At a Dakil Auctioneers, we love to think about how to make our events buzz with enthusiasm – how to get bidders excited enough to jump in the bidding and drive up prices. Sometimes it feels like trying to capture lightning in a bottle – but we have some tried and true techniques that always manage to get our clients going. And these tips can be used for any sort of business or event – not just an auction house!
The higher the number of people attending your event, the higher the excitement in the room will be. You already know the basics: paid ads in the news and strategically targeted mailing lists will drive some traffic to your event. But your advertising dollars will only stretch so far – and you’ll need to use some more innovative promotion methods along with the traditional options. Here are some of our favorite ways.
You don’t have to have an exorbitant amount of funding to successfully promote your business – you just have to be resourceful.
Post detailed information about your event (including where, when, and what) to your website. Then post updates about the event to Twitter and Facebook – where you can also do some (social) networking beforehand to drive up enthusiasm. Feeling ambitious? Make a short video or slideshow of your event’s highlights and post it to YouTube or Vimeo. These services are free for you to use, and each platform actually caters to businesses – so take advantage of them and put yourself out there.
At Dakil, we put up tons of pictures of all of our available items on Flickr – our customers love to preview items before the auctions.
Visible and accessible media outlets – websites, Facebook pages, radio shows, podcasts, and local news channels – are great resources for business owners. But an influx of promotional opportunities also means that you’ll need to put serious effort into making your business stand out. One way to increase your visibility: offer to write a guest blog or article on a local site or do an interview on a local TV or radio show. It might seem out of reach, but producers are constantly looking for new content – so be bold enough to try.
In addition to your email and snail mail marketing, you’ll probably want to do some individual outreach – especially if you’re dealing with items or services that tend to be more costly. Reach out to buyers who have plenty of resources at their disposal – call them directly to tell them about your event, and consider offering a “sneak peek” of the items up for sale to certain customers. When customers feel special, they’re more likely to stick with you – and they’ll probably bring friends!
While you don’t want to create a feeling of cutthroat competition – no need to make newcomers feel uncomfortable, after all – you should be paying attention to the number of people who show up for your events or express interest in a product. Human nature makes us place greater value in things that other people want. And no matter what kind of business you run, you want your customers’ first reactions to be: “There’s a lot of merchandise I want at this event.”
It might not seem like your top priority, but creating a fun atmosphere at your event really will create its own energy. Try to treat each customer or attendee as a guest – and your event as a party. Treat each person who signs up as a guest. Play some upbeat music, set up a snack table, and introduce people to one another.
Dakil auctions see a lot of repeat customers, and we have to attribute some of that behavior to the fact that we create a fun and engaging atmosphere at every one of our events.
If your event is more of a sit-down affair, have your representatives (for us, our ring men and auctioneer) throw in a few jokes with their business talk. Take a familiar, jovial tone. Yes, your goal is to sell – but a crowd in a good mood makes for a crowd in a buying mood. Plus, you’ll be setting a precedent for any future events. If your organization cultivates a welcoming, enthusiastic atmosphere and creates some buzz, you’ll probably see some familiar faces at the next event.
