When I first started hosting aesthetic parties in 2018 at the start of my business, it was to see clients in their homes amongst friends. I would give an educational presentation first, followed by treatments – to learn more about Botox parties check out my course. As time went on, the word spread bringing more and more women each time. What events did in my business was not only provide free marketing, but I unknowingly built a community that would serve as the catalyst for my brand. In today’s article, I will walk you through how I think about and structure events, no matter your budget.
Why are events crucial? Beyond the community they build, they are a chance to demo new products, spend more meaningful time with your clients, and expand your network. Experiences that are hands-on or engage the senses ignite their feel-good hormones associated with you and your business. In today’s post-pandemic market, live events are not optional, they are essential. Consider this, 94% of consumers say that events have influenced their purchasing habits and that 40% of people report feeling more loyal to a brand after an in-person event [1][2].
Dr. Chantal Lunderville, L+A Medical + Wellness Editor
Dr. Chantal Lunderville is a board-certified physician specializing in skin health, aesthetic medicine, and Women’s health. She attended medical school at UCLA School of Medicine, followed by a residency at UCSF Family Medicine, and on graduating opened her own concierge aesthetics practice in the San Francisco Bay Area focusing on hormone health, skincare, and longevity.
Since then Dr. Lunderville has grown her practice to include overseeing nurses and aestheticians as medical director to over 15 practices across California, and through Dr. C’s Academy helps to launch new practices across the US and Canada through consulting and online courses in business, compliance, aesthetic procedures including neurotoxin, fillers, lasers, microneedling, and lasers. Read Full Bio
Dr. C’s 4 Steps to Cover for Your Next Occasion
- Set an intention or purpose for your gathering
- Recruit aligned parties, partners, participants
- Create memorable experiences
- Capitalize on the contacts and content
1. Purpose
What need will your event serve in your business? For example, if you are a medical spa seeking to gain more clients, consider hosting a wellness event with demos of new products, or novel ways to combine them. Offer promotional pricing for booking packages or products. Incentivize your clients to bring friends, tag you on social media, and offer a raffle or goodie bag with samples of your retail offerings. Other purposes may be to announce a new injector or staff, rebrand, or offer education.
2. Partner
When I threw my first major conference, my co-founder and I were way in over our heads. We had grand plans to offer an immersive experience in skill-building and embodiment practices. We spent so much time curating it that we had difficulty marketing it and selling tickets. For our subsequent events, we realized that partnering with speakers, organizations, and brands that had large followings or influence in their community helped us leverage several networks at once without the heavy lifting of a marketing company. Be clear in the beginning when partnering on what the marketing expectations are for posting.
Be sure to attend events regularly in the industry or area you are working in as well. You need to be seen several times to establish yourself, you’d be amazed what opportunities came to me from key people several times at important events. In an interview, the actress Zendaya said that she wanted to be seen as important in fashion so she just started showing up to major fashion events without an invite, and once she was seen as a regular, opportunities flowed.
3. Create memorable experiences
So what will you do at your event? No matter what industry or business you have, give your participants a hands-on experience or “activation”. The more you can get people to touch, play, personalize, or connect, the more memorable it will be. Avoid lecturing alone, and if you only have speaking available, create a panel or Q&A activity.
Consider the following activities:
Workout or breathing exercises
Journaling and reflective exercise
Educational presentation with a sharing activity
Custom consultations ie skin, color analysis, styling
Games or icebreakers to encourage meeting one another
4. Stay connected
Be sure to take plenty of photos and videos to share, send a recap in your newsletter, as well as promote your next event. Seek feedback to help you refine your events. The more consistent you show up with events, the easier they will be to promote. Do not get discouraged if your participation is low the first few times, as it takes promotion and sharing of the footage of your events to create a buzz for upcoming parties. Afterward, be sure to track how many bookings or sales you made as a result, you can even create a limited-time offer with a code word to better track your conversions.
Delegate and seek help so that you can be present and enjoy interacting with your clients on a deeper level, seeking to understand their needs better. As a business owner, you may find that spending a few hours in this setting with your patients or clients goes a long way in building rapport. I find myself renewed and inspired after each event I attend and host, finding new energy for my business and mission. In conclusion, you do not need the budget of a large corporation to host a successful event. The most important ingredients are purpose, aligned partners, memorable activities, and follow-up. Be sure to tag @drchantallunderville and @lipglossandaftershave in your post and show off your event! We would love to see it.