Organising an open day: from visitor to ambassador

The first question is: who do you want to reach? The audience shapes the whole concept. Common target groups are: prospective clients or customers, new employees (recruitment and employer brand) and local residents or neighbours (community support). On top of that there are existing clients and partners (relationship building) and press and media (brand awareness).

You can also combine several audiences, but make sure you have differentiated programme elements. A prospective client has different needs from a neighbour.

A standard tour with coffee is not enough. Turn your open day into an experience that fits your brand. Think of interactive demonstrations of your product or service, and encounters with the team. Add: workshops or mini-sessions that offer value, entertainment that lifts the mood, and a welcoming reception with good catering.

The best open days have a thread running through them: a theme or story that returns throughout the programme. That makes it coherent and memorable.

At an open day, logistics make or break it. You want visitors to feel welcome and move smoothly through the programme. Plan ahead: registration and reception (avoid queues), routing through the building or grounds, capacity management per activity. Also organise: signage and information, parking solutions and accessibility, and a clear time schedule.

Deploy enough hosts and hostesses. There is nothing nicer than someone who welcomes you and shows you the way. At large open days you can work with time slots to spread the crowds.

An open day is only as good as the turnout. So invest in communications that reach and excite the right audience.

Start the promotion 6 to 8 weeks ahead. Use a mix of channels: email campaigns to your existing network, social media and press releases for local media. Add invitations via your sales team and a landing page with registration.

Make the invitation appealing. Communicate what there is to see and why it is relevant to the visitor. What do they get out of it?

Also plan the follow-up after the open day. Send a thank-you email, share photos and videos, and make concrete next steps with interested visitors.

A family day, open day or supplier day costs around €200 to €300+ per person ex. VAT at 250 to 500 guests. For 500 to 1,000 guests you can count on around €175 to €275+ per person. For 1,000 to 2,000 guests on around €150 to €250+ per person. For more than 2,000 guests on around €100 to €150+ per person. All amounts excluding VAT, including venue, catering, entertainment and production.

A family day or open day targets a broad group including children and partners. The cost per person is lower than at an evening party because the programme and the catering level are different.

An open day is the moment to show who you are. At Live Impact we help organisations turn an open day into a strategic moment. A day that wins over visitors and connects.

Call 085 401 40 14 or email hello@live-impact.nl for a no-obligation conversation.

Seriously fun.