You’ve just planned, organised and executed a great event and finally, it’s over. So, what’s next? Now is the time to build on the constructive momentum you’ve created. At this stage, it’s all about effective communication, so validate your event and activate ongoing engagement with a plan that addresses all stakeholders. This applies regardless of whether your event was held online, or in person at a venue, or perhaps a mix of both. Make use of our checklist to ensure that you’ve ticked all the boxes when it comes to keeping your business and brand top of mind in a positive way for all those involved.

Attendees

• Send “Thank-You” notes to all those who attended your event. If you don’t have individual contact details or your event was a public one, use social media channels to get this message across. A nice touch is to send a, “Sorry We Missed You” message to those who couldn’t make it.
• Create a survey to gather important feedback regarding your event. This can cover issues such as venue suitability, amenities, quality of presenters and an understanding of the overall message and event purpose. This is a platform for attendees to provide both positive and negative feedback regarding your event. Reply to any negative input promptly and don’t ignore it.
• Formulate “reminder messages” for any follow-up events so that attendees can diarise. 

Speakers/Panellists/Exhibitors/Performers

• These important contributors need to be thanked for their involvement.
• Ask for feedback on their experience with your brand and share any relevant feedback you receive from attendees regarding their performance.

Suppliers/Service Providers

• Ensure that you action prompt payment for supplier services.
• Provide feedback on their contribution and how it affected your event.
• Make any provisional future bookings with those who delivered professional support.

General Communication Must-Dos

• Update social media platforms promptly to keep driving audience engagement.
• Inform the press and media about the success of your event via the correct channels.
• Provide feedback to other stakeholders such as funders, senior management, industry bodies and sponsors.
• Share attendee contact details and any possible business leads with relevant internal departments such as sales teams for example.
• Thank your team. Hold a debrief session to address positive and negative issues.

In summary

Constructive follow-up allows you to maintain and strengthen relationships with your event stakeholders, which leads to increased brand loyalty, repeat business and referrals. By collecting feedback through surveys or even one-on-one conversations, you will gain valuable insights into your event’s impact and identify room for improvement for future events. When you proactively address any issues or concerns, you are working to resolve problems and prevent negative word-of-mouth. Following up with a well-thought-out communication strategy is also a great way to promote upcoming events or related products and services. This helps to increase attendance and potentially generate additional revenue. Post-event follow-up is a crucial step in maximising the return on investment of your event. By investing time and effort into this process, you can strengthen relationships, improve future events and drive business growth.