activpayroll
Event Consulting | Event Strategy
Client
ActivPayroll
Sector
HR & Payroll
Service
Event Consulting
duration
3 months
About the Project
Activpayroll is a global payroll and mobility provider supporting organisations with international payroll and workforce requirements.
With a growing calendar of industry events, partnerships and webinars, the business wanted to develop a more strategic and consistent approach to events, but had limited specialist event expertise within its internal team.
Natalie joined ActivPayroll on a three-month consultancy retainer, working directly with the CMO and collaborating with the in-house marketing team and external consultants. Her role was to develop the event strategy, frameworks and processes needed to give the team a clearer, more structured approach to planning and evaluating event activity.
the challenge
Activpayroll was investing in a range of events, webinars, partnerships and sponsorship opportunities, but without an overarching event strategy to connect the activity.
With a small in-house marketing team and no senior event specialist, the business needed greater clarity around which opportunities to prioritise, how different event types should support wider objectives and how sales and marketing could work together more effectively around events.
The challenge was to create a practical event framework that could be used across the business, bringing greater consistency to planning, decision-making and follow-up without adding unnecessary complexity for the internal team.
The Consultancy
Activpayroll approached Natalie because of her extensive experience within the HR and payroll sector, and in particular her previous work developing successful event and webinar programmes for the industry.
This included launching and developing a webinar series for SD Worx that became an established part of its event programme and continues to run today. ActivPayroll wanted to develop its own event activity with the same level of strategy, consistency and long-term value.
Working directly with the CMO, Natalie was brought in to provide the senior event expertise needed to develop that approach and create the strategy, processes and frameworks to support it.
Global Event Strategy
Developed an overarching strategy covering owned events, webinars, industry events, sponsorships and partnerships.
Scalable Processes
Created practical planning frameworks, templates and playbooks for more consistent event planning and delivery.
Sales & Marketing Alignment
Developed clearer roles and workflows around event planning, lead capture, follow-up and communication.
Partnership Evaluation
Created a structured approach to assessing events, sponsorships and partnerships against audience and business objectives.
The role: Event strategy, consultancy and programme development
Natalie provided senior event consultancy throughout the three-month retainer, working directly with the CMO while collaborating with the client’s internal marketing team and external consultants.
The focus was on giving the business the strategy, structure and practical tools needed to make more informed decisions about its events and build a more consistent approach across its programme.
Strategic Event Planning & Consultancy
- Developed a global event strategy aligned with their wider business and marketing objectives.
- Created a framework covering owned events, webinars, industry conferences, sponsorships and partner activity.
- Defined objectives, audiences and measures of success across different event types.
- Developed recommendations for a more structured and consistent approach to event planning.
Sales & Marketing Alignment
- Developed clearer workflows between sales and marketing around event planning and follow-up.
- Defined roles and responsibilities at key stages of the event process.
- Created a more consistent approach to lead capture, handover and post-event activity.
- Identified opportunities for event activity to better support wider commercial objectives.
EVENT LEAD MANAGEMENT
A practical framework was developed to create greater consistency around how event-generated leads were managed, including:
- Lead capture
- Qualification
- Sales handover
- Follow-up responsibilities
- Recommended timelines
The framework gave sales and marketing a clearer, repeatable process that could be applied across different event types.
Event Content Strategy
- Reviewed existing content and identified opportunities to align it with relevant event themes and audiences.
- Recommended ways existing content could be repurposed around events and webinars.
- Developed an approach to help the team maximise existing resources rather than creating new content for every event.
PARTNERSHIP & SPONSORSHIP EVALUATION
- Researched relevant industry events, publications, associations and partnership opportunities.
- Reviewed sponsorship and event proposals across the HR and payroll sector.
- Developed a structured approach to evaluating opportunities against target audiences and business objectives.
- Provided recommendations on where to prioritise event and partnership activity.
Working together
Natalie worked directly with Activpayroll’s CMO throughout the consultancy, while becoming part of the wider team through regular meetings with the in-house marketing team and external consultants.
This collaborative approach meant the event strategy wasn’t developed in isolation. Recommendations took account of existing marketing activity, internal resources and commercial priorities, while giving the team access to specialist event expertise they didn’t have in-house.
Alongside the consultancy, Natalie identified a need for additional operational event resource within the team.
An experienced Event Manager was sourced and onboarded on a separate retainer to support day-to-day event activity, partner and sponsorship deliverables and ongoing event administration.
This provided the client with additional delivery capacity alongside Natalie’s senior consultancy support, without the need to build a larger permanent events team.