Music is playing, the food is ready, and the time arrives for your party to begin but nobody shows up! Crushed and demoralized you sit around for hours until you can muster up the motivation to pull down the decorations, put the food away, and head off to bed. What a disaster!
This terrifying nightmare scenario is a cause of anxiety for many people who are attempting to throw a party. No matter the occasion, throwing a party requires a lot of work. When you go through the trouble of planning, preparing, cleaning, cooking, etc., you want to know that people will show up. Not to mention the emotional hit a lack of attendance can have on you.
You have arrived at this webpage because this is something that you want to be sure to avoid. The good news is our mission here is to make certain that this scenario is never a reality. This guide will give you the confidence to put yourself out there and know that not only will invitees show up but they will have a good time! So without delay, we invite you to read on and get ready for the guests to roll in!
Getting People to Come to Your Party
In a world full of options, making people view your party as a ca n’t-miss event might seem like an overwhelming task. However, when you understand your target guest, plan properly, proper planning, and have a bit of psychological understanding, you can create an irresistible invitation to your next small gathering, be it a birthday bash, a graduation gala, or a Halloween haunt.
Know Your Audience
Understanding your potential guests is akin to having a map to plan your party and develop your invitation strategy. It provides the clarity you need to make certain your party is appealing to those you want to attend. Knowing this will help you select the right venue, food, drinks, music, etc.
After all, inviting someone to a party is essentially a sales and marketing job and every company knows that the most important part of marketing is to specifically identify your target audience. Before you begin to plan or make any party arrangements you need to identify the traits and desires of your potential guests. Let’s take a look at the specifics of accomplishing this:
Who’s Invited?
You cannot move forward until you first think of who you are inviting. For small gatherings, this will be simple. You can write down your guest list and then examine each individual. Consider their tastes, preferences, personality, etc. Also, look at the group as a whole: why are you gathering? How familiar is everyone with one another? Etc.
When it comes to a larger party, it might be hard to identify everyone individually. Instead, you can pick a handful of individuals who you want to come and consider their preferences. Everyone knows those friends or co-workers that tend to have a lot of influence on others. In school, we would call this popularity. If you can target the “popular” people, ideally many of the rest will follow.
What Are They Into?
When you identify the people who you want to come, you can use your knowledge of their likes/dislikes to select everything from the food, music, venue, games, etc. This will also help you identify the ideal date and time to throw the party.
This is basic but it’s crucial. Do you want to invite a bunch of motorcycle-riding tough guys to a Disney princess-themed tea party? Likewise, if your target guest is a group of 30-something single guys who all work at the same office, they probably want to attend a party for the entertainment the entertainment Is not charades or bingo
Pairing the right entertainment or game with your guests can be a challenge, especially when you want to offer something new and creative. This article about party game selection will provide you with the specifics to choose a game that will successfully appeal to and entertain your guests
How do They Communicate/Behave?
One extremely important piece of the puzzle is to pinpoint the way you will need to reach out to anyone you want to invite. Sending a formal invitation in the mail might work for a wedding, but if you are throwing a less formal tailgate party or a house party, you may need to look at spreading the word via other means.
Planning
Most of the planning is behind the scenes and doesn’t directly impact anyone’s decision to attend your party or not, but it does play a vital role in creating an event that is appealing to your prospective attendees.
When you invest time and thought into planning the various facets of your party—be it the date, time, location, theme, or guest list— you can avoid potential pitfalls that could affect attendance.
For instance, choosing a convenient date and time can significantly impact the turnout. Additionally, well-planned invitations that are sent out in advance give guests ample time to RSVP and make necessary arrangements.
One major benefit of a well-planned party is that it provides legitimacy to potential guests. If you have a venue setup, entertainment planned, and a menu when you start to invite people show them that you are serious.
Psychological Approach
Knowing your audience and detailed planning are two important aspects of producing a good turnout for your party but sometimes you need to use a little psychology. If you can tap into how people make decisions you will have people lining up to get into your shindig. Here are some psychological tactics you can take advantage of to boost attendance.
FOMO
The “Fear of Missing Out” is a concept that describes the anxiety individuals feel when they perceive that they are missing out on a rewarding or fun experience that others are enjoying. FOMO can be a substantial motivation for people to take action.
