Corporate events are all the rage in the modern day professional world, with businesses hosting or sponsoring a variety of event types for employees, clients and leads alike. Of course, different types of corporate events work best for different businesses – it all depends on your brand, whether you’re a B2B or B2C company and the size of your enterprise.

With these events only continuing to grow in both popularity and scale, today, we’re running through six types of corporate events you should try for the first time this coming year – detailing how and why these types of events work and what you can do to make a success of your own.

Product launch

There are few bigger days on a business’s event calendar than the debut of a new product or range, making a product launch the perfect event for creating the necessary media buzz about both your brand and product.

Most commonly hosted by B2C companies, businesses big and small can look to utilise this type of event as a clever marketing strategy – receiving notable publicity for the product in question while also presenting your brand as engaging and contemporary. Focus on capturing the imagination of potential consumers and spark anticipation surrounding your brand by really putting on a show – including a flashy entrance, renowned guest speakers, food and even entertainment where possible.

Company milestones

A successful company nurtures a sense of community amongst its employees and, with businesses with a highly engaged workforce being 21% more profitable, the importance of instilling this into your own workforce really speaks for itself.

A tried and tested way of doing this is celebrating company milestones. Whether it’s a company anniversary, a record-breaking sale or a big new addition to upper management, this type of corporate event is a sure-fire way to improve team morale and promote your company as a fun place to work. Hire out a function room or even host it in your own office – limiting attendees to company employees to emphasise the employee appreciation factor, or expanding to clients and even the local community if your public presence demands it.

Trade show

Trade shows are a valuable type of corporate event that can serve as an effective means of lead generation activity.

These events are highly popular across a wide range of industries and sectors, so keep your ear to the ground to ensure you’re aware of any relevant local and national trade show events. Alternatively, if your business is big enough, you can host your own trade show to reinforce your status amongst attendees as an industry leader.

Either way, you’ll need to negotiate sponsorship rates for stall space, advertising, promo material and, where necessary, speaking slots – although with attendees largely being relevant personnel within your industry, this is almost always worth the initial investment.

Fundraiser

Fundraisers are an incredibly effective way of bolstering public image, improving team spirit and, most importantly, doing something good for someone else.

Think carefully about the type of event that best suits your brand and workforce in order to encourage the most participation. From golf to auctions, there’s a whole range of suitable activities to choose from. When it comes to picking your charity, consider the size of your business and how much you’re likely to raise. For example, smaller companies should look at giving back to the local community – this is not only a nice gesture, but also a great way of improving your local public profile.

Team building event

If you’re looking to improve team morale, productivity and bonds, a team building event is the most effective type of corporate event for you. Providing a great opportunity for employees to spend some quality time outside of a working environment, prioritise fun when choosing your team building activity.

When choosing a location, outdoor physical activities really capture the corporate team building spirit, so look to explore this avenue where possible. Host the event in-house or look to outsource to a company that specialises in putting on fun and effective team building days.

Networking

Networking is page one of the business handbook and, as such, deserves a place on any list of must-try corporate events.

Networking events entail hosting a large gathering of various parties from a specific industry to encourage new business relationships. The atmosphere should be relaxed and welcoming, so be sure to carefully consider the function space in relation to the number of attendees. Be sure to include food, drinks and perhaps even entertainment to ensure the conversation keeps flowing between all parties and that your networking event is, ultimately, a success.

With a whole range of new corporate events to explore in 2020, make sure you’re taking a practical and efficient approach from the off by utilising a community engagement platform, like ours.

Enabling you to create bespoke events and sub-events in minutes, provide instant email booking confirmations and e-tickets, and generate an exportable attendee list, we’ll give you the tools to guarantee your next corporate event is a raging success.