Collaborative Event Planning

Streamline event management with the help of your marketing operations team

Collaborating with your marketing operations team ensures that event data is effectively integrated into your overall marketing strategy, and that all efforts are aligned to achieve common goals. This guide will provide best practices for collaborating with your marketing operations team to enhance event planning, execution, and follow-up.

Importance of collaborative event planning

Collaboration between event organizers and the marketing operations team ensures all efforts are focused on common goals, from generating leads to improving brand recognition. With event data directly tied to marketing objectives, teams can easily track how events contribute to broader strategies, identifying the most effective tactics in real time. Working together enables task distribution and faster decision-making, reducing delays and inefficiencies. For example, automating the transfer of event data into CRM platforms allows marketing teams to act on insights immediately, without waiting for manual data entry. By merging event data with marketing intelligence, teams can uncover specific patterns in attendee behavior and engagement.

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5 steps to collaborate with marketing operations team

Define roles and responsibilities

To make collaboration effective, start by clearly outlining who handles each aspect of the event and marketing process. For example, the event manager can focus on logistics, such as booking the venue and coordinating with speakers. Meanwhile, the marketing operations team can oversee lead tracking and integrate event data into the CRM for future campaigns. If content creation is involved, designate a team member to manage social media posts or follow-up emails post-event. When everyone knows their exact responsibilities, it reduces confusion, ensures no task is overlooked, and keeps the team focused on their specific goals. This clarity leads to smoother coordination, with each person contributing to the event’s success from their designated role.

Establish communication channels

Keep everyone on the same page by setting up regular check-ins and using tools that facilitate clear communication. Weekly meetings can track progress, troubleshoot issues, and address any changes. Use instant messaging tools like Slack for quick questions or updates. For task management, rely on project management software like Asana or Monday.com, where you can assign tasks, set deadlines, and monitor the event’s progress. For larger updates or strategy shifts, email can be used to ensure no one misses important information. With these structured channels, team members stay informed, decisions are made quickly, and there’s less chance of miscommunication or delays.

Share data and insights

Once the event concludes, make sure data isn’t left to sit in silos. For instance, after collecting registration and engagement data, share it immediately with the marketing operations team. Use tools like Google Analytics or CRM reports to provide clear, actionable insights. If you see that certain topics generated high engagement during a webinar, let marketing know so they can create follow-up content based on those insights. Similarly, if certain leads show strong interest during the event but haven’t been followed up with, marketing can target them with personalized emails or retargeting ads. When data is shared quickly, marketing can take immediate action, ensuring event insights translate into real marketing impact.

Align goals and objectives

Before the event begins, ensure everyone is on the same page about the event’s key objectives and how they tie into broader marketing goals. If the event’s purpose is to increase brand awareness, your marketing ops team should integrate social media campaigns that tie directly into event messaging. If it’s about lead generation, ensure that attendee information is being collected in a way that allows easy follow-up. Work with the team to set concrete KPIs, such as conversion rates or social media impressions, so both the event and the marketing strategy are driving towards the same results. Aligning these objectives at the planning stage gives the event a clear purpose, which makes every marketing effort before, during, and after the event much more impactful.

Evaluate and optimize

Once the event has concluded, take time to analyze both the event’s and the marketing team's performance. Gather feedback from both the event and marketing operations teams about what worked and what didn’t. For example, did the marketing campaigns drive the expected traffic to the event? Were leads collected effectively, and how were they followed up afterward? Use this feedback to refine future workflows—maybe that means adjusting the timeline to give the marketing team more time to engage with leads, or it could mean simplifying the data-sharing process for quicker insights. By continuously evaluating and adjusting your approach, future collaborations will be smoother, and both event execution and marketing efforts will be more efficient and effective.

Benefits of streamlined event management with marketing operations team

Aligned efforts

Collaboration between event planners and marketing operations turns isolated tasks into a coordinated effort. When both teams understand each other’s objectives, such as lead generation for marketing or audience engagement for event teams, the event becomes more than just a standalone project. For example, when the marketing team integrates event data into their CRM, it allows them to nurture leads more effectively post-event, while the event team can track how marketing campaigns are driving attendance. This alignment makes every decision, from content creation to post-event follow-ups, feel purposeful and connected, with each step propelling the same goal forward.

Enhanced efficiency

Streamlining workflows removes bottlenecks that can slow down the planning and follow-up process. When marketing ops and event teams collaborate, they can identify redundancies. For example, if both teams manually input event data into separate systems, collaboration allows them to create an automated system that updates the CRM in real-time. This reduces the back-and-forth and frees up team members to focus on high-impact tasks like personalizing attendee experiences or adjusting campaigns based on live feedback. Additionally, clear communication and shared responsibilities minimize the chance of missed deadlines or overlapping tasks, making the entire process more efficient.

Data-driven strategy

When event and marketing data are connected, insights flow seamlessly into campaign strategies. Marketing teams can use real-time analytics from the event, such as attendee behavior or session popularity, to adjust messaging while the event is still ongoing. For instance, if a specific topic generates high engagement, marketing can create follow-up content or targeted ads immediately after the event. By combining event data with historical marketing performance, teams gain a comprehensive view of the customer journey, allowing them to make smarter decisions moving forward. This data-driven approach refines the marketing strategy, guiding future campaigns with precise, actionable insights that are tailored to audience preferences.

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Conclusion

Collaborating with your marketing operations team ensures that event data is effectively integrated into your overall marketing strategy, and that all efforts are aligned to achieve common goals. By following best practices for defining roles, establishing communication channels, sharing data, and aligning goals, you can enhance event planning, execution, and follow-up. For a comprehensive solution to manage all aspects of collaboration and data integration, consider utilizing RingCentral’s advanced event management platform, which offers robust features for seamless collaboration and data sharing.

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