Today is Canada Day, and that meant a lot of exploring, I guess. Just trying to see what’s around various cities in the Lower Mainland. For the most part, it’s the typical stuff you would expect various concerts, gatherings, and a lot of retro stuff, like exhibits on Expo 86. One thing I was thinking is that there were a lot of events I actually wanted to attend during the nighttime. For example, the fireworks or a drone show. So I kind of had to make a decision about which place I should film or attend.
That got me thinking, both in terms of events and even as a business, about how you have to convince people that your event is the best one for them to choose. Originally, I was thinking of staying at the drone show because it’s actually different as virtually everyone does fireworks and so forth. But I was trying to figure out how big this drone show was, because it wasn’t heavily advertised outside the city itself. That gave me the impression it was very small. So maybe it wouldn’t be as exciting as filming fireworks, with all those explosions and bright lights, which sounds a bit more entertaining, especially if you’re documenting it.
What this got me thinking about is, if that city had actually advertised or welcomed people who wanted to film the event by giving them some kind of priority access or a good spot to film from that would’ve been a great incentive. As a business, the more you cater to people and offer them little extras to attend your event, even if it’s less exciting, those perks could actually convince them to come.
Like, even if the drone show was only a couple hundred drones and not as flashy, giving people the incentive of “hey, you can film some behind-the-scenes” or “we’ll show you the best angles to document it” would’ve pushed me to go there instead of the fireworks. So, it’s important to offer something like that for the people who could attend your events and maybe give you more exposure as well.
You don’t need to pay them. Just give them regular access to stuff they wouldn’t normally have. It makes them feel welcomed, like you actually want them there. I think that helps a lot, and that could go for businesses too. Even if your store isn’t the biggest or has as many options as the big guys, for smaller places it’s often more about making people feel welcomed like they’re wanted. That’s often why they’d choose you instead.
Happy Canada Day!