To succeed and stay top-of-mind in any industry, you must know how to connect with your market. Showing you care and effectively communicating your company goals and aspirations to customers are important to maintain interest in your brand to avoid stagnation and promote growth.

Patronage lies not just in the review of the customers’ peers but also in their own firsthand experience with the brand. That said, building a solid presence with your brand image is important to make sure that your brand remains significant in the market.

If you are at a point where you need to decide on the best marketing course for your company, it may be high time to consider upping your customer engagement through promotional events.

Corporate Events to Rejuvenate Your Business

To help you out, here are six types of business gatherings and social events you can host to revive interest in your brand that may have been dampened by time:

1 - VIP Experience

If you’re running a business-to-business firm, you might want to consider conducting a VIP experience that is targeted at the decision-makers in companies to whom you offer your products and services.

VIP experiences include a wide range of programs—from exclusive invitation-only luncheons to rare skydiving events. To make the most out of it, make sure that the VIP event is relevant to your brand or company niche.

2 - Conferences

Conferences, as the name implies, are events that gather a big number of customers in one place. Much like trade shows and exhibits, business conferences offer your firm a chance to promote products and services while offering the attendees with additional knowledge they can use for their respective businesses (for B2B).

Since this is a big event, you should expect to shell out a huge sum of money. However, before you entertain second thoughts, remember that big ROIs require a significant amount of investment as well—not just money, but time and effort, too. That said, make sure to recruit the best industry speakers you can find to ensure that your guests get the most out of the experience.

3 - Workshops

Like conferences, workshops serve as a means for your clients to get additional information and industry-specific knowledge. The key difference between the two, however, is that the speaker will come from your company to establish your brand as an authority in the industry.

To accomplish this, you should choose a skill or knowledge your brand represents and have the best from your employee pool share it with your guests. You can also partner up with a professional or industry influencer with close ties to your brand (e.g. a renowned makeup artist for a cosmetics manufacturing company).

4 - Networking Sessions

Networking is probably one of the oldest yet most effective ways of promoting a brand. In fact, it has evolved from being the go-to traditional marketing (word-of-mouth) to a technologically-advanced tactic for business promotion (online social networking).

Unlike conferences and workshops, networking doesn’t need a speaker or influencer. You just need to offer your already-loyal customers a venue and an incentive for bringing in clients as their referrals.

5 - Contests

Everybody loves a good competition. Take this fact into play when planning a brand promotion event by holding contests related to your company’s niche.

This tactic is best used by business-to-consumer firms. Just think how well you can sell running shoes by organizing a fun run or a surfboard by conducting a surfing competition.

6 - Interactive Trade Expo Events

Think of interactive trade events as a sort of “free taste” of your products or services—they provide consumers a sampling and firsthand experience while highlighting the strengths of your brand.

This strategy can be categorized under the so-called “experiential marketing.” As the name suggests, this tactic involves allowing consumers to try out your product or service firsthand to let them experience the benefits of choosing your brand.

Like contests, this particular event is useful for B2C firms, particularly companies like those that engage in manufacturing and promoting gadgets and games.

The Takeaway

Corporate gatherings and social events are effective, yet it's a cross-channel leap many businesses neglect. The types of events mentioned in this article are best used for specific kinds of firms as there is no single formula for the success of all businesses.

To revive interest in your brand, you’ll have to come up with an event that is industry-specific and is uniquely suited to your company. Working with professional corporate event management firms should give you more freedom and a higher success rate.

Our guest author Charlotte Manzi is the Creative & Project Director at BlueInk Event Management in Dubai. Launched in 2012, BlueInk provides its clients with bespoke, best-in-class event management services. The team's pursuit of going beyond satisfaction enables them to advise, manage and execute extraordinary experiences that are exceptional and unforgettable.