You can leverage this phenomenon to increase your attendance. To do this you must generate positive “buzz” around your event. This is easier said than done but here are some strategies:
- Use social media to show sneak peeks of the food, activities, and theme.
- Get close friends, family, or co-workers to indicate their intentions to attend on social media and in their conversations with others.
- Incorporate unique themes or experiences. If you can offer something people normally don’t have access to it can drive people to attend. Book a well-known band, hire a popular food truck to cater, Offer prizes, etc. What you offer depends on the type of party you are going to throw and your budget so you may need to be creative.
- Utilize an exclusive venue. When a party is portrayed as a selective or exclusive event, the desire to be part of that exclusive group can drive people to want to attend
Don’t Give People Options
When inviting and organizing the party, set a firm date and time. Don’t ask: what works best for you” or “What sounds good to eat”. Open-ended questions can lead people to make excuses or tiptoe around committing. Instead give people only “yes” or “no” options. People don’t like to be negative and they like to honor their commitments.
If someone says no, don’t be upset, leave the invitation open if things change and they can come. Let them know that they are always welcome. When someone says “yes” simply tell them you are excited to see them there and let them know they can bring others!
If someone commits to coming, you can encourage them to participate in some way. This should not be a burden. Instead of giving them a chore like “bring ice”, give them a role or title such as “DJ” or “Official Dip Taster”. This is a fun way to make them feel like they are vital to the party and have a stake in the outcome, thus encouraging them to show up, invite others, and be positive about the whole event.
Know the Reasons Why People Don’t Attend Parties
There are many reasons why people don’t go to parties. Knowing these possible objections, you can be proactive to help remove these issues as potential barriers:
- Social anxiety
- Dislike for drinking
- Uncomfortable in large groups
- Dietary restrictions
- Logistical reasons
- Low-self esteem
- Introverted
- Arrival anxiety (people who are very uncomfortable being watched as they enter a party)
- Dislike for others in attendance
Some of these reasons are very strong factors for certain individuals. If you can alleviate these issues, they may be more likely to show up. For example, you can lessen the concerns people have regarding their diet by making sure the party does not revolve around food. Highlight the activity or games you will play instead.
Effective Strategies to Invite People to Come to Your Party
Once you have a good understanding of your desired guests and you have planned out your party accordingly you need to invite people. The invitation itself plays a large role in people’s decision to attend an event. Social media methods are important for casual events, if your event is formal you may need to mail invitations.
Whatever method you decide, there are creative strategies that will help promote quick responses and increase the number of people who respond with a “yes”. Here are some unique ideas:
- If you are inviting people with a Facebook or LinkedIn, have people RSVP by publicly posting on the event page with a response to a question. For example, for a movie-themed party, if they wish to attend, have them respond with their favorite movie in a certain genre.
- Partner with someone. Expanding the circle of who is organizing the party opens the door to more potential guests. When someone is united with you it is easier to take a risk. Multiple people organizing the event will also give the gathering some gravitas.
- Piggyback on another event. Set your party to occur just after a sporting event, conference, work function, etc. You can take advantage of the fact that people are already out of the house and moving over to your party is a logical next step. You and your partner(s) can spread buzz at this event about your party.
- Have a guest of honor. Birthdays, graduations, and retirements are all intended to celebrate an individual. This naturally makes attending these events more of a necessity for people because they want to show they care. Even if your party is not necessarily one of these types of events, you can create a way to honor a specific individual to create the same effect.
- Use a party chain. This is where each guest who commits to coming is responsible for inviting another guest and getting them to attend the party. Depending on the type of party you can get creative with this. For example, if you were throwing a Halloween costume party, you could require guests to tell The person they are inviting what their costume is and then that person must choose a costume related to theirs.
- Have your party support a good cause. Throwing a Christmas party? Have everyone bring a Toy for Tots! Tailgate Party? Have everyone donate gear for youth sports. If their attendance supports a good cause people can be invigorated to show up and help out.
The Bottom Line
Getting people to your party is more of an art than a science, however using the concept of researching your desired party guests and understanding how people think will help you to dial in the right methods to boost your party attendance.
The best plan is to know your guests, choose the date carefully, and be serious about the planning.
