By Rob Frank, Managing  Director of Verve Creative Events

The ultimate driver for any company holding an event is to evaluate its return on investment (ROI).

For events, that ROI is usually based on achieving business goals to sell more, to raise  awareness, to increase market share or to reward and recognise achievement.

Many businesses know that well-executed events are key to the delivery of these business goals and are worth their weight in gold.

So what constitutes a successful event? The answer is simple – audience engagement.

And that is a very different skill from delivering the complex logistics of an event.  It  requires a deep understanding of the objectives of the event, the culture of the  organisation, the mood and demographic of the audience and the operations of the business.

The effectiveness of your event will be greatly enhanced by applying targeted creativity.

This is not creativity for creativity’s sake; it is the ability to apply skills, as professional communicators, to deliver a result that engages audiences before, during and after an event.

The engagement of audiences right throughout an event cycle makes the messages stick,gives added value to the event spend and ensures that golden ROI.

I believe producing events in this way is great for business. It forces us all to be smarter, to find the magic, to be more daring and ultimately deliver an increased ROI every time.

The unique role we play as a Creative Destination Marketing Company is to work like  an environmental designer, providing the perfect and holistic platform to engage  audiences with the messages our clients want them to hear.

It is about considering every phase of the audience’s interaction with the message -intellectually, physically and emotionally.

One of the ways to do this is to provide event production  closely integrated with the logistics.  This means that rather than just choosing hotels and activities, our role is to combine every aspect of an event to enhance its overarching message. Every facet of an event,  whether it’s the food, venues, hotels, theming, entertainment, transport, event  production, MCs, is taken into consideration to make every moment, and every interaction, count.

Of course, a DMC needs to know the destination intimately, but to be truly effective, to truly deliver on the client’s ROI objectives, A DMC’s role should also be one of enhancing audience engagement so that each end every delegate returns to their respective role with renewed motivation, enthusiasm and connection with their organisation.

So next time you’re looking for a Destination Management Company, ask them about how they can help you to truly engage your audience.