Launch parties are a great way to introduce your new product and create a buzz around your brand. These types of parties help you gain more leads and build a longer list of loyal customers.
With that, launch parties are not just for showcasing or introducing your new product in the market. It is also a PR event for your overall brand. It gives you and your business an opportunity to build credibility, establish new connections, and solidify the trust of your current customers.
So with that in mind, we have created this simple guide to help you organize a successful launch party for your new product.
Table of Contents
About the Launching Event
Before you start planning and organizing your event team, you should lay down your objective, as clearly as possible. It is widely known that the main objective of a launch event is to build hype around a product and boost initial sales.
However, a true corporate event planner knows that goals and objectives are not a one-size-fits-all. You have to truly understand what you are selling, how you are going to sell it, what would make people interested in it, and how is an event launch going to help it. These are the things you have to take into account when it comes to formulating your objective.
Get to Know the Product
It is crucial that you truly understand what you are trying to sell. If you, yourself as an event organizer, are unfamiliar with the product, then chances are your event might just go downhill.
To avoid this, you should be able to quickly and elaborately answer these questions
- What is the best selling point of your new product?
- Are there any negative aspects of the product?
- Who do you think would be the primary users of your new product?
- Are there any other key features of the new product?
- What makes the product different from your competitor?
- Are there any similarities in your product with your competitor?
- and many more.
Being able to answer these questions would make the entire event planning process a lot easier. For instance, if you know about the negative aspects of your product, then you can simply organize other activities and steer your attendees away from them.
Determine its Benefits
Now that you fully understand what you are selling and whom you are selling to, it is then up to you to decide whether a launching party is a great idea or not.
Remember that launching events does not always have to be grand parties and gatherings. There have been product launches that were successful even without a launch party. Some businesses simply opt for a promotional event online, free trials for existing customers, small in-store demos, and even simple tradeshow booth exhibits.
This, however, does not mean that you should forego and disregard launching parties altogether. Because when planned carefully, launching parties are highly beneficial not just for your products but for your overall brand/business as well.
So in order to make the right decision, you can simply go back to your initial objectives and event planning checklist. If you think that you would be able to tick all your objectives with your current event plans, then you should definitely host a launch party.
Other than that, it is highly advisable to do all of this when you are deciding whether to hold a launch party or not:
- Market Research
- List of Possible Target Attendees
- Sales Projection
- Budget and ROI
Doing all of this would save you time and money. You would be able to determine whether the launch party would be beneficial for your new product or not.
If you decide to push through, then we encourage you to read further.
Building the Party
Given that you already have an event budget template created before, it is time to start polishing up and discussing the details of the event.
When it comes to planning a launch party, the most crucial aspect is your attendees. Even if you managed to pull off a great launching event with a solid line-up and fun activities, you might not get the ROI that you need if your attendees are unreflective and unconnected with your target customers.
With that, here are a few tips when it comes to organizing a launching party
Friends of Friends
Apart from directly inviting your target customers, you should consider inviting their friends, families, or anyone close to their circle instead.
It is no secret that referral from someone you know and trust is the most powerful PR and marketing campaign. Given that you are launching a new product, it is harder to gain the consumers’ trust, especially if all the information and reviews about the product are all coming from you.
So rather than directly pander to your target audience, you can instead woo and gain the trust of their friends or anyone from their circle. This way, your target audiences’ friends of friends would be the ones recommending your new product to them. In turn, they would be more inclined to try your new products because it is recommended by someone they know and trust.
Generate Hype
Ever since the advent of social media, many marketers are now capitalizing on the consumers’ ‘fear of missing out (FOMO).’ One of the most effective ways to induce FOMO among consumers is to simply generate hype around the product. The main idea behind FOMO is to simply condition potential customers that “everyone else is buying, I’ll miss out if I don’t buy it too.”
So in the case of a launching party, you can also capitalize on your target attendees’ FOMO and encourage them to attend. Doing this would help ensure your launch party’s success and you might even turn a potential customer into a buying customer the very same day of the event.
Other than FOMO, there are also other campaigns in which you can generate hype for your launch party. Examples of these other campaigns are influencer marketing, word-of-the-mouth, and inviting famous people to attend your party.
Remember that you are launching a new product, a product that everyone’s unfamiliar with. So while it has not taken off yet, the best thing you can do, to begin with, is to piggyback on someone’s reputation or credibility. This way, you can ensure that your launching party would be a hit.
Post-Event Ops
The success of every launch party lies in your increased sales. No matter what launch party theme or crazy event idea you planned, at the end of the day, what matters the most is your product sales.
That said, you should plan a post-event strategy as well. For instance, you can have your attendees’ answer an event survey questions, gather your team for an event debriefing, or simply prepare a post-event report. It is up to you to decide what strategy is best applicable for you and your team.
The most important thing is to not lose track of your goals and to always monitor your sales progress after the launching event.
Launch Party Idea
Having a good old party theme that is not just about your new product is a great way to entice more people to attend your event. A fun and cool party theme would make your event more engaging and attendees are more likely to have a memorable experience.
That said, here are a few party themes and event ideas for your next launching event.
Soiree
As mentioned earlier, your attendees are your most crucial element. That said, a soiree is a great opportunity to cherry-pick your guest list and invite only relevant people to your launching event.
Soirees are a perfect party theme to secure a successful product launch. Given the limited number of people, your attendees would be more discerning and they would have lots of time to discuss your new product with the other guests.
Other than that, soirees are also a perfect excuse to host an exclusive party for influencers and famous people to promote your new product.
Community Events
Community events are parties or gatherings that are relevant within a community. An example of a community event is a party with a catering theme based on a regional product of where you are hosting.
These types of events are a great way to establish a slight connection between you and your target customers. Even if they are still unfamiliar with your new product, they can still relate and have fun during the party. They would not easily get bored and you have other things to talk about other than your new product. This way, it would not feel as if you are forcing them to listen to your pitch or product demos during the event.
Outdoor Parties
Retail and big corporation are often the ones hosting outdoor parties for their product launch. Mainly because these types of parties require a large venue and a huge crowd. This means you need a much bigger budget and team to organize this type of event.
Outdoor parties are the quickest way to gather more leads for your next marketing campaign. That is why big companies blow their budget on parties like these. They usually get their leads from the product launch party and then use those same leads for their other marketing and PR campaign.
But, it bears repeating that your main goal is to introduce your new product to potential customers. There have been cases where the outdoor party itself is much more memorable than the actual product they are promoting during the event. With that said, you should be more calculative when it comes be planning an outdoor party and always make sure that your new product is getting enough attention during the actual event.
Interactive Parties
Interactive parties are not just trials and product demos. When hosting a launch party, you can still organize a fun, engaging, and interactive party whilst also promoting your new product.
These types of events can come in many forms. For example, if you are launching a new summer dress collection, then you can organize a project runway theme party. Or if you are launching a new watch collection, you can host an escape room or organize a murder mystery party. It is up to you to decide which type of interactive party would jibe well with the product you are launching.
Carry your Brand All the Time
Remember that while it is a launch event, it is still a great PR opportunity for your brand. So as much as possible, try to generate more leads and build more loyal customers for your brand. This way, you would not have to gain your customers’ trust from scratch every time you are launching a new product.
Always make sure that your brand is getting enough PR every time you host a launch party. Once you get enough PR for your brand, it can become a household name and you would eventually have a long list of loyal customers who would support your new products in a heartbeat.
Conclusion
Hopefully, you now have an idea of how to organize a great launch party. Remember that the most crucial element of a launch party is your attendees.
With that, you need to make sure that you are inviting the right people and you are organizing an event activity that they would enjoy.
