Party of the year!

So 2014 has some brought some pretty serious showbiz events. Our Instagram feeds have been taken over from the likes of The Met Ball, The Kimye Wedding and Fashion Week!

So in the run up months to a huge bout of showbiz events in the hair and beauty industry, we thought it would be a good idea to think outside the marketing box and look at the benefits (and fun) hosting an event can have for your business! Not only can you reach out to loyal clients but it also works in good stead to build a new following at a relaxed and fun environment. So where do you start to gain fantastic PR for a potential event? Let’s lesson into the 6 imperative ‘Party P’s’ of event planning that you are going to need...

                        -  Plan
                        -  Prepare
                        -  Promote
                        -  Props
                        -  Pep-Talk
                        -  PARTY!

Plan- Firstly it is important to understand hosting a party will not organised overnight, even if you are a socialite! One of the biggest obstacles is putting together a strategic marketing plan, guest list, delegation tasks and idealistic outcomes you wish to achieve. Are you going to work with a charity? How much will you charge on the door? Will it be in the summer or winter months? When is your peak in business? What will be your decorative theme? To organise a successful party there should be months of implemented planning and ideas in order to prepare a magnificent evening for all parties. That being said, it is hugely important to have an events team who will be prepared to regularly meet with motivation and enthusiasm.

Prepare- After planning with your chosen team, you should have shortlisted a number of venue’s whether it be an in-salon event, the local community centre or a function room at the Hilton. Each venue has its perks and can be tailored for start-up salons or well established. Preparing the venue, guest list and invites are all fundamental to the prepare stage. By the second stage everything should be organised in thorough detail even down to whether you will provide food such as fruit bowls in the summer or mince pies in the winter. Most successful salon events combine expert advice, shopping opportunities, demonstrations and little-big touches!

Promote- Promoting the event is key to create a hype about the event, so therefore should be done long before the evening. Use SMS Marketing, word of mouth, hard invites, emails, letters, in-salon promotion, raffles, reception desk print, local media print, your website or social media. There are so many options that can be done at a non-expensive cost. The aim is to show people what they could potentially be missing and this is how you will ensure a high attendance. Be creative and personal with your promotion! Don’t let this stage catch you out, the trick is to find the balance between too much and just enough.

Props- Think promotions, treatments and goodie-bags. Clients love little freebies and appreciate the generous effort behind them so use them as a main enticement. Make sure you load goodie-bags up with leaflets, promotions and offers at the salon as well as what you have at the event. Why not run a month long promotion where if people book at the event they get 40% off or a free selected treatment. This way they can see what they are gaining by booking early. Props is not just beauty, hair or tanning related. You need to think about what you might need at the event such as toilet signs, raffle tickets, badges with your staff’s name on are all important little touches which show effort and thought process and will in turn be a great reflection on the business.

Pep talk- When it comes to the event, make sure your team is knowledgeable on their individual role, what they need to do to upsell, promote and establish a reputable aura of your business. Have friends or family on hand who can point people in the right direction or get attendees to fill in a contact form so you can add them to your database. Arrange for staff to advise guests on which products and treatments will suit them and their skin tone or find out what they are looking for.  Targeted professional advice is much more appreciated than being in sales mode. Remind all staff to upload photos to Twitter and Facebook throughout the night or even get guests to tag themselves in to win a FREE beauty package worth £100.

PARTY!!!- Work hard, play hard! Network and speak with new people and friends. Enjoy the evening’s professions. Events still have an element of personality in them so this should be projected with fun giving your team a platform to showcase what they can do also works wonders for morale. Whether the evening attracts 20 or 200 people, be optimistic! Each attendee has paid an entry fee and if you follow the ‘6 P’s’ will have had an enjoyable evening so expect to see this back through your client loyalty. Even if you receive a few extra retail figures, raised money for a local charity or filled the appointment book for January, it was an all-round success.