Whether you’re opening a gym at a new location or going live with the latest smartphone app, a successful product launch can do wonders for sales and all-around brand awareness. Launch events are a great way to celebrate all of the hard work that goes into creating new products. They build hype around your product, helping to spread the word to more potential customers online and in person. They can also increase brand loyalty by making customers feel more involved with your product. 

Creating and hosting a launch event to showcase your product is easier than it sounds. Check out this guide for a step-by-step product launch strategy. We’ve got everything you need to know, from picking a theme to broadening your audience.

What is a product launch event?

A product launch is an event for guests to find out about – and even get hands-on with – a new product. Launch events are linked to the product they’re about, such as a fashion show for a new line of clothing, or a showcase at a tech conference for the latest gadget.

What is the objective of a product launch event?

By showing off your new product at an event, you can build up excitement and expand your customer base. Launch events can boost sales of your new product by increasing brand awareness and interest. Product launches help to generate hype online, expanding your reach even further afield.

What should a product launch include?

While every launch should be product-specific, there are some key things to include in your event:

• Great marketing to broaden your audience
• A date and time that works for guests
• A venue that helps to show off your product
• Entertainment for event-goers
• Decor that fits with your branding
• Opportunities for guests to engage with the product
• Incentives for guests to post about the event on social media
• A theme to link it all together

Creating your product launch plan

Wondering how to host a product launch? The key is in having a detailed plan. Working out what you want for your product launch and how you’re going to achieve it is the best way to keep things running smoothly in the run-up to the event and on the day.

Good event planning helps increase awareness of your event, meaning more guests on the day, and more people who hear about your product. Another thing to include throughout your product launch plan is ways to make sure your event – and the marketing for it – delivers the right message about your product.

In this section, you’ll find top tips for creating every part of your product launch plan, from getting your venue and budget sorted to picking the perfect theme.

Choose a theme for your product launch

Linking your launch event to a theme helps to showcase your product and create a cohesive feel for the whole occasion. Your theme can form part of the event décor, merchandise, and even the venue, so it’s important to pick one that will resonate with your guests and highlight your product.

There are a few key things to think about when it comes to choosing a theme. Check out these product launch ideas from Eventbrite for more inspiration.

Focus on your audience or customers

Your theme should help to engage your audience or customers. Think about who they are and what will interest them. Video game fans coming to celebrate a new game might get excited for an event themed around a character or location from previous games, while focusing on books or stories could work well for an event aimed at primary school teachers.

Keep your goal in mind

What are you trying to achieve with your product launch event? Whether you’re hoping to boost sales of your new product or grow your social media following, set some goals for your launch and make sure your theme helps you hit them.

Make sure your theme is relevant

Clearly link your theme to your product or industry. If people can instantly connect the event to your company and your product, they’re much more likely to think positively about it in future. Bear in mind your target audience too, and make sure your theme resonates with them.

Make it newsworthy

The more you can get people talking about your new product, the better it will do. Pick a theme that helps to drive up the hype and encourages people to post about your event on social media to maximise chat about your new product.

Set a workable budget

A realistic budget is key to any product launch plan. You don’t want to have to cancel or scale down your product launch ideas at the last minute to make the spreadsheet balance. Coming up with a budget early on will help you to decide on the best venue for the event, work out how many attendees you can host, and plan what entertainment and catering you can include. Check out our guide to event budget planning for more top tips.

Plan the type of event

Product launch events come in all shapes and sizes, from concerts to conference-style product demos. When it comes to deciding what type of event your product launch will be, think about what will best showcase your product to your target audience. If you’re celebrating a new gadget or game, structure your event so attendees can try it out. For the launch of a food or drink item, a party with tasters works well. If your product is more business-focused, why not host an evening dinner with relevant presentations? Whether you go for a craft workshop or a dance performance, link it to your product to keep guests engaged.

Choose your venue

A great venue will add atmosphere to your event without stealing the show from your product. Why not take a look at some eye-catching location ideas?

Choose a venue that works for the brand

If your product directly links to a location, host your launch there. Launching a new hair product? Book out a salon. Or, if your product is a service or software that would be best showcased from your store or facility, host the launch there. Upmarket hotels are often good locations for luxury product launches.

Pick an easy location

The easier it is for people to get to your product launch, the more likely they are to come. Think about who your guests are and how they’ll be arriving. Where your guests are coming from can help you work out whether you’re better off being close to an airport or within walking distance from a bustling city centre. Being close to public transport links and having plenty of parking available is always a good plan.

Work out the capacity

Having an idea of how many people you’re expecting is key to booking the right venue. Is your event an exclusive invite-only celebration, or will you be offering tickets to hundreds of people? Will there be VIP invites for your most loyal customers, special guests or influencers and press? Nail down the numbers so you can choose somewhere with the right capacity.

Pick a date and time

Is there a particular day that ties in with your product or theme? Many toy and video game creators launch their products in November to generate maximum hype for the Christmas shopping season. Linking your product launch to a specific national day or time of year helps to drive up interest and get people talking.

When it comes to choosing a day and time, think about what will work for your attendees. For a product aimed at teenagers and young adults, host your launch at the weekend when they’re not at school or work. If your product is aimed at professionals, an evening event outside of office hours might work best.

Consider food and drink

There are lots of options for providing food and drink at product launches, from simple teas and coffees to lavish three-course meals. Think about what fits with your budget, theme and venue, and what will work for your audience.

Food and drink isn’t essential for every product launch event. If it’s not going to add to your theme or impact attendees’ experiences, you might decide it’s not worth including. Check out this guide from Eventbrite for tips on when and how to include food and drink in your product launch event.

