Creating a new product is only half of the job done. The next important thing is launching that product. The point of product launch events is twofold – to celebrate the job done with your team and introduce that new product to the public.
The product launch event is ideal for the press and customers to find out more about that new product, ask questions and get more interested in it.
However, for things to go smoothly during this event, a lot of planning and organization needs to happen before it. There are a lot of details involved in creating a successful product launch event.
To help you plan your own product launch event, we gathered some very useful tips and tricks. So, here they are.
1. Choose the venue
Picking out the right venue is crucial when you’re organizing an event- regardless of its scale. The venue is so important that it can either break or make your event. However, the venue, while important, shouldn’t outshine the product you’re launching.
This means that you should be careful when choosing the perfect venue. What you should do is find a venue that can be associated with your product. The location matters, the building matters, and the surrounding area also matters when you’re searching for a perfect venue.
Ideally, you would want to have your event in a big city, in a listed building such as a gallery, museum, or other similar buildings. Choosing an area that offers many different social activities or sightseeing opportunities is also a great strategical move.
2. Set time and date
After you’ve booked the venue, your next job is to set a perfect time and date for your event. This is something many people struggle with. If you didn’t hire a professional event management team, chances are you’ll be struggling with setting the right time and date as well.
Some unwritten rule is that product launches should be held the day the product is released or several days before, as a teaser. The time and date should also be convenient for your guests, that’s why you shouldn’t organize the event during holidays or festivals, you should work around those.
The best time to have your event is during those times of the year when your industry has a peak in activity. That’s the perfect time for a product launch event.
3. Create a guest list and send invites
When you’re making a guest list make sure all the right people are on it. By right people, we mean people with influence in your industry, the so-called A players. If you get A players to come to your event, the others will flock as well.
Your B players (people you have strong relationships with) are also important so make sure you have them on the guest list. The third group is known as C players and they include the press and other people who you may not know well, but you feel should be present.
It’s also important that you make your event exclusive and private – invite only. This will make the people you invite feel special. Once you have the list perfected, you can send the invites.
4. Entertainment should be engaging
You should never, under any circumstances let your event become boring. This will negatively reflect on your product. So, in addition to being informative, you should also make sure your event is entertaining and engaging.
Ensure that you have a good sound system and if the venue allows, make use of the dance floor. Make sure you hire an engaging and funny host – a comedian or someone with experience. Food and drinks are a must and if you can give away freebies, guests love those.
All in all, your event should be primarily informative and then also fun and engaging. Only unique and original events will attract positive attention which is exactly what you want.
5. Use social media to create hype
Social media channels are a perfect tool to create hype around your event and your new product. To make sure that you’re doing the promotion right, create a good online marketing strategy. This means that you can make use of social media, emails, and other similar methods.
When doing the marketing, you should primarily promote the event and just mention the product in passing. This will intrigue the audience and they’ll want to find out more about your new product.
You can go a step further and organize a contest on social media with the event ticked or your new product as a prize.
6. Post-event follow-up is crucial
Just because your event ended, it doesn’t mean that your work is done. The day after the event is the perfect time to prolong the hype around your event. The post-event follow-up can still get the guests who didn’t buy the product during the event, to do so after.
Some of the proven post-event follow-up strategies include personalized thank you messages, surveys, sending post-marketing materials and event photos, social media hashtags, on-demand content sharing with attendees, and of course, sending your attendees the invite to your next event.
7. Hire an event management company
Now that you know all that it takes to plan and organize the event, you might be more inclined to hire a good event management company to do the organizing for you.
If you decide to do so, you won’t be wrong, just as you won’t be wrong if you opt to do the planning and organizing yourself.
It’s all about what feels right to you and if you think you can handle the event management yourself. Partnering up with an event management company can help you reduce the load since these companies do all the planning and organizing for you – every aspect of organizing the event is handled by them. So, you have options, which is good to know.
If organized and executed right, the product launch event can create a substantial buzz around your new product. And this is precisely something you should aim for. To create a successful event, make sure you follow all the above-mentioned tips. And also keep in mind that you can always hire an event management company to help you out with your event.
