A NEON Night to Remember
When something is planned at the last minute, it often times fails to live up to expectations. However, every once in a while, not only can it exceed expectations but turns out being a huge success. This was the case with University Village Austin’s Neon Night Pool Party held last week.
We spoke to Abigail Samford, Area Marketing Manager in Austin, TX about how this event was pulled off in such a quick turnaround.
“UVA’s property manager, Toryn (Johnson), wanted to do a last push for renewals before move-outs began,” says Abigail. “He wanted to do an evening pool party and since there aren’t too many themes for night events, we thought to do the Neon Night.”
Abigail and her team had ten days to market and plan the event. Trying to be budget conscious, they decided to utilize Facebook as the primary method to advertise the event. Using a $40 Facebook advertisement, the property was able to market the event to people within a 25 mile radius from the property in addition to marketing to current residents.
The activity on the Facebook ad surpassed all expectations, even to the point where people asked if there would be a cover charge to attend the party. Between July 2 - July 11 (day of event), there were 12,000 people reached via the advertisement. Additionally, there was a big social media response to the event, including people sharing and commenting on various social media platforms.
Planning the event included details like hiring a local DJ, purchasing enough food for 250 people, and gathering some giveaway prizes for party attendees. A couple of days prior to the event, the property raffled off a “VIP” cabana via Instagram. People who tagged their friends in the Instagram post would be eligible to win. A group of four were selected and had access to the VIP cabana conveniently next to the pool with snacks and drinks.
“Usually, people come for the free food and giveaways and only stay for a short time. But, this event saw people staying for the duration of the entire event.”
The event enabled property staff to not only engage with current residents, but also people from around the local community. The property has tallied at least one signed lease for next year each day since the party.
“One of my favorite parts of the event was how we were able to convert balloons into a mock beach balls that glowed up with different colors. I felt like I was young again when I saw residents in the pool play keep up with the balloons,” says Abigail. “Also, one of the best moments of the night was when everyone in the pool began to splash the water at the same time in response to when a certain part of a song was played.”
Congratulations to University Village Austin on putting on a successful and fun event! You can contact Abigail Samford with any questions about the planning process.
