Thinking about running an in-store event to drum up new business? It’s a tried and tested marketing strategy that many business owners have used with great success. Whether you’re experiencing a bit of a dip in sales and you’re determined to get things moving again ASAP, or you’re doing great but want to make that extra push, this is something that you might want to try. But how exactly do you make sure that it’s a resounding success? Check out these tips to ensure you’ve ticked all the boxes.
Set your objectives in advance
One of the biggest mistakes that people often make when they try any new marketing tactic, is that they’re not quite sure what they want to get out of it. They’ll hear that a certain strategy can work really well, so they decide to give it a go, but they don’t take the time to set their objectives and really understand what results they want for their business. So before you go any further, commit your goals to paper. Do you want to drive sales at the event? Do you want to get media coverage? Do you want to increase awareness of your brand? It could be all of these things, or something else entirely, but make sure that you really understand what you want to achieve.
Carefully consider your invites list
So now that you know what you’re aiming for, it’s time to think about who you’re going to invite. You might want to ask existing customers, people who have shown an interest in your offerings in the past but have not yet bought from you, any press contacts that you might have who could be interested in running a story, and possibly even fellow business owners in your local area. Write your list, and then consider the practicalities of getting your invites out there. You might send postal invites, email messages, or you could even create an event on Facebook and create excitement via social media. Consider how your ideal customers would prefer to be contacted.
Pay attention to the little details
How are you going to make your event one to remember? You might simply showcase your products and share some drinks and nibbles with your attendees, or you might want to push the boat out a little further. Maybe you’ll give out samples and testers, run a competition, have some promotional products made up, or something else that you know will really wow everyone who turns up. It’s worth noting here that you don’t have to spend a fortune to create a big impact. Set a budget from the beginning and stick to it, but do get creative and try out different ideas.
Review it, and learn from it
This is the step that most people forget about! The story isn’t over after your event. Make sure you don’t miss out on the opportunity to review your successes and the areas that could have been improved, and think about what you would do differently next time. It’s often useful to collect feedback from people who attended, to get a real feel for how things went. And of course, refer back to your objectives. Did you achieve what you actually set out to achieve? What helped you to reach your goals, and was there anything that held you back?
You could think and plan and worry for a very long time, but the real key to a fabulous event is actually getting it done. Stick the date in your diary, and make the commitment!