What makes a good launch party

At a recent startup event they had an open bar, bowling, bumper cars, an indoor circus and so many after parties. If it were me, I would have also partnered with Hailo and got all the attendees free rides home. At another recent start up event the entire purpose was to build an email list.

A great way to do this is to offer respondents an opt-in option when they RSVP for your event. Many registration platforms offer this feature. Some startup events include educational aspects including classes, workshops, seminars, training, or even small conferences. You can host a class or workshop on your own for a rather low budget, usually just by providing drinks and snacks. Crowds of this nature generally include journalists, VCs, angel investors and other founders. When thinking of making these small events count, look at the content of the event versus the look and feel of the event that are so important to a larger scale event.

Venues are not cheap and neither is catering so when budgeting always ask about hidden venue costs. Unless you have free food and drinks from sponsors, a minimum spend is often a much better idea. Size Matters What is the size of event? Will the venue offer catering? Or can you bring your own alcohol and catering in? Are there bathrooms, WiFi, security, cloak room, dedicated ops manager or event manager and of course a decent AV setup?

Rookie Mistake: Always read the contract, look at non-refundable deposit terms and insurance. I want this event at a unique location.

Most companies hold events at bars, hotels, or during conferences. But people have been to many of these places before. They get used to them and know what to expect. Because of that, people lose interest in attending. Why not think outside of the box and hold your event at a members club or a converted church? By having events at locations people aren't expecting them to be at, creates a sense of curiosity.

Rent an Airbnb instead! Most people think you need to write a ton of copy for your guest list. Or that you need to make it sound fancy. For a launch event, keep it simple. Use a picture, add a logo to the top, an example could look something like this:.

Most startup parties are free, which means all the costs are on you as the party planner. You want to turn followers into fans and ambassadors, get them to buy your product, download your app and become evangelists.

Measure social media mentions. Count new emails generated from RSVP confirmations. Count downloads or subscribers. Measure Press Mentions. Have something to give to your guests to thank them for supporting you in new business venture. Your giveaways should be a tangible object that will help your guests remember your event and your business. Keep in mind that promotional giveaways, like t-shirts and pens with your logo on it, are a great way to generate free-marketing.

The final step in throwing a great launch party is giving a speech and thanking your guests for coming. Giving a speech will provide you with an opportunity to speak to every guest. Let them know who you are and to show them what is going on at the event today.

This speech will show guests that their support is very appreciated by your company. Aside from the usual social media platforms, you can also take advantage of your local TV, newspapers, and radio stations to spread the word about your launch. Write a killer press release and send it to them so they can tell their audiences about your party.

Make sure that your business is listed in online directories for these people to see you as someone who has a solid online presence thereby gaining their trust. You can also look for online communities that are related to your niche and get them to help spread the news. These groups can help you reach individuals that may be interested in your product or company.

You can share your videos, your blogs, your content, and everything that can get prospects to learn more about you. This is one powerful way of getting more people to attend your party while getting more awareness for your brand.

For startups, this is a must as it can lead you to sponsors and partners that could lower the cost of your party expenses. You can build relationships with them that may lead to future transactions, you may need their services in your other events and they may need yours in theirs as well.

Startups may have to work with limited resources. On the day of the event, distributing promotional items will help with infinite marketing.

However, these items must not only be visually appealing but must also be functional. For instance, you can invest in wall clocks that have your logo and branding. Better yet, give away hand sanitizers that can be hooked to their bags as keychains. This is perfect for virus prevention during the current pandemic. An X-deal would be an excellent idea. You can offer them free services or give them a few of your products and future products. The upper hand of collaborating with thought leaders and influencers is these people already have a circle of fans.

Once their followers know of your event, some who are interested may attend your event. Moreover, marketing your event with a special guest speaker will excite your target audience. Last but not least, these people already have credibility, the one thing that your startup is yet to establish. Whether you need professional graphic design for your invitations, giveaway prints, or even menu cards, requesting them from Penji is as easy as one, two, three.

In this article, you will find a tailored guide to host a successful business or product party, with creative ideas and tips to make it even more memorable. Before every event, knowing exactly why you are hosting it in the first place is vital to its success. You should be aware of how can your product make a significant impact on your market and the value it can offer. If you focus on having the right answers to these questions, the party will automatically have a different connotation.

