Creating engaging events that sell
“Stop Selling. Start Helping.” Zig Ziglar
The underlying objective for any business activity is to ultimately sell their products or services. The difference between achieving this objective or not stems from how well a company understands their customer. It’s no longer good enough to know broadly who your customer is, but rather unearthing deeper insight to the problems that your customer’s faces are the key to successful business decisions.
Consumers are savvy and demanding. They’re exposed to hundreds if not thousands of messages daily and have become very sophisticated in weeding out all the hundreds of messages that are not relevant to them. Coupled with a rising bar, thanks to a heavy focus on customer experience by big brands like Apple, Google, Amazon and Uber – today’s consumers are coming to expect you to know what they want…sometimes before they even do!
To create engaging and memorable experiences for your customers that achieve business objectives, consider the following in your planning:
Start with the customer first
“When the customer comes first, the customer will last.” Robert Half
Before you even make the decision that you want to create an event, you need to start with your customer. What core problems/challenges do your customers face that your business or products can/will solve? What is the best way to get in front of your target audience to communicate this – interactive activation, trade show, conference, intimate dinner presentation, sporting event sponsorship, travelling workshops? What type of activity appeals to them – are they homebodies, are they busy business people, are they inspiration seekers, die-hard sports fans? Do they like to learn, do they like to be told, are they curious, are they tech savvy? By placing your customer at the heart of every decision will ensure a more relevant and highly engaging experience.
Hyundai understands families and that the little things matter. As part of their Family Time project, Hyundai wanted to do something meaningful for their Hyundai drivers as a way of saying thank you. What better way to make their day then by filling up their petrol when they visited the local petrol station.
Outcome over process
“Insanity is doing the same thing in the same way and expecting a different outcome.” Proverb
Successful events come from solid planning about the very nature and purpose of the event, as opposed to just the details of the event itself. The nature and purpose of the event needs to be considered from your customers perspective. Therefore every decision about your event needs to be driven from what your customer will take away from the experience – from the invitation to the content, VIP guests, food & beverage, entertainment, timings, location, facilities. Understanding the particular needs of your customers and tailoring your event’s content and logistics accordingly will help you ensure that your event is relevant and answers the central question: “What’s in it for me?” You’ll need that to turn “sign-ups” onto “turn-ups”!
Ports of Auckland occupy a large prominent space on our waterfront and the Auckland community has largely been uneducated as to what goes on behind the red gates of Auckland’s port. Over the last 5 years, I Want Orange has been tasked with creating, producing and delivering the annual “SeePort” festival over Auckland Anniversary long weekend. The Ports of Auckland open their famous red gates for the public to experience all the activity and excitement of a busy shipping port and garner an understanding around the importance of New Zealand’s largest sea transport hub.
Ports of Auckland SeePort Festival. (c) I Want Orange 2017.
Exceed expectations
“The first step in exceeding your customers expectations is to know those expectations.”
Once you’ve uncovered your customers’ needs and desires and planned the event based on your customers’ desired outcome…then you need to actually deliver it on the day! Excellent execution of your well-planned experience to ensure it is positively received is no mean feat. Consider an experienced event management company to ensure every aspect is thought of and delivered to the highest detail, as the smallest thing (often unthought of by novices) can undermine gallant planning efforts in the moment.
Delivering an event specifically for Event Managers is no easy feat. Every aspect is scrutinised by highly experienced professionals of the trade. Team Orange was tasked with producing the awards show for New Zealand Events Awards night of nights. Armed with a thorough insight into the challenges the audience faces on a daily basis, we created a show from beginning to end that spoke to their angst, joy and passion…which is still being raved about in industry circles over a month later.
Fine tune with feedback
“Feedback is the breakfast of champions” – Ken Blanchard
To continue to learn and understand about your customers, ensure you follow up with them for feedback. A survey is a great way to know if your customers left with a positive association of your brand/company and achieved business objectives. This feedback sets the way for future events and activity to be successful too.
“Do what you do so well, that they will want to see it again and bring their friends.” Walt Disney
The opportunity for brands
A deeper understanding of customers ensures a relevant and highly engaging experience – where a brand can really add value to a customers life. If done right, we’ll have created something they love and want to share.
To create successful events that sell talk with I Want Orange. We’ll help you uncover customer insights so that you can connect with your audience, create memorable experiences and transform your customers into lifelong fans. Get in touch with us today to find out more about what we can do for your brand.
By Lexie Ribot.