Planning and hosting exciting events brings many challenges, but going back to basics can help. And finding the right event management tools makes all those complex processes easier still. If you’re looking to uplevel your event business, the best way is to keep pace with the ever-updating productivity tools and event planning business software available. From drafting a production schedule to designing invitations, promoting ticket sales, and selling merch, free event management tools ensure you stay ahead of the competition.
Software for event planning
Once you start planning an event, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the number of things on your to-do list. So it’s great that there are event planning tools that can help make things simpler and quicker. No matter the size of your event or what you need help with – project management, ideas and inspiration, repetitive tasks, creative visuals, communication, or analytics – there’s event planning software to help.
Brainstorming with Pinterest
Deciding how you want your event to look is just as important as deciding what it’s about. So finding event management tools that help align all members of your team to one visual aesthetic is beneficial. Using Pinterest, the social networking site and visual discovery engine, you can easily brainstorm the look and feel of your event to help your team move forward. Establishing a lookbook for your event can streamline planning and provide an important reference point.
Mind mapping with Coggle
Coggle is a collaborative business management tool that helps you make sense of complex things. With nothing to install or download, this online business software lets you create and share mind maps and flowcharts with as many people as you want. Location is not a problem because whether you’re taking notes, brainstorming, or getting creative, your ideas go straight to people’s browsers.
Keeping track with Google Sheets
Planning an event means keeping track of your numbers, whether that’s your event budget, dates, and times, or your production schedule and deliverables. Google Sheets, Google’s free spreadsheet tool, offers a centralised way for your team to plan budgeting and scheduling. With plenty of complex functionalities available, Google Sheets is among the best event planning business software around.
Making your vision a reality with Canva
Taking your idea and giving it shape is one of the most critical aspects of event planning. Canva, an easy and free graphic design platform, requires little to no graphic design experience to master. The service can help you design graphics, posters, and other visuals for things like your event listing, day-of collateral, and social media. Canva boasts plenty of ready-made templates to use, as well as an intuitive drag-and-drop feature that will make sharing your vision with the world easier than ever. You can also check out Photopea, a similar platform, for another free way to meet your design needs.
Free event management software
Not only is business event management software designed to simplify processes like communication, accessing to-do lists, and sharing tasks, but it brings results too – increased attendance, enhanced productivity, and higher profit margins, to name a few. And because they are free, you can choose the right tool for the job irrespective of your budget.
Seating attendees with Eventbrite’s Reserved Seating
The beauty of Eventbrite’s Reserved Seating technology is it gives you the power to design seating arrangements that are smart, scalable, and easy to manage. The interactive Venue Designer tool lets you digitally create customisable table seating charts for events of all shapes and sizes. With just a few clicks, you can easily make your tickets, build custom venue maps, and create and manage holds. And ready-to-use templates mean adding tiers to your event or designating sections, rows, and tables have never been easier.
Bringing your team together with Doodle
Once you know what you want your event to look like, it’s time to use event management tools to start planning things out. Doodle, the free online meeting scheduling tool, can help you pin down your calendar and get things running smoothly from the start. Bringing your whole team together and scheduling regular production meetings are great ways of making your event successful. By simplifying scheduling, Doodle makes it easier for your team to collaborate and work more efficiently.
Managing projects and teams with Monday.com
Monday.com is free business event management software that enables you to create the tools you need to run your event. With the capability of creating and sharing customisable forms, recording attendance, answering surveys, and tracking breakout sessions, you can build your ideal workflow and seamlessly manage your event. Creating a more streamlined workflow not only improves communication, but it allows you to track completed tasks and lowers the risk of potential errors.
Tracking progress with Wrike
The idea is to use free business event management software that can be customised as required. Wrike is a work management platform tailored to meet the needs of your event management business and give your team better visibility. Real-time notifications, live editing, and dynamic reporting mean that endless emails and constant check-ins become a thing of the past. Plus, streamlining and simplifying communication processes lets you track progress and see potential roadblocks before they happen.
Event business tools for marketing
With all the work that goes into planning an event, it’s important not to forget your real goal is generating an audience. People can’t attend your event if they haven’t heard about it, so marketing and promotion are a central part of any good event management strategy. Marketing costs can easily rocket, so having free event marketing tools that also help you reach a wider audience offers a win-win situation.
Sending merch with Smart Send
Merchandise delivery is an expensive business – making Smart Send, the free shipping management platform by Parcel2Go, a real find. Designed with businesses in mind, it enables you to manage all your deliveries from one easy-to-use dashboard. Customers are happy because they get accurate delivery estimates from reputable couriers and services. You’re happy because you get to manage all your deliveries from one platform, generate single and batch labels, and track the whole process from start to finish.
Promoting and ticketing with Eventbrite
Promoting and ticketing your event can’t be afterthoughts. Luckily for you, Eventbrite can help with both – whether your event is online or in-person. The platform simplifies and centralises the sometimes complex ticketing process, making it easier for both you and your attendees. You can access email marketing and social media tools using Eventbrite Boost, and track ticket sales the easy way with the Eventbrite Organiser app. Plus, once your event’s over, Eventbrite can even help you with analytics. Crunching the numbers on what made your last event a success – or what can be improved next time – can give you a head start on making your next event perfect.
Scheduling social media posts with Eventbrite Boost
Imagine event planning business software that lets you manage all your social media on one platform. That’s Eventbrite Boost. Using your Eventbrite account, you can measure your social media performance, schedule posts at crucial stages, and respond to comments twice as fast – all of which enables you to reach new people, engage social media followers, and grow your audience.
Put these tools to good use
Planning an event is more than just coming up with an idea and making it happen – it’s a process. And like most things in life, the steps involved in planning your event are much easier with the right tools. Check out how free event management tools can save you time and help power your event
