Networking Events, Are They Worth It?
When should your organization consider hosting a networking event?
I’m sure at some point in our careers there has been a time (or a few) when someone has suggested attending a networking event. As an individual, they’re easy! You show up, have a drink, and chat away with other like-minded folks, but have you considered the other side of things? By that, I mean hosting a networking event! Unfortunately, the flip side of attending is that there is much more work involved, but when should your organization consider hosting a networking event?
Brand Awareness
Think about the last networking event you went to, can you remember if there was a clear host? If the answer was yes, then the event pulled off the goal of achieving brand awareness which is what many organizations strive for especially when approaching new audiences. When I mention brand awareness I’m not talking about your brand’s logo being front and center but there are little cues such as on the event invitation or the website page. The page/invite may mention “hosted by” and have a small logo. You may also choose to have a small educational portion to the networking event where you bring a speaker who may be from your industry and mention your brand or be someone from your brand! There are many ways to promote brand awareness in an elegant and subtle way, send me a message if you’d like to learn more!
Bring Together Your Target Audience
Another great benefit to hosting networking events is to bring your target audience together in a non-sales environment. As you make your way around the networking event you can chat one-on-one with your direct customer or potential customer and learn more about their needs, pain points, interests, and more! Knowledge is power and this knowledge you can use for your market research, planning future successful events, and catering your business to fit the needs of your audience better.
Plan Future Events Based On Feedback
Ok, say you host your first networking event. It wasn’t as busy as you anticipated but it also wasn’t dead, what can you take out of this experience to benefit you and your organization better moving forward? First, think about the intel you collected from your audience:
- How did they hear about the networking event?
- Did they seem to be comfortable and enjoying themselves?
- How long did people tend to stay for?
- Were there parts of the event that the audience seemed bored?
Second, think about how you can use this information for future events:
- What worked well, that we can continue to use for future events (even non-networking events)?
- Did we learn things about our audience that we could cater to for future events? (types of music, best time, etc.)
- What type of feedback did the audience volunteer that you may be able to incorporate in future events to make their experience better and provide more value?
Even if just one person shows up to the networking event and you are able to chat with them, you can gain something to bring to the next event. A networking event that is well executed through planning, understanding the wants of the target audience, and a great event team can help you gain so much insight. So where does this leave you now? If you’ve been entertaining the idea of hosting a networking event, I’d love to chat to learn more about your goals and see where I may be able to lend a hand!