas, such as trying digital engagement tools.
6. Tap advanced technology such as artificial intelligence (AI) to further streamline toolkit development. For example, AI tools can be prompted with a topic and, in under a minute, can provide a detailed outline of an event presentation, recommendations for handouts, ongoing education, follow-up consultations, and much more.

Events-In-A-Box toolkits allow mortgage professionals to transform their event management processes, making them more engaging, professional, and successful, all with the goal of driving growth and enhancing client relationships in a competitive market.