Examine the Location

Accessibility: Ensure the venue is easily accessible for your target audience. Consider places with ample parking and proximity to public transportation. In Accra, venues like the Accra International Conference Centre and the Kempinski Hotel offer excellent accessibility. Other venues such as Untamed Empire is great for outdoor and music events.

Untamed Empire

Check out details here

Environment: The venue should provide safe and comfortable lodging and dining options, especially for guests traveling from outside the area. The Labadi Beach Hotel in Accra, for instance, offers both accommodations and event spaces, making it convenient for out-of-town guests.

Assess the Capacity

Guest List: Draft a preliminary guest list with an estimated headcount. Choose a venue that comfortably accommodates your audience without feeling too crowded or too empty. The Movenpick Ambassador Hotel has versatile spaces that can host various event sizes.

Layout: Consider the best arrangement for your event, whether it’s a standing reception, seated dinner, or conference with breakout rooms. The Alisa Hotel in Accra is known for its flexible event spaces suitable for different layouts.

Alisa Hotel – Ridge

Read more about their Indoor Event Space here.

Evaluate Services and Facilities

Equipment: Check if the venue provides essential equipment like projectors, microphones, and AV systems. The National Theatre of Ghana offers comprehensive technical support for events.

In-house Catering: Some venues offer catering services. If not, inquire if they allow external caterers or have a list of recommended vendors. The Golden Tulip Hotel in Kumasi provides in-house catering, ensuring quality and convenience.

Staffing: Find out if the venue provides staff for setup, operations, and cleanup. The Best Western Plus Atlantic Hotel in Takoradi is known for its professional event management team.

The Page Center, Sakaman

Consider the Budget

Expense Transparency: Understand all costs involved, including hidden fees for overtime, cleaning, or security. Venues like the Fiesta Royale Hotel in Accra are known for clear and upfront pricing.

Value for Money: Ensure your spending aligns with the value received. Sometimes, paying slightly more for a venue with better amenities can be more cost-effective in the long run. The Accra City Hotel offers great value with its extensive facilities and services.

Visit the Location

Site Inspection: Physically inspect the venue to get a complete sense of the space. Pictures can be misleading, so a visit ensures there are no surprises.

Event in Progress: If possible, visit the venue during a similar event to see how it operates. This gives you a real-world view of the venue in action.

Read the Fine Print Carefully

Contracts: Carefully review the venue contract, paying attention to terms regarding cancellation, payment, and penalties.

Restrictions: Note any restrictions, such as noise levels, decoration guidelines, or curfews. Venues like the La Palm Royal Beach Hotel have clear policies outlined in their contracts.

Pay Attention to Technical Needs

Internet and Connectivity: Ensure the venue has reliable internet and sufficient power outlets. The Accra Marriott Hotel is known for its excellent connectivity and modern amenities.

Lighting and Acoustics: Confirm that the lighting and acoustics meet your event’s requirements. The Conference Centre at the University of Ghana offers well-designed spaces for optimal lighting and sound.

Remember the Importance of Comfort

Climate Control: Ensure the venue has adequate air conditioning or heating. The Ridge Royal Hotel in Cape Coast provides comfortable climate control in all its event spaces.

Comfortable Seating: For longer events, comfortable seating is crucial. The La Villa Boutique Hotel in Osu is praised for its comfortable and stylish seating options.

Avoid Selecting Based on Price Alone

Value for Money: While a cheaper venue might save money upfront, it could end up costing more due to poor service, lack of amenities, or higher incidental costs.

Reputation: Consider the venue’s reputation and reviews from past events. A well-regarded venue like the Volta Hotel in Akosombo is likely to provide better service and support.

Do Not Postpone Until the Last Minute

Make Reservations in Advance: Popular venues book quickly. Reserve your venue well in advance to ensure availability and ample planning time.

By considering these factors and looking into reputable venues in Ghana, you can select the perfect location for your next event, ensuring it is memorable and successful.

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<p>The post Choosing the Perfect Venue for Your Event in Ghana: Tips and Examples first appeared on Ayatickets Blog.</p>