Book your entertainment

There’s a huge range of entertainment options, so choose one that suits your product and your event. A presentation from your company’s CEO could work well at a business-focused event. Other speakers, from inside your company or externally, could provide engaging entertainment that’s relevant to your product or industry.

If your product suits the format, why not hold a demonstration of what it can do? Alternatively, you could offer guests the chance to try it out themselves, or host workshops to guide them in how to get the most out of your product. Making your launch event interactive and memorable is a surefire way to get guests coming back for more.

Entertainment also helps to make sure your guests make lasting good memories at your event. Music can add to the atmosphere at your event, whether you go for gentle background music, a fun DJ set for the dancefloor, or a performance from a live band. Or you could organise a live performance or play a short film relating to your product. As long as your entertainment helps guests to enjoy themselves and links to your product and theme, it’s adding positively to your launch event.

Why not organise a competition or prize draw at your launch event and reveal the winners towards the end? You could even start the competition on social media before the launch day, or host a contest for the best post using your event hashtag to really get people talking. Branded product merch can make great prizes.

Use décor to create a successful product launch

Décor can make a world of difference in creating the atmosphere you want for your product launch. Well-chosen décor can bring an event to life and even help to get people talking about your product.

Get your brand on display

Your launch event is all about your product and your brand – don’t let anyone forget it. Posters, giant logo sculptures, floor stickers, projections and oversized versions of your product are all options for making sure your brand is on everyone’s mind. Get creative with places to include your logo. If you’re having food or drink, why not get some branded cups or plates? Branded merch items or stickers that attendees can take home also help to spread the message.

Add some drama with lighting

If you’ve got static displays, use lighting to inject some extra intrigue. How you light your event space has a huge impact on the atmosphere, so be sure to give it some thought.

Create shareable backdrops

Balloon arches, sequin curtains and flower walls look great and can create a social media opportunity. Include décor that encourages your guests to pose in front of it and share their pictures – and remind them to use your event hashtag when they do.

Think about the little things

Do you want the furniture at your event to stand out and make a statement, or blend into the background? Make sure everything at your event is helping you achieve the goals for your product launch. Little touches like table decorations at sit-down dinners can help to make guests feel valued, or drum up interest in your product.

Don’t forget the product

Consider how guests at your event will engage with your new product. For consumables like cosmetics, you could give away free mini samples. You could offer a gadget as first prize in a competition at the event, with branded merch such as bags or smaller items for second and third place. If you’re hoping to make sales of your product at the event, consider offering attendees a special time-limited discount to incentivise buying it then and there.

Collaborate to reach a wider audience

Linking up with other brands or artists allows you to tap into their community and following, broadening the range of people with an interest in your event and product. You could collaborate with an artist who could create visual décor for your event or even artwork for a limited edition of your new product. Musicians could give a one-off performance at your event. If you’re hoping to run workshops or seminars as part of your launch, enlist the help of prominent speakers or trainers in relevant industries to offer an exciting learning opportunity.

Build anticipation with your product launch marketing plan

A marketing strategy will help you spread the word about your new product and generate hype for the launch event. Check out this section for top tips and tricks on how to build a buzz using social media.

Create a hashtag

Talking about your product launch across as many different platforms as possible using a hashtag is a great way to spread the word and create excitement ahead of the event. Take a look at our top tips for creating and using hashtags for events. You can also encourage attendees to use the hashtag during the event to spread the message even further.

Hashtags help to link together social media posts about your event and bring your product launch into focus. Whether sharing an Instagram reel about your new product or making a post on LinkedIn to start a conversation, hashtags get everyone thinking about your product and launch event.

Work videos into your product launch plan

Video content is increasingly popular across social media. Get in on this trend with unboxing videos, product demonstrations or behind-the-scenes sneak peeks to drive up the hype ahead of your launch event.

Create a buzz with a countdown

Social media countdowns drum up more excitement the closer you get to your product launch. They’re especially well-suited to events where you’ll be revealing the product for the first time. Include a countdown clock on your brand webpage and event page, use the countdown feature in Instagram stories or make daily social media posts counting down in the run-up to the event.

Why not reveal teasing tidbits of information about your product as part of the countdown? Giving more hints about the product leading up to the launch will help to create intrigue.

Spread the word with a contest

Contests can rapidly increase the size of your audience through the power of social media. Try a simple prize draw where you ask participants to follow your account (and any collaborators) or share a post to enter. This helps you to tap into new communities and reach more people. Link the prize to your product or event and get collaborators to share it across their channels too. Check out our best ideas for growing your following with social media contests.

Follow up after the product launch

To maximise the benefits of a successful product launch, make the most of the time right after the event. This is a unique window where you can continue to build hype around your product and drive up sales.

Make the most of social media

Keep creating and sharing posts related to your product in the few days after the event. This acts to remind people who attended of their positive experience, and lets everyone else know what they missed.

Offer purchase incentives

Consider offering a discount or special deal on your product or service for a limited time after your event. You may want to offer a more exclusive or higher value deal for event attendees. A post-launch offer can help to boost sales and engage new customers.

Stay in touch with attendees

Follow up with your attendees after the event. This helps them to feel special, and also allows you to gather feedback that can help you to plan your next product launch. It’s also a great time to remind them of any time-limited offers or discounts and encourage them to share their pictures from the big day on social media.

Start planning the event for your product launch

Whether you’re launching a new fashion line or an exclusive industry software tool, Eventbrite has everything you need to create, plan and market a successful product launch event. Spread the word using Eventbrite Boost.