How to Promote Your Party Kit At An Event
- Isabel Mack
- Oct 2, 2021
- 7 min read
Updated: Jun 6
Getting out into the local community and meeting potential hirers is one of the best ways to promote your party kit. Whether it’s a parent and baby event, a summer fete or a zero waste market, having a stall is a great way for people to see what’s actually in a party kit and better understand the benefits of the concept.
Here’s our guide to promoting your party kit at an event:
Finding Events
So you’d like to have a stall, but how do you find an event?
Join local zero waste, parenting, and small business groups on Facebook - these are some of the best places to hear about upcoming events. Try connecting with local school PTA groups too. Not only can this help promote the party kit concept, but it may also lead to an invite to their summer fete or Christmas fayre. Keep an eye out for events in your local paper or on community noticeboards.
Once you’ve found an event that looks suitable, get in touch with the organisers to ask about having a stall. If your party kit is free to borrow or donates income to charities or local causes, event organisers may be willing to offer you a space for free, so it’s definitely worth asking.
If there’s a fee to have a stall, or if you're approached to take part, make sure to ask about the expected audience size and demographics. This will help you decide if the event is worth your time and aligns with the target audience for your kit before committing any time or money.
Before confirming your attendance, double-check that your party kit isn’t already booked for that day(!), or that you will have enough kit equipment available to create a good display.
Some event organisers may ask for proof of public liability insurance when booking a stall. If you don’t have this for your party kit (and depending on your setup, it may not be a legal requirement), it’s worth speaking to them first to explain your situation.
Things to ask the Event Organiser
Confirm with the event organiser what will be provided for you on the day. If a table is included, check what size it will be and make sure your kit equipment and planned display will fit within the space available. It’s a good idea to take a large tablecloth with you (which makes it even more important to know the table dimensions in advance!). If you need access to power or Wi-Fi, check with the organiser beforehand.
Ask what promotion the organisers plan to do for the event. Make sure they have the details of any social media accounts you use to promote your party kit, such as a Facebook business page or Instagram account, along with a clear description of the party kit service you offer and how to contact you. This helps spread the word about your kit to more people than just those attending the event.
If the event is outdoors, ask about wet weather plans. If there’s no option for cover, consider borrowing a gazebo, event shelter or a tent with removable sides. Many sharing libraries have gazebos available to borrow.
Preparing for the Event
Planning the Stall Setup
Consider what you plan to display on your stall. So in addition to the equipment from your party kit, how can you explain the benefit of the concept visually?
Some kit owners have used wooden play food to give an idea of what the kit equipment looks like in action. It’s a great way to show off the colours and the range of items included in the kit.
To add height to the stall without investing in banners, attach a pole either end of the table and string across bunting and garlands from your kit. I used some copper pipes from the hardware store with a selection of clamps and ribbon / rope to attach the pipes to the table edge and legs. This is fairly flexible which means it isn’t too critical on the design of the table, if being provided unseen.
Pack an emergency kit of things you might need to set up your stall, such as safety pins, tape, scissors, a pen and paper.
Posters and Flyers
For posters and the price list, one of the easiest ways to display these is either using a noticeboard or using photo frames which can be stood up.
Templates to create your own poster and price list are available in the members area, or here are some generic print-at-home Party Kit Network posters:
To reduce the need for flyers add a QR code to your posters. To generate a free QR code to download and add to your poster design try flowcode.com This could direct people to your website, Facebook page, or your listing page on the Party Kit Network website.
Ensure when printed the QR code is at least 1 inch high so that it's scannable. Most smart phones will scan a QR code through the glass of a photo frame.
If you do want to provide flyers for stall visitors to take away, try to get these printed on recycled paper. Or if you’re feeling creative and want to really embrace reuse, try printing on the inside of cereal packets and other paperboard packaging. Another option is to get a rubber stamp made with your kit’s contact information and creating flyers from scrap paper.
Encouraging Visitors to Your Stall
Consider what might entice your target audience to stop and spend time at your stall. If your kit is aimed predominantly at parties for children, a bubble machine can be a good way to engage the smaller ones, encouraging parents to stop and giving you an opportunity to talk to them. Running an activity, such as a zero waste craft or drawing activity is another way to engage people into staying a bit longer at your stall.
You may want to display more than just your party kit, such as other ideas for reducing waste at parties. This might be plastic-free party bag ideas, eco-friendly gift wrap examples or a set of reusable pass-the-parcel bags.
Consider how you will take any bookings which might come from talking to people at the event. Ensure you have access to your calendar (or however you manage kit availability) and have a way to capture the required information from bookers while at the event.
Taking a Buddy
Ideally take someone with you who can help both with the stall set up and talking to visitors. Often there isn’t more than an hour to set up a stall before visitors start to arrive and it can take a while to get everything into place. Preferably take someone who is naturally chatty and well briefed on the party kit concept, especially if chatting to people is outside of your comfort zone.
If talking striking up conversations with strangers fills you with fear, practicing what you're going to say ahead of the event will really help. Think about what’s the easiest way to explain the concept. Also think about which elements of a party kit will the event’s audience be most interested in? Is it reducing waste? The convenience of having everything in one box?
Promote via Social Media
Leading up to the event, post the details of the event as often as possible on your social media accounts. Make sure you tag the event location in any posts and include details of the event date and time. If you tag the Party Kit Network’s social media accounts (@partykitnetwork) we will try to share as well.
Even if you don't run any social media accounts for your party kit, it will be worth finding local groups you can post about the event in (although do check the group's rules as some only allow promotional posts on certain days, etc).
Prepare the text for any social media posts you want to share on the actual day. This will mean that once your stall is set up you just have to take some photos and then can quickly post before getting back to talking to actual visitors at the event. It can be really busy so taking time away from your stall to write an eloquent social media post is often not practical.
At the Event
Try to remember to take some photos of your stand so you can share them later on your social media accounts or use as examples to send to future event organisers.
Where possible, get out and talk to the other stall holders. It’s a really great way to connect with others locally who you may be able to collaborate with in the future. Depending on the type of event, local zero waste businesses, climate action groups, community garden groups, party entertainers, cake bakers, etc. are often worth seeking out.
After the Event
Even after the event it is worth sharing photos from the stall, capturing the essence of the day. It’s a great way to keep the conversation going and get all the value you can from the event.
Party Kit Stall Checklist
Things to prepare before the event
▢ Plan the set up of your stall
▢ Print posters and/or flyers
▢ Share the event details via social media
▢ Organise a buddy
▢ Practise what you're going to say to stall visitors
▢ Plan how you will take any bookings, or another way to capture details of those interested (which could be simply directing them to the Reminder Service)
Things to take to the event
▢ Folding table and chair(s), if not provided
▢ Tablecloth big enough to cover the stall table
▢ Your party kit
▢ Decorations
▢ Posters promoting your kit
▢ Printed price / equipment list
Emergency Kit
▢ Safety pins
▢ Blu tack
▢ Tape
▢ Scissors
▢ Pegs
▢ String or twine
▢ Pen and paper
▢ Snacks and water bottle (reusable, of course!)
Photos copyright Party Kit Network CIC and Frome Eco Party Kit
