The days of hosting events without being accountable for ROI have come and gone. This means, we, as marketers, have more jobs than ever before. We have to highlight customer profiles, scan event trends and clue stakeholders in to the event decision-making. All this, while also maximizing event attendance. Research shows that people — especially millenials — value experiences over things. So, how do you host an experiential event and maximize ROI? Get the best of both worlds with a retail event.
In our recent whitepaper on retail events, we highlighted that retail events can supercharge event attendance. We’ve seen that retail events tend to outstrip any other event for getting a coveted “yes” RSVP—with 93% “yes” response rate. Your guests know when they attend a retail event, they’re getting an experience plus a customizable item. This pays off for marketers as well—you engaged your clients at a higher than average level in addition to giving them a physical memento of the event to remind them of you and giving your sales team an easy conversation piece.
Retail events are also intimate giving you more time to get to know your attendees, which makes for a more memorable experience all around. In addition, while your guests wait for their custom item, you have a perfect opportunity (and subject) to break the ice with them about.
Another enticing aspect of a retail event is its scaleability. Many of our national partners—from Columbia, Sunglass Hut, Timbuk2, New Balance and Nike—offer retail events all across the country. If you need to run a multi-event series and don’t want to risk a high level of variance across different markets, a retail event from a national partner is an easy choice.
Retail events are also uniquely suited to add onto existing events at restaurants, cocktail bars or other venues. Retail pop-ups can be a great way to entice qualified candidates to attend—retail pop-ups tend to increase attendance at events by 25%. Pop-ups are also flexible and easily applied to anything from a seated dinner to a cocktail reception. As your guests mingle or enjoy a meal, they’ll have the opportunity to stoo by the pop-up. This in turn helps you break the ice and gives your guests a unique take-home item to remember your event by.
Get started by browsing retail event ideas here and learn the ropes with our retail playbook!
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