Seven Event Marketing Ideas to Make Your Customer Feel Like a Star

Everyone wants to feel like Hollywood royalty. Treat your customers like the stars they are, and they’ll keep coming back.

1. Throw a red carpet extravaganza. Encourage guests to dress up in their finest attire, even if that just means their old bridesmaid dresses and groomsmen cummerbunds. Whether you show a movie or hold a cocktail party, the celebrity spin will have customers associating your business with fun times.

2. Give them the total paparazzi experience. Lights, camera, action! Create a custom event photography engagement that matches the event environment, like Yahoo! did for their clients at a dodgeball event using a green screen photo booth (registration required to view case study video).

3. Send them awesome swag. Celebrities get sent designer everything from marketing teams hopeful for product endorsement deals. Sending your customers samples of your product proves that you value their business and crave their endorsement, even if they don’t look like Scarlett Johansson.

4. Pamper them. At your next in-store event promotion, hire a masseuse to give free massages to customers. Customers aren’t used to businesses that genuinely care about their well-being, and this simple luxury will help your brand stand out from the pack. Added bonus: shoulders will be well poised to handle the bags of merch they walk out with.

5. Make their opinion count. How often do the customer survey responses impact businesses directly? Try implementing a few particularly thoughtful customer ideas, and be sure to openly acknowledge the customer’s idea. Customers feel special for contributing and your business comes across in a very positive light.

6. Help them give to charities. Sandra Bullock does it. Oprah does it, too. No, not Botox--charitable giving. In fact, most super stars in Hollywood give to charity. Why not your clients? Host a charity dinner and not only will your clients get the opportunity to contribute to a worthy cause, but your company’s reputation in the community is solidified.

7. Fly them to Hollywood. Well, not all of them. That’d be a little over-budget. Raffle off a complete vacation package for two to Hollywood at your next event conference or event promotion—all they have to do is sign up for your e-mail list. Little do they know, e-mail newsletters and coupons are where you’ll recoup all of the expenses and more by encouraging customers to engage with your brand and purchase your product. Try not to sinisterly twirl your mustache too much. They might get suspicious.
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