In order to grow your business, you have to get new customers in the door, right? Of course, while the idea is simple enough, attracting new consumers is definitely not an easy task.
While you have a wide variety of different tactics to make consumers pay attention to your business, one of the often-ignored ways of increasing exposure to a completely new market is hosting an event.
But it seems like business leaders are slowly catching on. In fact, according to Event Track’s Event and Experiential Marketing Industry report, almost 80% of brands say that they plan to host more events this year compared to the last.
Now, if you’re a small business owner, working on a tight budget, executing a business event might seem like large investment that can really affect your marketing budget. However, events can range from huge charity galas to small things like having a Santa come to your shop during the holiday season.
So in order help you plan and host a perfect event for your business on a budget, here are a couple of things you need to do in order to make your event a raging success.
Determine Your Budget
First, you need to determine just how much money you’re willing to spend to host an event. Of course, you have to be aware that everything costs more than you think it will. And once you determine, the exact number, you should figure out what and where you can actually spend. For instance, you cannot forget about marketing – according to statistics gathered by Hub Spot, an average business event consumes anywhere between 20% and 25% of company’s overall marketing budget…
Find the Best Time and Date
The best strategy is to have your event on a slow day to bring some additional revenue during a period where your sales are particularly slow. On the other hand, if you set the date of the event on a busy day, your staff will not be able to service the guests and your regular customers at the same time. It’s basically a lose-lose situation. Just make sure to start planning on time, for example, as Forbes reports, an average B2B company spends around 8 weeks planning an event…
Prepare the Venue
When preparing the venue for a business event, it is important to consider the size of the space as well as the amenities it offers. If your office space isn’t suitable, looking into event space rental in Poway, CA or another local area can ensure you find a venue large enough to accommodate the expected number of attendees and equipped with necessary features, such as audio-visual equipment and microphones. Many event spaces also offer additional services like catering and event coordination, which can help streamline the planning process. Plus, choosing a venue in a scenic area can elevate the experience, making it more enjoyable for attendees and memorable for your business. However, if you are hosting the event in your office’s auditorium, try to keep the space well-maintained by engaging experts offering commercial cleaning services in Asheville, NC (or wherever your company is based). Post that, decorate the venue with appropriate signage or banners to create a welcoming and branded atmosphere.
Partner up With Someone
Finding a non-competing company in your local area that has a similar customer base provides a perfect opportunity to team up and make the event beneficial for both parties. Each company can easily market the event to their own customers, and in the process create new customers for the other party. Also, this gives you a great opportunity to split the costs of the event, and maybe look into some event management companies that could help you with the ordeal and make things easier…
Ensure Great Customer Service
During the event, put lots of effort into making sure you provide great service to your customers, and showcase some of your new products and/or services. For example, you can serve your new cake, which will ensure that the guests get a taste of your product without feeling like it’s a see-through sales pitch. Ensure that you have enough staff members to give your customers stellar service. Another useful addition might be using paper wristbands for events to help manage entry and keep things organized, ensuring smooth operations without added complexity.
Final Thoughts: Measure the Event’s Impact
Once the event is over, your job is still not completely done. In order to determine the success of your event, you need to track the number of guests who successfully turned into loyal customers because of the event. You can do this in a couple of ways…
You can always send out email surveys after the event to get the information you need or you can call your customers and talk to them one-on-one afterwards. While this may be time-consuming, it will definitely get a better insight into the situation.
Or you can give out coupons to the attendees, track how many of them are redeemed and determine the percentage of customers who’ve returned to your business after the event was done. And don’t feel disappointed if the percentage is small, because it will take some people months before they return and make a purchase…