It’s a busy time of year for businesses and consumers alike, as Christmas and New Year events crowd the calendar. The festive season offers a great opportunity to celebrate with, get to know and build relationships with customers old and new, but with so much going on, competition is fierce. Anyone can rent out a space and serve a few refreshments; it’s the extra touches that will delight your customers and make sure that your brand stands out in their memory well into the new year.
These extra touches don’t have to mean emptying your wallet: some of the best and most effective event tips involve thinking a little differently and being creative, rather than spending big bucks. Here are a few ideas to ensure your guests are surprised, entertained and made to feel truly special:
Always be prepared
A huge amount of the brand building involved in an event actually takes place before you’ve even opened your doors. Creating a sense of excitement and anticipation will not only guarantee a full house, but will also get your customers excited about both the event and your brand.
“Always give people a reason to attend (pre-event), a reason to listen (during) and a reason to reconnect (post-event), recommends Michelle Roberts-Clarke, head of strategy and client development at Brand Remedy.
“Use social media, your website and as many marketing channels as you can to build up excitement and interest before the event, delivering content and teasing information.”
“Teasing” is the operative word here: you want to give away just enough to get people interested, but not so much that they feel like they know everything already. That way, they will arrive at your event feeling curious and ready to ask questions and find out more.
Don’t just showcase your product – show people why they need it. MOO used a recent event to showcase a new offering: Business Cards+, embedded Near Field Communication (NFC), using them to provide easy access to Wi-Fi for event attendees.
“The Wi-Fi cards saved attendees from typing in a long password. We got tweets about how much people liked it and it drove a lot of attention to our stand,” explains Pascal Ebadian at MOO, who managed the event. “Don’t just showcase the product, also show how it helps people.”
Business Cards+ still function as regular business cards, but when the card is tapped with an NFC-enabled device, it activates an unlimited range of digital actions, for example opening up a LinkedIn profile or company website. The customer also has access to an online dashboard, where they can control what their cards link to, before, or even after, they’ve handed them out.
Find the right sponsor
Andy Oliver, head chef at Som Saa thai restaurant recommends that fellow small business owners seek out a sponsor who shares your brand values and will compliment your offering, rather than just adding cash to the pot.
“During Som Saa’s residency at Climpson’s Arch this year we wanted to do something different to our usual service and put on a really memorable event,” he explains. “As a small business we needed some support to fund the night and as I’d been doing some work to create recipes for Singha Beer they kindly offered to help out.
“As an authentic Thai beer the sponsorship worked perfectly. If you’re looking to put on a memorable event that’s really credible to your audience, my tip would be make sure you find funding or sponsorship from a partner that fits your own brand as a business.”
Give your guests something to remember you by
“Little personal touches, particularly when it comes to invitations and gifting, don’t have to come at a huge cost and can absolutely transform an event,” explains Rebecca Musgrave at Propercorn. Gifts certainly don’t have to be flashy – often it’s the more unusual or useful items that make the biggest impression.
Propercorn used this approach at London Fashion Week, where it provided survival kits in a clear clutch bag for journalists and photographers, containing essentials for the week ahead. “This small, relatively inexpensive gift had standout personality and could be used long after Fashion Week had finished,” Musgrave says. “Think about creating something for people to take away, which serves as a reminder of the event, which is personal, useful and which makes a clear statement about your business.”
Maintain the momentum
A successful event is a great way to build customer loyalty, but it doesn’t end when the last person has left the building. Make sure anything that you hand out to event attendees will also help you to maintain contact and build the relationship further. “As well as providing easy access to Wi-Fi at the event itself, MOO’s NFC cards also allowed visitors to join a livestream or to pre-book tickets for next year,” explains Ebadian. This helped to further demonstrate the versatility of the product, while providing a practical means to continue the relationship and customer journey.
“After the event, make personal contact with as many people as possible, thanking them for attending and engaging them further via additional content and prolonged conversation,” adds Roberts-Clarke. “Ensure that you don’t have the attitude of ‘phew, that’s over’ after any event. These sessions should be the start of long and meaningful relationships with attendees, not the end.”
This advertisement feature is paid for and produced to a brief agreed with MOO, sponsor of the Guardian Small Business Network’s Branding hub.