1. Leverage Social Media Platforms Popular in Ghana:
   • Facebook and Instagram have high user bases in Ghana. Create engaging content, interactive polls, and share behind-the-scenes snippets to make your event stand out.
   • Twitter is also becoming a potent platform. Use event-specific hashtags and engage with influencers to boost your event’s visibility.
2. Localise Your Content:
   • Use local dialects and languages, such as Twi or Ga, in your promotional materials. ( This also depends on your target market)
   • Share stories and experiences that resonate with the Ghanaian culture and values. Showcase testimonials from local participants or attendees.
3. Engage with Local Influencers:
   • Collaborate with Ghanaian influencers and celebrities who align with your event’s theme or audience. Their endorsement can provide a significant boost in engagement and credibility.
4. Optimise for Mobile:
   • The majority of internet users in Ghana access the web via mobile devices. Ensure your event website and promotional materials are mobile-responsive.
   • Utilize platforms like WhatsApp for promotions, as it’s a widely used messaging app in the region
5. Promote Using Local Online Platforms:
   • Websites like Tonaton or OLX, which are popular online marketplaces in Ghana, can be unique platforms to advertise events.
   • Engage with local forums or communities that are relevant to your event’s theme.
6. Offer Incentives:
   • Early bird ticket discounts or giveaways can entice more attendees.
   • Collaborate with local businesses to provide event-specific deals or offers.
7. Use Visual Storytelling:
   • Ghanaians appreciate a compelling visual narrative. Use captivating graphics, videos, and animations that highlight the essence of your event.
   • Remember to showcase the cultural elements, local performers, or unique aspects of your event in your visuals.
8. Engage with Local Media:
   • Local radio stations and newspapers still hold sway in Ghana. Consider partnerships or advertisements to reach a broader audience.
9. Feedback Loop:
   • After your event, gather feedback using online surveys or social media polls. This not only helps improve future events but also keeps your audience engaged post-event.

For those seeking to make a mark in the vibrant Ghanaian event scene, a myriad of resources are at your fingertips. Start by creating your event with Ayatickets, and to keep attendees engaged on-the-go, introduce them to the Ayatickets Mobile App. If you’re on the lookout for events to attend or get inspired by, the Ayatickets event page is your hub. For event organizers seeking a physical touch, consider ordering event wristbands tailor-made for Ghanaian audiences. To connect with local businesses and broaden your network, the comprehensive Ghana Business Directory is indispensable. Amplify your event’s reach with targeted Email Marketing. Moreover, streamline all your digital needs – from short links to QR codes – using the versatile platform Sesi.app. Lastly, for a unique blend of entertainment and learning, dive into the immersive world of AfQuest gaming. Harness these tools and resources to make every event a resounding success.

<p>The post Unlocking the Ghanaian Audience: Digital Marketing Tips for Event Organisers first appeared on Ayatickets Blog.</p>

1. Consider the nature of the event: The type of event you are planning will determine the type of staff you need. For example, if you’re organizing a large-scale music festival, you’ll need a team of experienced sound engineers, stage managers, and lighting technicians. On the other hand, if you’re hosting a corporate event, you’ll need staff with good communication and customer service skills.

2. Determine the number of staff needed: The number of staff you need depends on the size of the event and the tasks that need to be completed. It’s essential to have enough staff on hand to manage the event without overstaffing and incurring additional costs.

3. Verify the qualifications of the staff: Ensure that the staff you intend to hire have the necessary qualifications and experience. Ask for references from previous events they have worked on, and conduct background checks if necessary.

4. Communicate your expectations: Clearly communicate your expectations and provide detailed job descriptions to the staff you intend to hire. Make sure that they understand the tasks they are expected to perform and their responsibilities during the event.

5. Train staff on event procedures: Provide training on the sequence of events at the event, communication protocols, and emergency procedures to all staff. This ensures that everyone is familiar with the expectations, and they can perform their duties effectively.

6. Ensure compliance with legal requirements: Ghana has several regulations governing the employment of staff, including the payment of social security contributions and taxes. Ensure that you are compliant with these regulations to avoid legal issues.

In summary, hiring event staff in Ghana requires proper planning and consideration of key factors to ensure the success of the event. By following the tips above, you can hire the right staff and ensure a memorable event for all involved.

For those seeking to make a mark in the vibrant Ghanaian event scene, a myriad of resources are at your fingertips. Start by creating your event with Ayatickets, and to keep attendees engaged on-the-go, introduce them to the Ayatickets Mobile App. If you’re on the lookout for events to attend or get inspired by, the Ayatickets event page is your hub. For event organizers seeking a physical touch, consider ordering event wristbands tailor-made for Ghanaian audiences. To connect with local businesses and broaden your network, the comprehensive Ghana Business Directory is indispensable. Amplify your event’s reach with targeted Email Marketing. Moreover, streamline all your digital needs – from short links to QR codes – using the versatile platform Sesi.app. Lastly, for a unique blend of entertainment and learning, dive into the immersive world of AfQuest gaming. Harness these tools and resources to make every event a resounding success.

<p>The post Factors to consider when hiring event personnel in Ghana first appeared on Ayatickets Blog.</p>

Today, it’s possible to woo your future event attendees with a myriad of engaging content types. From fleeting Instagram Stories that create intrigue (and FOMO), to eye-catching giveaways that build hype and spread the word – the possibilities are vast.

Here’s a closer look at how to make Instagram really work for your event promotion strategy:

First off, can you create an event on Instagram?

