• How-to

Be it a shop opening or an exhibition revolving around your business, holding a special event for your business helps in building brand awareness, relationships with existing customers, developing of potential clients and generating positive publicity.

Keep in mind, though, that holding an event involves a high level of risk as one wrong move could lead to irreparable damage. On the other hand, if planned and executed effectively, the payoffs can be worth the risk taken.

Firstly, decide what you want to achieve with this event and who is on your list of attendees. Create an event that is in line with the needs of your business and that of your target audience. Set a budget for yourself at the outset.

Events like exhibitions can be heavy on the wallet, so try and snag financial support by signing on sponsors. Get one high-profile sponsor on board—you’ll be able to piggyback on the established brand name, and smaller companies will follow suit with the sponsorship.

Ensuring a good turnout is one of the biggest challenges of holding events. Send personalized invites to loyal customers, new prospects, key influential people and the press. Make sure that your event gets ample coverage in the media much before the actual day.

Create an events page on Facebook and send out invites to fans to attend. Customers need to be given good incentives to attend your event—exclusivity is a good one and so is holding a private product demo or sales event.

A brand like Avon, for example, that sells only through a network of distributors holds product demos in hotel suites and apartments. Additionally, you could also provide guests with free product samples or a branded promotional item. Offering deals and discounts is always a good way to bring in more customers.

For events, be it large- or small-scale, logistics—finding the right venue, product placement, signage, lighting, display stands and catering—can always prove to be an issue. Determine whether you and your team can carry off the event on your own or if you need to employ the services of an event management company. The latter option saves you precious time and resources.

At the event, make it a point to personally interact with all key guests and loyal customers. People like to put a face to a brand so this gesture will be appreciated. Ensure that your employees and staff at the event are armed with knowledge about your business so that they can answer queries confidently.

Get visitors to leave their name and contact details. Holding an event will only pay off in its entirety if you follow up with customers. Send thank-you notes or even special discount vouchers and offers. The key is in creating a loyal client base.

©Entrepreneur May 2011

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avon, brand, business, client, event, Facebook, product, risk, signage, turnout, venue, visitors