7 Most Effective Tactics to Increase Attendance at Your Customer Events & Hall Parties

I have a confession to make. I’m a tease…when it comes to planning a Direct Sales customer event. I taunt my Customers about what new products they “might” see, make guests feel like they are totally missing out if they don’t register early (aka FOMO) and share behind-the-scenes sneak peeks that keep them wanting more.

And guess what? It turns out teasing and taunting are effective tactics to help you create a buzz and increase attendance.

Insider reveals and sneak peeks secretly make your direct sales customer events so much more thrilling, for both you and your guests.” ~ Lynn Bardowski

Want guests lining up at the door, waiting to get into your next product launch or hall party? Of course you do! Use these 7 effective tactics to pack the house with excited Customers, Hosts and Consultants:

1. Offer A VIP Early Bird Ticket: Because who doesn’t want to be a VIP? The idea is to offer a prize drawing for being an early bird, but limit the amount of tickets and available dates (i.e., only 35 tickets available for the first 2 weeks) so interested guests register early and share the event with friends who want to “get in” on the VIP action. And here’s my secret: In addition to creating a Facebook event, create an event on Eventbrite (Eventbrite connects and publishes events to your Facebook biz page). Tell guests to print and bring their VIP early bird ticket to the event for the bonus prize drawing. This tactic not only increases attendance, but increases the likelihood guests remember to attend because they hold onto their tickets. You’ll also want to have extra blank tickets on hand for anyone who forgets. The results using this one idea have been so good that guests who attend my events are lining up at the door with their ticket in hand.

2. Reveal That You’ll Be Recognizing Top Customers and Hosts: We know that recognition drives your team results, but have you ever used it to drive attendance at an event? Special recognition for top Customers and Hostesses serves two purposes: 1) it ensures your Customers and Hostesses attend and bring friends (because if we’re getting recognized we want our friends to see it) and 2) it “sells” attendees on becoming a loyal Customer and Hosting a party! Invite your top Customers/Hosts up to the front of the room and show your appreciation by presenting them with “swag” bags. Swag bags do not have to break the bank, either. Ask local businesses for donations and include a free product sample (if applicable) or “gift certificate” towards the next purchase or rebooking. Ask Customers/Hosts to share what they love about your products, hosting a party, etc. …and let them sell the crowd for you! And don’t forget the photo ops for Facebook and Instagram. Recognition keeps your Customers and Hosts coming back for more!

3. Share Hints of New Arrivals: Turn the brown box UPS dropped off on your front porch into an attendance-driver by taking a photo of what’s inside. But don’t reveal all the goods. Strategically shoot the photo so you can only see hints of new products. Better yet, use a video app like Boomerang and make a looping video of you opening and closing the box (or catalog) and post the video to the Facebook event and on Instagram.

4. Engage With Attendees: Use an engagement post to increase your reach, which helps your post get seen in the News Feed.  Example: If you used tip #3 to post a video or photo, include a simple multiple choice call-to-action and watch your engagement (and reach) soar, e.g., “Guess what’s in the box!  1 = blue, 2 = purple, 3 = yellow.”

5. Announce How Many Tickets Are Left: I mentioned FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) to reveal new products, but are you using FOMO to create a mini-frenzy of event registrations? You really should. In fact, I suggest you include this GIF with your post, and announce that early bird tickets are “almost sold out!”

Include a countdown post on the event with headings like: “Oh no! Early bird ends in 24 hours” or “EEK! You’re missing out on the early bird prize drawing!”

And yes, there are fun GIFs for a countdown post too. Search GIPHY to find GIFs like this:

Side note: Did you know that when you post a link on Facebook, you can delete the link once the video or photo preview populates the post? It makes your post look prettier, and Facebook doesn’t like to clog up the newsfeed with links so that might help your post get seen by more people.

6. Use a Custom Hashtag: Create a hashtag for your event so attendees (and all their Facebook friends) can easily follow the pre-, during and post-event awesomeness on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you want to see an example, search Facebook or Instagram for your Direct Sales Conference or Incentive Trip hashtag. But wait. Before you use a custom hashtag, search it on your social sites and check to see if the hashtag is already in use. #justsayin #couldbescary #beenthere

7. Take a Poll: Ask for feedback and make attendees feel like they are part of the event planning, and then reveal the top answers live during the event. Poll ideas include:

• Charity focus: Let attendees know you’ll be supporting a local charity at your event and ask for feedback on what charities they are most passionate about.
• Product focus: Poll attendees and ask what products they’d like to see in the swag bags or prize drawings.
• Problem focus: Ask attendees what their upcoming struggles are, which reminds attendees why they need to buy products from you. For example: If you sell scent melts/candles, ask what room in their home has the biggest “scent emergency” (bathroom, kitchen, laundry room, basement, teenager’s room). Or if you sell jewelry, ask what kind of special events they have coming up (wedding, shower, holiday party, birthday, reunion).
• Customer focus: Poll attendees and ask how long they’ve been a customer or how many times they’ve hosted a party. This is a fun question that you can use for your event recognition and share results, e.g., 60% of the attendees have been a Customer for over 3 years! Wow!!!

I’d love to hear what’s working for you to increase attendance at your events and get more results. Please share in the comments 🙂

Ready to really rock your direct sales biz?