Having the Wrong People in Charge of Critical Revenue-Generating Tasks
Fair Warning: what follows involves a sensitive topic for some. Please bear with me, because it’s vital for the future of your event.
Volunteers are the lifeblood of many events. Without them, some events wouldn’t exist!
However, I have to be brutally honest with you … Critical revenue roles at your event need to be filled by those with the appropriate and proven skill sets to successfully meet this responsibility. These critical revenue roles include anything to do with advertising, marketing, social media, and website creation. Some events could also include sponsorship as a vital revenue role.
For example, there is a defunct event that is hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. In my opinion, the downfall of this show was primarily the result of appointing a marketing director who had little-to-no experience in organizing large-scale marketing campaigns to drive revenue. Despite this person’s diligent efforts regarding marketing and sponsorship, their lack of marketing expertise and industry experience led to monstrous shortfalls in keeping the event’s revenue on par with its costs.
Your Profit Action
What can you do? Only hire highly experienced and qualified professionals for your marketing and advertising efforts. Make sure to take a careful look at their marketing experience and for a track record of results. I recommend contacting at least three references and validating any marketing success claims. Marketing is the revenue lifeblood of your event! To echo the words of the astronauts in The Right Stuff: "No bucks—No Buck Rogers!”
If you don’t have the money to pay a seasoned veteran of the trade, see if one will work on a performance-based pay incentive. This type of payment plan puts the interests of the hired professional in 100% alignment with those of your event.
Additionally, I strongly encourage having your volunteers work closely with marketing professionals. This will give them on-the-job training that will really pay off in the long run!
Want to get additional marketing info? Check out the articles below:
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