Also, your guests can appreciate it more if you pursue your event goals. To give a better overall experience to your guests, choose a venue that would be memorable for your event. The main elements to consider when choosing a venue for an important event are the ambiance, the location, and the services and amenities. Pay attention to the decoration and style you want to adopt if you want your venue to match your desired feeling for your event.

You should consider traffic and transportation and always provide further directions and signals to locate the event. Finally, look for the services and amenities available.

Check if the venue has a kitchen, chairs, tables, or a cleaning crew you can use to clean up the event when it ends. Quality over quantity applies in events and parties as well. Keep your event exclusive by taking care of the guest list. Select the most important and influential people that would be interested in investing in your product and leave the other people behind.

By doing this, you will create an audience that is genuinely interested in what you offer. If your new product is creative and inspirational, your party should be too. One way of making a party unique is to choose a theme to build it party around. This will boost event engagement and guests will be more interested with your product.

As previously said, when organizing an important event such as a launch party, you need to keep in mind who your target audience is.

You want to invite the right guests to create a circle of people interested in your business or startup. Furthermore, exclusivity will level up an event and set the ground for expanding professional network with other guests as well. Making a great first impression on the guests is fundamental to develop meaningful relationships.

Welcome them in a warm and memorable way by offering them drinks and food at the front door. In this way, you will set a great mood for your product launch and get people to eat and drink straight away. This simple yet effective courtesy will break the ice and give a good first impression to the audience. Do you want to give a good vibe and atmosphere to your business launch party? Choose a specific type of music and play it at the right time to set the tone of the event.

The best music genre will set the perfect atmosphere at the beginning and can energize the guests during the after-party. Be the number one fan of your product. Create buzz around it to excite others. You invested a lot of time and money in it, and the whole purpose of the event is to be able to sell the product. To do that, show your product to a targeted audience that is most likely to want and appreciate it.

Build hype so that your guests know what you are anticipating and can to get to know it better at the launch party. Social media become your best friend when it comes to promoting product launch events. They are free to use, and people can share your posts creating a positive word of mouth and buzz around the party.

Keep your posting schedule constantly updated throughout all the events and encourage guests to do the same. If you want to create even more buzz around your product and raise awareness about it, you should use hashtags on social media like Instagram and Twitter.

By doing so, you can ensure that all the published event content is under a single hashtag. After the event, customers interested in your business launch party will be able to see everything that happened at the event and more only by clinking the hashtag. If you want a simpler and more traditional approach to promote your event , you can always spread the news using emails. Furthermore, this is still one of the most effective tools to promote an event or a launch party.

You might as well have promotions to encourage people to sign up for your event. Make a space in your event where people can try the product themselves and set up a demonstration on how to use it properly.

This will make your guest more interested, as well as gain knowledge on how it works. You could potentially gain new consumers and make them loyal consumers. One of the most important parts of your launch party idea is to give a speech and thank everyone for their presence at the event. This gesture will be appreciated and considered as a sign of gratitude for the guests.

Keep it simple and short, introduce yourself, your brand, and why you are hosting the launch party. You can also describe what to expect from the event. After this, show gratitude and appreciation for the people who choose to engage and show up to the party. This will allow people to understand that their support is essential for the company and that their presence is significant. An event is always a great place to extend your network connections. Guests can get to know each other, exchange business cards, and even share opinions about your product.

You can build relationships with your audience, which could potentially be beneficial for the future, either for you or for them. It might be challenging to plan your own networking event, but you can make it much easier when you integrate it with a digital solution.

This networking tool lets you take traditional face-to-face networking to the next level, but still getting the same experience.

Also, aside from having the opportunity to connect with people during the event, you can also exchange digital business cards with other attendees.

You can simply do it with the music played by a band or a DJ. Another great way to engage your guests and inspire them to try your product is to bring in keynote speakers. This last one is one of the best methods to allow your guests to understand your business and your products fully.

They would even get more invested to potentially buy it if they try it first. Take advantage of your venue and install photo booths, photo walls, and beautiful decorations where guests can take pictures and post them on their social media. While guests enjoy taking and sharing their pictures, you could get free advertising for your business, new products, and event. At the end of your party, if you want it to go off with a bang, make sure to give out gifts to your guests.

Small, meaningful gifts will always be appreciated.