Scheduling a Ribbon Cutting Event
A ribbon cutting ceremony is an important day for a new business. A ribbon cutting is a ceremonial opening of a new or recently renovated business that has been open less than 6 months. This is a great way to introduce your business to the community, mingle with potential customers, and talk about your business in a low pressure environment. Business owners typically use a ribbon cutting event to thank employees, financial institutions, and customers while giving you platform to talk about your business.
If you would like the Chamber of Commerce to participate in your ribbon cutting ceremony, you must be a new or current Chamber member. To ensure good attendance, please provide as much notice as possible to the individuals or organizations you are inviting to the event.
Remember, this is your event and the Chamber will be glad to assist you in whatever way we can. While we do help you publicize the event, we strongly encourage you to launch your own PR campaign to increase attendance and awareness about your special day.
Planning Your Event
Get the most out of your ribbon cutting event by planning activities that will increase engagement with attendees. Some suggestions include:
- Give away a few door prizes.
- Provide refreshments and drinks.
- Prepare a small speech.
- Distribute marketing materials or marketing materials that attendees can take home.
- Offer special discounts on products or services that are only available to attendees.
- Try to provide as much open space as possible so people can gather comfortably in large or small groups.
Publicize Your Event
The Chamber will help publicize your event, but you should not rely solely on our efforts. Remember, the more you publicize, the more successful it will be.
Marketing Tips:
- Mail invitations to your personal business mailing list.
- Hand out flyers to your current customers or post a flyer in public locations.
- Offer a personal telephone invitation to some of your best customers.
- Contact local media outlets to announce your ribbon cutting ceremony.
- Ensure that all advertising features your refreshments, door prices, and any other special activities planned.
- Place signs and balloons outside your business announcing the big day!
During the Event
As the event gets underway, the best thing you can do is relax. Meet and greet your guests. Feel free to talk about your business, especially the latest good news.
When attendance is at a peak, get people’s attention, offer a welcome, and say a few words about your business. Afterward, gather everyone for the ribbon cutting photo.
After the ribbon cutting, be sure to thank everyone for coming and invite them to continue enjoying the festivities. Now would be a great time to give away any door prizes or special offers for attendees.
After the Event
If you kept a guest book or gathered business cards, sending thank you notes to attendees are a great idea!
After all your hard work, you can now evaluate your efforts. What did you do well and what could have been done better? Use your event as a learning experience for future marketing opportunities.
If you follow these tips, we can promise that everyone in attendance at your ribbon cutting will have a great time! We’ll do all that we can to support your efforts and we hope that these guidelines are helpful to you as you plan your own possible ribbon cutting ceremony.
