Despite stunning photographs, sparkling 5-star reviews, and well-maintained pages, most party rental businesses aren't having much luck growing an interactive social media community.
The good news is that there's never been a better time to build a following that's engaged, referring business, and driving potential customers straight to your showroom doors.
In this article, you'll discover actionable steps that will get people talking about your business and sending traffic to your showroom doors. Most of the tactics below do ''double-duty'' and promote both your online and offline presence at the same time.
To begin driving traffic to your showroom, first build a solid online structure that will support your social media efforts. For example, your website might include:
- A quick-loading experience designed for mobile devices
- A lead generation strategy for capturing email subscribers
- A pricing page that offers visitors some basic pricing information
- A solid local SEO infrastructure
Your social media platforms might include 1 or 2 of the above, plus:
- A system that responds quickly to customer inquiries
- A place for people to write reviews of your business
- Well-filled profiles that include contact information
Once you have the basics in place, you're ready to get creative and start driving customers to your showroom.
Driving more traffic to your showroom begins…. in your showroom. Then it works its' way back to social media in the form of other people doing the promoting for you.
The following tips will help you blend your online and offline social communities in a way that brings a consistent stream of foot traffic into your showroom.
#2 Host themed monthly events in your showroom
Instead of ''promotional'' events, turn your efforts toward simple (but fabulous!) mini-events that target your different buyer personas. Depending on the size of your city, these may be monthly, quarterly, or annual events.
Here are some ideas to kick off your brainstorming:
- Celebration night for newly engaged couples
- Bridal fashion shows
- Event planner poker parties
- Art gallery night for convention professionals
Think beyond party rentals and get creative about how you can be helpful to your customers. Take advantage of lessons learned from today's digital marketing trends: Become the guru source for everything event-related in your region.
Host events that target specific ''niches'' and aim to educate, inform, and entertain your audiences.
For example:
- Educate your attendees with guest speakers.
- Inform them with resource guide handouts.
- Entertain them for a few minutes at the close of your event with a comedy routine, game, or acoustic music.
Finally, take a cue from successful social media and content marketing strategies: Be consistent and have a plan. Test, analyze, and adjust for better results with every event.
If you truly serve your buyer personas, then they'll do the promoting for you by sharing on social media and recommending your business to their friends.
Bring out the leaders (and press) in your community by hosting regular meetings and events that attract community leaders (influencers) to your party rental showroom. Be sure to show off your products with stunning designs!
- Host an event professionals evening Offer the opportunity for local party planners to network with each other and listen to some fascinating presentations by their peers. Keep it fun with short presentations that offer relevant information. Event trends, social media tips, and problem-solving topics are great subjects for party planners.This could also be a chance to create Instagram-worthy photo opportunities. Arrange for local caters to serve a light sampling of their most visual appetizers for little or no cost in exchange for a 2-minute presentation and the chance to hand out business cards.Close the evening with a 15-minute performance by an amazing music or comedy act. If they're already scheduled to be in your area on the date of your event, they might be willing to play in exchange for the chance to promote their act directly to event planners. Hint: it helps if you feed them. Musicians love food!
- Social cause fundraisers Bring your community together to brainstorm and raise money or awareness for a cause that's close to your heart. Be sure to invite local politicians or candidates because they love to publish their community involvement on social media and in the news.
- Invite Meetup.com groups to use your space for meetings. Extend an invite to your local marketing, social media, or small business networking groups. These are typically outgoing, social people who love to refer business to people they know personally.Look for smaller-sized groups that normally meet in business spaces and don't expect food and drinks at the meeting. Then set out a handful of water bottles with some of your sticker branding!You might even agree to rent out a meeting space in exchange for them sharing a photo of the meeting on their social media page.
- Host a local Chamber of Commerce meet -n- greet. Photos from great Chamber of Commerce events often hang on their office walls for years. This is an organization that loves to document their experiences through pictures. Whether they share it in a printed newsletter or on social media - you can count on making great connections and lasting memories with local businesses when you host a Chamber of Commerce event.
#4 Create experiences that inspire people to share. And have your #hashtags ready!
So far, we've covered how to get the right types of people to your showroom and give them a reason to keep coming back. Now we're going to talk about how to ''tweak'' your events so they get some traction on social media.
How can you inspire people to rave about your showroom on social media?
Create experiences that will compel your guests to share photos and comments (hopefully with hashtags) to their social media pages.
Blogs like Event MB and BizBash have great inspiration on how to create experiences that people will share on social media. But for regular events hosted in your showroom, you want to stick to a budget that won't break the bank.
Below are some simple ideas for creating moments and memories that your guests will want to share. Take it a step further by brainstorming with your team to come up with unique, must-share experiences for your events and showroom.
- Outrageous photo booths or stages Bring in Santa and cover the stage with candy canes for the Holidays - or hire Bonnie & Clyde characters for couples to pose with at engagement or wedding events!If you have a storefront window, be sure to take advantage of it by facing people toward the sidewalk. Give it a unique twist of your own to add a bit of ''outrageous'' or unique.
- Fantastic surprises Got any celebrity friends? Ask them to drop by for a couple minutes!
- Office Olympics Remember ''The Office?'' Jim had a knack for turning mundane moments into experiences that Office fans are still recreating in their offline worlds years after the show went off the air. ''Icebreaker-style'' games and challenges can help your guests let their guard down and create meaningful human connections.
- Send engaged couples down the aisle. Create a mini outdoor wedding set and fill each row with a different style of chair. This is a great way to display your furniture and you can easily turn it into an experience.
Like this: Allow only one couple at a time to walk down the ''aisle.'' Put a bouquet in their hands and ask them to walk slowly (bride-style) down the aisle as they browse chair selections. Pull out a flash polaroid camera for effect. Present them with their picture when they finish their walk down the aisle.
Note: In this situation, be sure to use your discretion and not create anything too realistic. Keep it goofy by surprising them with a non-romantic rock or pop song (like ''I'm Too Sexy'') for their walk down the aisle. This way you'll steer clear of interfering with their real wedding experience and memories. - A singalong during the holiday season (old-fashioned but it never fails)
- Show off your products! Here's your chance to create settings that remind people what a difference the right seating, lighting, and accessories can have on the social ''feel'' of an event.
- Work those hashtags! Create one hashtag for use across all your events and learn how to use it.
- Send press releases to the media for every newsworthy event.
- Livestream your events on Facebook.
- Follow up events with a video recap of the evening's best moment.
- Work the room and get to know the influencers in your community.
It used to be that people could simply run ads or coupon posts to drive people into their showrooms. But times have changed and people are becoming immune to advertising and self-serving promotions.
In today's world, you'll need to find reasons for targeted groups of people to become motivated enough to walk through your doors.
Hosting events, offering meeting spaces, and creating ''must-share'' experiences are the new ways to attract social media fans who will rave about you and send business straight to your party rental showroom.
By: Rhonda Bradley
