Forget a black tie event or color coding; a solid social media presence is the only theme you should worry about when promoting an event. Grand openings can be overwhelming for many, but they overlook how difficult promoting these events can be.
From managing the event and ensuring perfect execution to getting the perfect shots for your social media, here are five tips to jumpstart your social media strategy to promote your upcoming grand opening.
Dedicated event profile
You’ve got the date, the venue, and the vision; now, it’s time for everyone to buzz about the big day! Your dedicated event page is the ultimate HQ for all things ‘grand opening.’ Aim to create a central hub where all information about the event is easily accessible.
Ensure the profile includes all the critical Intel about the opening: date, time, venue (if you wish to disclose it beforehand), notable attendees, menu, etc. Fitting in all the relevant information on social media can be difficult, so having a dedicated landing page for your audience to access can be a Godsend.
Your website should contain anything people want to know that isn’t confidential. If any discounts/deals are involved, put them on a banner and plaster them across your entire feed. Make your posts and profile shareable and link them to all your posts and stories to get everyone interested.
Host a live online event
Whether you’re giving a behind-the-scenes tour or hosting a live Q&A, this is your chance to engage, entertain, and create a buzz—all in real-time! See the live event as an opportunity to interact with your followers and those willing to attend; go live on Instagram before the grand opening to give everyone a sneak peek of what to expect while answering their queries about the event.
Let your audience in on your ambiance before they even decide. Give them an exclusive menu tour and market it as a limited-time experience to get everyone hyped up. Discuss your décor and aesthetic in-depth, highlighting touch points (like a photo booth, minimalistic design, etc.) while also acknowledging your interior designers to make it worthy of cross-posting.
Collab with local influencers
Modern-day brand ambassadors, aka influencers, can help you finish your promotional job quickly and with little to no effort. Find influencers with a niche similar to your target audience and form meaningful relationships with them, which can be mutually beneficial: you give them perks in return for their marketing efforts and access to their large audiences.
When picking who to collaborate with, remember your brand’s identity. Choose parties that share your values and aesthetics so you can easily align your marketing tactics without hiccups and have a seamless promotional campaign. While this isn’t done often, the Instagram takeover is a fun strategy when considering influencer collaborations.
Pick an influencer that resonates well with your brand image and has a considerable following base, and allow them to take over your Instagram and act as your social media manager. Instagram takeovers will enable you to tap into the influencer’s market and add a fresh twist to your social media marketing language that may have been difficult to achieve otherwise.
Additionally, you can even design and send out aesthetic invitations to influencers as a means of SMM posting and driving engagement. Look into grand opening invitation templates online to get some inspiration on designing your invites to make them the talk of the town.
Post teasers of the event
Provide your enthusiastic audiences a preview of what’s in store on the big night by sharing BTS footage of the preparations. Consider making a time-lapse of the venue being designed from scratch to show its progression; this can be a great idea to get everyone talking about your hard work without revealing too many details.
Use it to your advantage if you have limited-time experiences or even a special menu for the big launch. Share high-quality snippets or shots of the exclusive element of the day/night and use them to entice the audience by having a “looking forward to seeing you” text at the end to get everyone buzzing with excitement.
Paid ads for specific targeting
If you aim to make your grand opening the talk of the town, then using paid advertising is the way to go. From targeted ads to geolocation strategies, you can ensure that the right people in the right places are getting your message loud and clear. With paid ads, you’ll make your big day impossible to miss!
Run localized, targeted ads by using geolocation and focusing on targeting the audience within the premises of your venue. Use Google ads and tweak the requirements to keep your ads focused on set demographics within a certain mile radius to ensure that all those relevant to your target market in your locality can be exposed to the ads.
Tap into your ideal target audience by targeting your lookalike audiences on social media. Consider your existing followers/customers, and set your target audience similarly on Google Ads.
With these strategies, all you’ll need to worry about is delivering what you promised. The strategies mentioned above can help your big launch get the attention you desire, and that too in no time. So get ready to raise a toast alongside your future customers and newly formed relationships as you enter a new venture. Good luck!
