If you’re looking for a great way to introduce your brand to the public and earn your first customers when you start a new business, a launch party is exactly what you need. It makes face-to-face engagement possible, which can help grow your audience.
If you don’t know how to throw a launch party for your business, however, it can seem like a major undertaking. Fortunately, we are here to help. The following guide covers how to throw a successful launch party for your new business, which includes:
- What is needed to have a successful launch party
- Tips for planning the details of your event
- Tips for marketing your event for success
1. What Is Needed to Have a Successful Launch Party?
Knowledge of how to throw a launch party for your new business requires advanced planning. You can prepare for success by outlining what you need as well as what you want out of the event.
Plan Ahead
Planning your event well in advance is one of the most important things you should do. Attempting to put together a new business launch party in just a couple of weeks means risking having results that look unprofessional or disorganized.
A better idea would be to give yourself up to 6 months or even longer to put together a memorable launch party. Get all the party props you need at Premierglow.com. Furthermore, planning ahead will give the guests enough notice to include the event on their calendars.
Establish a Purpose
The fact that the purpose of the launch party is introducing your business to the public might seem obvious to you. However, it is just as important to consider exactly what you are planning to get out of the event.
Establish a few realistic and measurable goals. For instance, perhaps you’re looking to sign up 100 people to your newsletter email list. Or perhaps you’re looking to sell a certain number of products. This way, you can plan your event around such goals and measure their success.
Identify Those to be Invited
The next step is to determine the target audience of your new business to identify those to be invited to your event.
Say you plan a launch party for a chocolate shop. You may want to target the event to food enthusiasts by posting fliers in local cafes. If your chocolates are not vegan, however, you should avoid advertising in vegan cafes.
If you know who to focus on for your audience, you will draw the right people, which will translate to sales.
Find an Incentive for Guests to Attend
Why should people come to your event? Unless you offer something alluring or exciting, people may end up not attending your launch party. Incentives may include free samples, discounts, and even raffles. You could also offer entertainment, like live music.
The perks are aimed at drawing in people, helping you create buzz around your business.
Establish a Budget
You need to decide exactly how much you wish to spend on the launch party. A budget is particularly important since the business has just started and you have not earned a profit. A successful launch party may lead to a strong start, but you can hurt your business instead if you spend too much.
Start by asking quotes from vendors so that you can get a better picture when outlining the budget. You should also consider the things you could do yourself. For instance, you can hold the event in your shop rather than renting a venue. Or you can do your own event planning or marketing as opposed to hiring someone else.
II. Tips for Planning the Details of Your Launch Party
You can start to map out the details after you have a good idea of what you would like the event to look like as well as what you need.
Event Planning Essentials
Here are some of the things you will need to plan for:
- Location or Venue
- Date and Time of the Event
- Activities or Entertainment
- Decorations
- Food or Drinks
- Marketing
When planning for the aforementioned things, you should consider researching other launch parties to find out what works well. You can then find local caterers and vendors and compare prices to find the best options.
The Guest List
You will also need to create a guest list. You will need a way to contact your guests, such as their email or address. Canva is an excellent tool for creating your fliers or invitations.
If you’re planning to offer an open invite, consider marketing the launch party on your social media channels. In this case, you can make an event listing on a platform such as Eventbrite. That way, you can get an idea of attendance by the number of people who register for the event.
III. Tips for Marketing Your Launch Party for Success
Marketing is another important aspect when it comes to throwing a launch party for your new business. If you market effectively at your event, you may establish a positive reputation and possibly boost your profitability.
Market Yourself at the Launch Party
Ensure that your business is at the forefront at the launch event. Design marketing materials for the event specifically, and ensure that you have plenty of brochures, business cards, and fliers. You may even consider ordering a banner or two with the logo of your business and contact information.
Post about the event on your social media accounts prior to, during, and after the event. If you can also create photo opportunities as well as a unique hashtag, you may encourage guests to share the event on social media and tag your business.
You can also use PR such as guest blogs to create some buzz for the event and get your name out there locally and on the internet. This will also help with SEO – link building can be a great op to improve web presence.
Overall, you should take time to build a rapport with your guests so that they can get to know you and the business.
Follow Up
Finally, ensure that you follow up with your guests after the event thanking them for coming and reminding them what your business can offer. For example, you could send everyone on your email list a post-event run down, direct them to your business website, and request them to leave a review.
With such levels of sustained dedication, it’s possible to get the most out of your launch party and set up your new business for success.
