Hosting a party or business event is a great way to thank customers, entertain prospects, and gain additional exposure for your business. But throwing up a sign and inviting people to an open house isn’t the way to excite a crowd. Here are some suggestions on how to throw an awesome business event that will keep people talking for weeks.
Tips on Hosting a Memorable Business Event
Treat Getting More Business as a Bonus
While it may be your main goal with an event, any party thrown with the intention of getting more customers will fall flat. Instead, make it about the fun and focus on everyone enjoying themselves. The customers will follow.
Do Something Unique
We’ve all attended cookie-cutter open houses for businesses. Once you left, you probably vowed never to do it again. With more and more demands on their schedules, if you don’t give them a unique experience, your customers aren’t going to give you their time.
Hold a contest. Have a wacky theme. Host the event at a venue that everyone is interested in seeing. (You can get pretty creative here.) Play up the fun and uniqueness of the experience you’re providing and people will be banging down your doors.
Make Registration Effortless
Don’t do anything that places friction on the registration process. Instructing attendees to pick up tickets at your office before the event will mean less attendees. People won’t be inconvenienced in that way just to attend a business function. Allow them to register through calling, emailing, filling out a contact form, and social media. Providing multiple ways to register, so that people may select their favorite, will increase your number of RSVPs.
Provide Awesome Food
It is better to have smaller types of higher quality food than it is to serve a mediocre buffet. If your budget doesn’t include a full dinner, opt for trendy fusion appetizers or a food bar of some sort. (We’re hosting an event tonight with a build-your-own pulled pork nachos bar. Yum!)
Finally, be aware of other events in your area. Sometimes you can piggy back successfully off of a local event, like if there’s a Main Street event that evening and you just happen to be located amid the action, but otherwise it’s a good idea not to compete directly with established events.
Show your attendees a great time and they’ll be more apt to do business with you. After all, people just want to have fun.
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