Event marketing has been around for ages and rightly so, it works!

We all know that planning and hosting an event is a lot of work, and it may not always seem like it’s worth the effort. You’re already busy enough with your blog, your social media, plus all of the other marketing efforts that help build and grow your business.

Events, though, are one of the few ways to get personal with your customers. There are two benefits to this:

1. Your customers see you as a person. (yup, you’re a human being who puts their pants on one leg at a time)
2. Your customer gets to meet others like them. (we all love chatting and connecting)

You might think that your business isn’t the right kind of business to be hosting an event. For example, you’ve got a brick and mortar store. I’d say that it’s perfect, especially if you invite your clients and ask them to bring a friend.

You could host a cocktail night with a fundraising aspect. Or invite a guest speaker that your clients might love to listen to, especially if it adds value to their life. If you sell handmade items in your shop you could for example invite a maker to demonstrate his/her skills so that your clients connect more with the products whilst mingling with other like-minded people. It helps to invite someone who is fairly well known in the industry.

Although a lot of events happen after house, they don’t always have to be held in the evening. They do just as well during the day. You could have a lunch event where people get to drop in for a quick chat, something to snack on and whatever else you can think of that they might find interesting.

If you’re interested in hosting an event for your business, here are a few tips and things to think about before going ahead:

1. Set a purpose for your event (i.e. what’s your goal?) and a set of measurements (i.e. what determines its success)
2. Create an event plan (set a time and work out what happens within that time, also remember to add what needs to be done before and after)
3. Set a budget (how much is it all going to cost, including promotion)
4. Create a website (or a page on your site) and a social media plan to promote your event
5. Work out and plan your content (what’s going to happen at the event)

This is just the first step in holding an event for your business, there are many more intricate details to think about, but they will be saved for another blog post.