Thinking about using an event management agency to help to make your next product launch the best yet? It’s game-changing when you lack the time, resources, know-how (or a mixture of all three) to go it alone. After all, planning a product launch is a high-stakes undertaking with the potential to make a significant impact on your business’s reputation and success.
At leading event management company, Brightspace Events, we understand the nuts and bolts of designing and delivering a memorable and impactful B2B product launch. Here’s a run through how to plan a product launch to perfection.
Think About Your Audience and Make it All About Them
It’s the people who make (or break) your product launch. For this reason, don’t shy away from aiming high to maximise impact. And really drill down into making every element of your event as appealing as possible to them from the very first touchpoint:
- Invite Key Players, Talkers and Opinion Formers – The more they can boost your market presence, amplify your messages, and extend your reach, the better.
- Grab their Attention – Stand out! You can do this by thinking about the other invitations your target audience receives, and aim to exceed the standard of excellence they’re accustomed to.
- Time it Right – Arrange your product launch to suit them, not you. For example, the European media typically shut down for summer during July and August. So, you’d want to avoid these months if media coverage in certain countries is a biggie for you.
- Pick a Handy Place – Choose a venue in a convenient location to remove travel nightmares and make your product launch as accessible as possible to your stakeholders.
Define Your Objectives
What are the key objectives you hope to achieve as a result of your product launch. (Expect this to come up again and again when you’re working with an event management agency, because it’s all about benchmarking and tracking results.)
The importance can’t be overstated in term of clearly defining your event objectives and aligning every aspect of your product launch. So, what are they?
- Engagement – Are you looking for clicks, likes, and shares? Or leads and sales?
- Brand Awareness – Are you more concerned with building brand awareness and loyalty, or establishing yourself as a ‘thought leader’ in your industry?
- Information – For an already loyal audience looking at a specialist B2B product, eg. your distribution or reseller partners, then it could be all about conveying specific technical product information and helping them learn how to sell on your behalf?
Whatever your priorities are, regularly refer back to them to keep you on track at key decision points.
Get Your Brand Front and Centre
Ensure every detail of your event reflects your brand and product. And always, always think about fresh, creative and attention-grabbing ways to do this, with:
- Consistent Imagery – Match digital imagery, invitations, and all communications.
- Themed Venue and Services – Choose a venue, food, service, and entertainment aligning with your key themes or brand personality.
- Attention to Detail – Work with your event management agency and other suppliers to weave your brand into every intricate detail. These are the things your stakeholders will remember, after all.
Deliver Like a Professional Event Management Agency
Flawless event delivery not only optimises the experience for attendees. Furthermore, it catapults positive brand perception
Event management software provider EventX’s Tiffany Tsui explains in her article Event marketing: Why Events are crucial in your Marketing Plan how an outstanding event
“… builds trust and rapport, and people choose to do business with people whom they like and trust. 84% of event attendees are more positive about the company, brand, product, or service being promoted after the event”.
So, the more you offer a highly personalised service, the more your stakeholders will feel valued and special, leading to elevated awareness, engagement, reputation, leads and sales.
Keep the Buzz Alive Long After the Event is Over
The work of a successful product launch isn’t over when the lights go out. In fact, it’s your job to make sure this isn’t the case, by providing guests with valuable information and multiple ways to engage with your product both on and off-site.
These might include:
- Ask the Experts – Have highly trained personnel present to walk guests through key messages.
- QR Codes – Use QR codes to direct attendees to your product website and any launch offers.
- Dedicated Web Pages – Create specific microsites or landing pages with exclusive information, links, and documentation for event attendees.
- Thoughtful Takeaways – Provide meaningful takeaways and printed follow-ups, not just random brochures in a goody bag that end up in the bin.
And remember, effective data capture and follow-up are crucial for turning event attendees into raving fans, and interest into sales. This is why data capture and a follow-up schedule should be built into your pre-event strategy, alongside compliant storage and use.
A prime event management agency knows exactly what it takes to plan and execute all these different components of a powerful product launch. Isn’t it time you leveraged their expertise?
At Brightspace Events we’re here to help you design and deliver a meticulously organised, impactful product launch to resonate with your audience and achieve your objectives.
Contact us today for chat about how our event management agency can support your team on a full-service or modular basis. Together, we’ll bring your vision to life and make your product launch the one they say ‘yes’ to!
