There are many methods you can try to get more customers in the door. A cigar-smoking event is one of the best ways to create excitement and build customer growth. This brief guide shows you how to plan, promote, and execute a cigar event. The main goal is to get more people in your cigar shop and boost cigar sales.
Cigar Smoking Events That Get People In The Door
Live events are important tools for generating leads and sales growth, as recently confirmed by a survey of high-level marketing strategists. Cigar-smoking events are tailor-made to get customers into your cigar shop or lounge. It is where they can learn, smoke, socialize, and, most importantly, spend money. However, only well-planned events deliver those desired results.
Taking an idea for an event and turning it into a successful plan that generates growth opportunities for your cigar business takes time and focus. It might seem overwhelming, but Cigarketing’s experienced team is with you every step of the way. We will ensure a successful cigar-smoking event.
Properly Planning a Cigar Event
Every good cigar event needs a proper plan. Meaning the more time you allow for event planning, the better it is for your cigar smoking event. Unfortunately, each event planning stage requires attention weeks or months before the event takes place. That is where Cigarketing comes in. Our team can help map out each step of a successful event plan for you. Some of the planning steps you’ll cover include:
Setting a Goal
Many events have been derailed before they began because of the lack of a clearly defined goal. So, consider a specific goal that you want your cigar event to accomplish. For example, is it to drive sales, sell a designated number of boxes of cigars, increase customer base, support a charity, educate consumers, showcase particular brands or products, or another goal? A focused goal lets you build better event planning strategies, so write it down and decide on a reasonable budget to achieve it successfully.
Communicate with Vendors
Once your goal is clearly defined, reach out to product or service reps in the cigar industry. More often than not, companies offer planning suggestions and special event materials to complement their products or services. In addition, the best vendors are happy to send brand ambassadors to events to share tips about products, manufacturing details, pairings, or general knowledge attendees may find useful. However, backorders, shipping delays, and miscommunications can result in disastrous last-minute scrambles. So, talk with cigar manufacturer reps early and often to ensure products arrive in time for the event.
Select Time and Date
Bringing all the moving parts of a live event together at a single time and place can be challenging. So, creating a timeline as early in the process as possible gives all parties involved a clear target at which to aim. Choose a time and day of the week that lets you maximize the number of attendees. So, it is best to hold off scheduling events on major holidays or during other events scheduled in your area. You can also reach out to customers to determine when they might be more inclined to attend a cigar-smoking function. Friday and Saturday nights work best for packing the house for your cigar smoking events.
Select a Venue
When choosing a suitable venue for your cigar event, zero in on how many attendees you expect and whether it should be a casual or more formal affair. Hosting events in cigar shops or lounges is convenient yet may not offer the right size or setting. So, if you are hosting a cigar event at another location, secure a smoking-friendly venue with adequate space and accommodations as soon as possible. Last-minute changes and cancellations happen, so it’s also good to have contingency plans in place.
Ticketing and Payments
Before settling on ticket prices, consider the event’s overall cost, including product, staff, venue rental, and other expenses. Make sure ticket prices align with your costs and goals while still offering attendees value. Then, decide on payment methods and how you can keep track of paid customers and any tickets or merchandise sold at the event.
Staffing
No matter how large or small your cigar event is set to be, ensure there is plenty of staff to cover event set-up, service during the event, and clean-up. Ensure the staff know and understand what the event is trying to achieve and that each staff member is well versed in the products or services being showcased.
The key is to develop a focused, executable event plan that allows room for flexibility along the way if needed. Your Cigarketing representative works with you to create a personalized plan to maximize efficiency to bring more people to your cigar smoking event and ultimately into your cigar shop.
Promoting Your Cigar Event
Once you have the planning specifics nailed down, you can start to promote the event. Again, the more time you give yourself to prepare, the more promotional opportunities you have to reach customers. There are many powerful promotional tools you can draw from to promote your event with a blend of traditional and modern techniques. A few of these include:
- In-store promotions
- Social Media
- Webinars
- Videos
- Podcasts
- Co-op advertising
- Community outreach
- Sponsorships
Combining traditional promotional elements such as print, radio, or television, with the versatility of digital platforms into a cohesive promotional campaign has the potential to reach wider audiences and drive customers to your events and cigar shop. Our team is at the ready with all of the resources necessary to help you choose the best-suited strategies to promote your event properly.
Executing the Event
A well-defined cigar-smoking event plan and great promotion strategy put you in the optimal position to deliver a smoothly operated and successful cigar event. So, when the day of the event arrives, you can relax and focus on creating the ultimate cigar smoking experience for your guests. Give yourself, your staff, and vendors extra time before the event to set up and address any questions or concerns.
Once it is go-time, engage with attendees throughout the event to ensure that their expectations are being exceeded and that you have achieved your stated goal. Follow up with all parties involved after the event to see what worked well and what did not. You can use the findings when planning future events. So, partnering with Cigarketing’s event specialists empowers you to execute each of your events with precision and confidence.
Turn Cigar Events Into Dollar Signs
Creating and implementing a cigar event plan can be a rewarding experience that builds a stronger, long-term customer base while propelling sales upward. To get your cigar shop growing and promoting your events, contact Cigarketing and see what we can do for you.