Step 3: Identify Your Target Audience & Your Stakeholders

Now that you know WHY you are having the event and WHAT your desired outcomes are, you can focus on WHO needs to attend.

Identify your target audience

Who will be attending the event? Who do you need to have at the event to help you meet your goals and objectives?

Your list can include:

People who may want to attend the event: Media

Wikimedia Commons

Don’t miss the opportunity to include:

Make sure your event matches or exceeds the expectations of your target audience.

Identify the stakeholders

Stakeholders are any group that is affected by the meeting.

Internal stakeholders
Internal stakeholders are people who work within your organizational structure. They can be your events team, co-workers, your boss, your boss’ boss and/or the board of directors. Internal stakeholders are the ones who can tell you about the meeting/event’s history and purpose; what it should achieve. Who is the event for? What’s worked, or hasn’t worked in the past and what should be different this year? What would success look like?

External stakeholders
External stakeholders are people that you don’t work with, but who have some relationship to the event and can be positively or negatively affected by its outcomes. They can be your sponsors, exhibitors, vendors, paying attendees, association members, speakers and industry thought leaders, among others. Historical data from surveys, testimonials, sales numbers and past marketing campaigns can
help you identify what your external stakeholders like, dislike and what they hope to achieve by participating in your event.