Be the host with the most: how to put on an amazing event

There are plenty of different ways to market your business. Whether it’s digital marketing, using social media and online content to draw in and engage with your customers, or if you prefer to use more traditional techniques like direct mail in order to reach an older demographic, each method has its own advantages and disadvantages. Which method you choose is always going to be entirely dependent on the needs of your business as a whole. However, there are always going to be certain marketing techniques and methods which will apply across the board.

Let’s face it, if your business doesn’t have a well-optimized website, it’s simply not marketing itself realistically for the twenty-first century. But there is one particular marketing technique that can do wonders for any business that far too many business owners tend to ignore entirely. Something that can have an immediate, noticeable impact on the presence of your business in the minds of customers and investors alike. That is a well-organized, high-quality event. There are plenty of reasons why you might want to run an event of some sort for your business but whatever they are you need to make sure that it is as memorable and successful as possible. In order to help you do that, here are a few important things that you absolutely need to do in order to put on a truly amazing event. 

Start promoting early

When you’re setting up and event, you want to make sure that your promotion of it reaches the maximum number of people possible. One of the things that far too many people fail to realize is that customers need multiple points of contact before they reach a point where they feel comfortable enough actually to buy. So if you start promoting your event, but potential attendees end up with a single moment of contact with your marketing before the time comes for them to decide whether or not they’re going to come to your event, you could end up with some pretty serious problems. To avoid this problem then the pre-launch content is always going to be your friend. Do what you can to entice and tempt people to engage with your event in the period before it happens. You can do this is a whole host of different ways, from offering Q&A with speakers at the event to hosting free online webinars in order to give attendees a sense of the kind of things that they will be able to experience at your event. Make sure that you don’t blow your entire budget on this pre-launch content, the best options are usually fairly cost effective anyway, and always leave people wanting more so that they will be champing at the bit to buy tickets for your event.

Think about security

The worst things that you can do is to treat the security of your event as some kind of afterthought. It really is one of the most important aspects of any event and not one that you should ever leave until the last minute. The best security for an event is one that the vast majority of attendees simply don’t think about or notice. This is because, if all goes well, things will run so smoothly that there’s no reason for the gears that are turning behind the scenes to reveal themselves. The best thing that you can do is to write up a details risk assessment as soon as you have a venue arranged for your event. Once you know the venue, you’re in a position to think about things like exits and entrances as well as how the different parts of your event will be staged and arranged to be as safe as possible. There are also plenty of little things that you can do to make your event more secure. Wristbands or lanyards are a fantastic way to make sure that only valid ticket holders can enter the event at all. They’re fairly cost effective and you can find exactly what you need. It also might be worth investing in some security staff to enforce the rules of the event and prevent people trying to get in without a ticket.

Encourage early ticket sales

As important as early promotion of your event is, one problem is that it can often lead to people putting off buying their tickets. This can often cause a lot of stress for you, especially when you’re under pressure to meet the costs of the event itself. To avoid this, you can often set up incentives for early ticket purchasers like rewards or discounts. Perhaps start the tickets at a certain price and then raise it after a month. This not only encourages early ticket sales but creates a sense of scarcity and demand.

Make connections beforehand

If you’re running an event that will involve you talking to a lot of people, then it can be difficult when the majority of your interactions are going to be introducing yourself. Make sure that you do what you can in order to make connections with attendees before the event so that there is already a sense of familiarity there. This can alleviate any awkwardness as well as make it much easier overall to network throughout the event.

Do something different

You want your event to be truly memorable if it’s going to have any impact on attendees. Depending on the kind of event that it is, there’s a chance that it could well be one of many that they are attending throughout the year. If that’s the case, you need yours to stand out. Think of ways that you can do something a little different for your event, whether that’s including a free gift for each attendee when they pick up their ticket or offering a photography space for them to record their time at the event. This second one is especially good because it creates a pleasant, relaxed atmosphere as well as providing attendees with something to share on social media, increasing the visibility of your event and your business.