It’s that time of the year when it is socially acceptable to dress up as whatever you want and go to parties. Halloween is just a few weeks away, and there is a high demand for Halloween party events.
It is the perfect time for businesses to plan Halloween events to entertain guests, promote products and increase brand awareness. Any company, from restaurants to even corporate brands, can plan a Halloween party event.
However, organising an event without the proper steps and protection plans is not easy. Businesses must take some steps to ensure the event is safe and successful. Following the right steps can help your business avoid a frightful claim and a haunting experience.
Steps to Successfully Organising a Halloween Party Event
Set An Event Goal
Organising a Halloween party event is challenging; hence, the purpose and final goal must be worth it. The purpose and goal differ for every business and type of business.
A goal for a restaurant could be to increase sales for October and advertise its brand. On the other hand, a corporate business’s goal for the Halloween party could be to increase brand awareness, promote their services and partner businesses.
Halloween party can be open to the public or be a private event. Therefore, it is essential to have an idea about the ideal target market and size of the event.
Set A Halloween Party Event Budget
Setting a budget is vital when planning your spooky event. A correct budget can help understand the feasibility of the Halloween party event and how big it can go. The budget should include location, vendors, entertainment, decoration, marketing, insurance and part-time staff pay.
The budget should be an appropriate amount to make the event fun and have room for extra expenses. A poor budget can easily turn a treat into a trick by making the event a stressful process.
Decide On a Date and Time
When planning a Halloween party event, it has to be as close to Halloween as possible. It does not have to be on the date, as Halloween falls on a weekday. The best days would be the weekend before the 31st of October.
Businesses must decide if it will be a day event or night; both will bring in a different crowd. For example, a day Halloween party may bring in more families, and a night event may bring in more young adults.
After setting a date and time, you must start contacting locations and note what is available. Unfortunately, many locations may already be booked, and you may need to move around dates.
Book Location, Vendors & Entertainment
After you have location options, it’s time to act quickly and book the location before it slips away. The area must fit the event’s purpose and event size. Additionally, it should be easy to reach and near public transport options.
After the location is booked, the organising business must get vendors. The vendors can include food and drinks, entertainment and more. Additionally, if the hosting company is a restaurant, they do not need to worry about the date, time, and location, but they may still need to book entertainment.
At this point, you should understand what foods and drinks will be served and how they will be entertained; the more Halloween-related, the better.
Choose A ‘Scary’ Theme
Now that your business has booked everything, the fun begins. You can set a theme for your event; the theme could be anything or nothing. The fear meter of the Halloween party event depends on the ideal target market. Scaring children may not go down well, and you may face many angry parents.
The theme should be fun and doable. The attendees should want to follow the Halloween costume ideas and dress according to the theme. A good idea is rewarding attendees who successfully follow the theme, for example, a costume competition.
Promote Event
A successful Halloween party event needs a large number of attendees. To get attendees and guests, there needs to be an awareness of the event. This is when marketing and promotion is crucial to gain attention.
Businesses can use online and offline marketing to promote the event to the target market. The marketing strategy should focus on why the public should attend and what the event will offer.
The main idea is to gain attention and stand out from other Halloween parties around that time. Additionally, it is always helpful to ask vendors or business partners to promote it too, on websites and social media. Effective marketing efforts will help sell tickets and help business reach their event goals.
Hire Staff
For the event to run smoothly, your business will need staff. Staff can include ushers, security, management and more. The staff should fit the requirements and be willing to dress according to the theme.
There is always a risk staff may get injured due to the crowd and their duty. Unfortunately, employee compensation insurance will not cover any occasional worker. Organising companies can purchase personal accident insurance to cover work injuries toward their staff.
The insurance will cover medical bills in case of an uncontrollable accident. It is the ideal insurance to ensure staff is protected and, at the same time, the business will not have to disturb the budget.
Purchase Event Insurance
Like any other event, a Halloween event is full of event risks that can lead to injuries, property damage or cancellations. These risks include bad weather (cancellation), slips and falls, equipment damage, location damage, etc. The organising business will be liable for everything and will have to provide the funds to fix and compensate.
These risks can ruin the event and result in costly bills for the business. Hence, companies need event insurance to cover these risks. The insurance covers public liability claims, sudden cancellations, equipment and property damage. Hosting businesses must purchase the policy with a detailed event plan before the event.
Insurers can customise the insurance to fit your event and the risks involved. Even if things go wrong, with event insurance, there is a financial safety net to help recover.
Sell Tickets
Selling tickets depends on the type of event, as a restaurant may not need tickets and would rather first come, first serve. However, tickets are vital if it is a proper event with limited space.
A business can partner with an online ticket platform to help sell tickets and receive payment online. The hosting business should clearly promote the details of the Halloween party event beforehand so the public knows where they can buy the tickets, the price and the promotions.
A successful promotion strategy to stand out from other events is providing a gift, free drink or dish per ticket.
Execute Halloween Party Event
The last step is executing the Halloween party event. The main work is done at this point, and it is up to the management to ensure everyone is safe and the event is smooth.
Having event insurance at this point provides peace of mind for the organising business, as the insurance will cover unfortunate situations if they occur. However, this doesn’t mean that there can be no safety measures. The insurance will only cover accidental incidents that could not have been avoided.
The main goal at this point is to make the Halloween party fun, safe and let the guests enjoy.
To learn more about event insurance and cover your Halloween party this month, contact Red Asia Insurance.