Not in the sense that you can create an ‘event page’ on Facebook. But you can (and should) create a dedicated business Instagram account for your event/s. This will allow you to do things like promote posts (we’ll talk about that later) and generally build an Instagram presence around your event.

Setting up a Instagram business account

Over 200 million Instagrammers visit a business profile each day – making it an invaluable way to connect with potential event attendees. It’s easy and free to set a business account up – head to Instagram’s useful guide to find out how.

Setting up a hashtag and geolocation tag

Once you’ve got your dedicated event page set up, you’ll want to get the basics in place. Alongside uploading some initial enticing images and filling out your event bio, it’s a great idea to invent/create a dedicated hashtag and geolocation tag.

For the hashtag

Use something short and catchy that’s easy to remember – try abbreviating your event name and adding the year, for example: #SoulFest20 or #GlobalDigital20.

For the geolocation tag

A geolocation tag is a dedicated location, down to the longitude and latitude, that people can use to connect their content with your event. It also let’s people find your event on a map, simply by clicking the tag. To create yours you’ll need to login to Facebook (as Facebook now owns Instagram), click ‘Check In’, scroll down and click the option to add a new place.

After you’ve filled out the relevant information, you’ll be set to find your geolocation tag on Instagram. You should use this on all Instagram Stories to help increase visibility for your event. Which brings us onto…

Getting the most out of Instagram Stories

Most people are aware of this Insta feature by now – it’s the addictive, high-energy content format that was introduced by Snapchat way back when.

The beauty of Instagram stories lies in the immersive nature of these little snapshots – people feel like they’re getting a glimpse through the person behind the camera’s eyes. To make it work for your event, create insightful videos that help build hype – an exclusive-feeling peak at behind the scenes rehearsals, for example. Or a fun selfie of your leading performer.

To get the most out of Instagram Stories, try these simple tricks:

• Post regularly, and make content personal so people really feel they’re getting to know the people behind your event

• Use gifs and emojis in line with your brand tone of voice to inject personality into your Stories

• Use the ‘Countdown’ feature to build excitement and anticipation around your event

• Use the ‘Swipe-up’ feature (only available if you have more than 10,000 followers) to seamlessly take people to further information about your event

• Create Stories Highlights – these are basically like Stories albums, allowing you to store groups of Stories that can be permanently accessed from your Insta feed. They’re a great way of promoting your event and creating a real – forgive the pun – story around it.

Creating Instagram albums

When it comes to posting on your actual Instagram feed, it’s a good idea to sometimes create albums rather than only ever posting single images or videos. So instead of uploading one image at a time, upload up to 10 to keep people engaging with the post for longer.

We’re a society of swipe-savvy people – so if the option is there to keep ‘swiping right’, people usually will.

Promoting your Instagram event posts

When you use a business Instagram profile, it gives you the opportunity to promote your posts by putting some ‘spend’ behind them. It’s really simple to do – you just need to choose your budget for a set time period, and then watch as the selected post receives a serious boost in engagement. You don’t necessarily need to spend a load either – although the option’s there if you want to.

Top tip: It’s better to go for a short burst time-wise for the promotion, rather than trying to make your budget stretch out for longer. So instead of trying to make £30 last for five days, you could load up all of that budget for just a day or two and the post would probably gain more traction.

<p>The post How to successfully promote an event on Instagram first appeared on Ayatickets Blog.</p>

After you decide on your event dates and have a working event plan, you’ll need to start delivering results. Below, we’ve put together a communications strategy checklist for your next event:

Before the event

◻ Create a buzz

The first thing to do after deciding the event date and location (online/offline) is to announce it publicly. This typically involves creating an event website or minisite, putting together promotional videos, and creating social media accounts for the event and posting details on them. You should also be sharing that promotional material onto your business’s main website and social media pages.

◻ Send event invites

If you’ve shortlisted your speakers, send out an invitation to them. Make sure to include all of the details about the event, including the kind of attendees you’re inviting, the goal of the event, and the topics you’d like the speaker to cover. Similarly, get in touch with the sponsors who are relevant to your event and might be interested in sponsoring. Use your previous year’s attendee database to jumpstart your attendee numbers. Send them an email campaign with the news of this new event–you can even include an exclusive discount, if you want. Don’t forget to share the links to the registration page and the event agenda.

◻ Share promotional discount

Discount codes help you engage differently with each of your target segments — based on their location, type of audience, role in the event, or on how you plan to engage with them in the future. You can share the promo code to your audience as a part of the event invitation or send it as a separate email, based on what works best for your event.

◻ Email order confirmation receipts

After the sale is made, send out an order confirmation email to the purchaser. This email should include an order invoice, ticket ID, event name and dates, QR code (if applicable), and any other details necessary to join your event.

