Most people, especially sales types, think that the marketing team is made up of nothing more than glorified event planners, responsible for throwing lavish parties or sponsoring suites at sporting events all in the name of “leads.” And certainly that was the case for a long time, especially in the decadent 1980’s and 90’s or even the crazy dot com hey day before the bubble burst.
Events can be one of the most expensive cost per lead “weapons” in the marketing professional’s arsenal, but it can also be very effective when used judicially.
There are more examples of events gone wrong then we could ever possibly try to document. My favorite, and the most notorious, has to be from 2000 when Pixelon.com paid a reputed $16M of their raised Venture Capital to have Kiss, Tony Bennett, The Who and LeAnn Rimes play their launch party. Needless to say, executives went to jail and the company suffered an early demise.
One the other hand, Dreamforce sets a new standard for annually anticipated event, especially if you are a lover of rock and roll. Every year the Salesforce team ensures attendance at the annual user group meeting by also throwing a concert to raise money for one of Marc Benioff’s favorite charities. Every year the event gets bigger and those who keep coming back have seen the likes of Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers and this year Green Day.
So, how can you throw a party without breaking the bank? According to a VentureBeat article I came across there are 7 things to consider on “How to throw a kick-ass launch party (on the cheap)”:
- Find a great location
- Invite the right guests
- Get rockin’ music
- Set up a great bar
- Add tasty treats
- Add fun touches
- Get great sponsors
The ultimate question though is whether or not you should throw an event in the first place. Just remember to anticipate the true cost per lead and gauge possible conversion to pipeline and closed business before saying yes. Of course you could always just do it because you have the budget and want to throw a kick-ass party with no concern for any results beyond goodwill.
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