◻ Schedule event reminders

Send reminder emails to people who have registered for your event one month, one week, two days, twelve hours, and one hour before the event. Keep the excitement going. As most events are happening online now, you don’t want your attendees to forget that they’ve registered for your event.

<p>The post Checklist series: Communicating for a virtual event first appeared on Ayatickets Blog.</p>

The “We’re hosting an event” email

Most event organizers already have a list of prospective attendees. They might be customers, past attendees, or leads they collected elsewhere. Convincing these people to attend your event is a lot easier than convincing someone completely new to your organization and event. So send an email to all the people you know to inform them about your event.

This email should include all essential event information like the event name, date, and location and have a link to your event website where they can get more details like the agenda and event activities. Also, if you think these people need a little extra to convert into attendees, you can give them a promo code to use at the time of registration. Some event management platforms even allow you to add specific guests to a promo code to make it more secure.

The “We’ve got an offer for you” email

A lot of times, you’ll get prospects through social media promotions or other campaigns. Then there are people who start the registration process only to abandon it halfway. In such cases, a small nudge is all they need to register for the event. It can be as simple as informing them about your early bird pricing or giving them discounts or event swag. If you’re having giveaways or providing discounts on group tickets, you can inform them about that too.

The “We’re happy to have you join us” email

In most cases, your event management or ticketing software has this email covered. They’ll send a rote, automated email to attendees once they register for your event. While on paper this does the job of giving attendees key information about the event, a personalized email would do so much better here. For one thing, you can customize the email to highlight your organization’s brand.  You can also use this email to announce something exciting like a contest or direct attendees to your event app or online community.

<p>The post 3 types of emails you should send before an event first appeared on Ayatickets Blog.</p>

However, all these efforts would amount to nothing if no one showed up at the event. In fact, a low registration rate would affect everything including revenue, sponsorship, and speakers. So how do you as an organizer create impact and drive registrations to a particular event? Would you email them, put out a poster, call your friend Bill and ask him to spread the word? Well, there’s a lot involved, and it might seem a little overwhelming to begin with.

To help you get started, we made a comprehensive checklist for you to market your event right and drive attendance.

Define your event’s goal

Before you start working on bringing attendees to your event, focus on understanding what your event’s goal is. Ask yourself the following questions:

• What are you offering attendees? What is your event’s value proposition?

• What interest groups should attend your event?

• How many registrations can your event accommodate?

• How much revenue are you trying to generate through this event?

• What are some of the brand-building activities you have planned (if there are any)?

  Narrow your audience

  Knowing your audience makes it easier to plan activities. Analyze the common goals and interests your attendees might share. Create attendee personas and be as specific as possible. Understand your attendees’ interests, where they hang out, and what sort of content they consume. This will help you market your event in a way that reaches your audience faster.

  In addition to learning who your audience is, understand what they’re trying to derive from your event.

  • Networking with people in their or any related industry

  • Learning about industry developments and improvements

  • Listen to important speakers

  • Spy the competitors and learn what they’re doing

    Create an event marketing toolkit

    When it comes to marketing an event, it’s necessary to keep a set of tools ready for when you see an avenue to showcase your event. Some things you can keep handy include:

    • Your event’s positioning (for your speakers, sponsors, and other stakeholders)—your target market, your event’s unique proposition, and why your target market should believe in your proposition. This information will come in real handy when you approach speakers and sponsors for your event.

    • A brochure for exhibitors or sponsors that contains event details such as the date, time, venue, number of attendees, your target audience and their interests, your value proposition, speakers, sessions, and sponsors.

    • Event ads to attract attendees from various geographies that can be featured in newspapers/magazines or sent across emails.

    • Site maps; if your event is held on-site, for your attendees and exhibitors. It’s necessary to keep an updated copy of the sitemap that shows booth availability.

      Leverage your mailing list

      According to a recent study by Forrester, 40 percent of marketers believe email to be the single most effective channel for marketing an event. When you know who your persona is and what their needs are, email can be the best way to reach your audience and give them a specific solution while driving them to your event registration page. It’s important to also be clear what actions you want your recipients to perform. Subject lines are one of the most important things in an email to improve its open rate. It should be kept brief and should offer value.

      Let influencers speak for your event

      When a thought leader of an industry related to your event vouches for the event, it can build trust and lead to more registrations. Reach out to these thought leaders to ask if they’ll mention your event on their social media channels, blog posts, or websites.

      Similarly, speakers and sponsors of an event will often be big influencers. Encouraging your speakers and sponsors to promote the sessions at the event can help increase the size of your audience.

      Affiliate marketing is also a great way to refer and reward. Promote referral codes so people who join your event will also bring others who have a similar interest in the event.

<p>The post 5 marketing tips to massively increase your event registration first appeared on Ayatickets Blog.</p>