Back in March the Red Marlin team travelled down to Silverstone race circuit for the launch sale of brand new classic car auction house, CCA.

The team had spent the last two months hard at work publicising the launch of CCA, encouraging classic car collectors to enter their cars into the sale and making sure the day went off with a bang.

Having raided the PR and marketing toolkit to spread the word we waited with baited breath to see just how many people would attend the sale.

And our efforts clearly worked. The day was a great success with huge numbers of people flocking to the world famous racing circuit and more than £400,000 worth of classic cars sold.

But we know that not all first time events work as well. How did we do it? Was it just luck? Not at all, we just followed some simple, tried and tested measures to make sure the business began on the right note.

To help out we’ve put together seven top tips on how to make your launch event as successful as it can be:

1.    Spread the word– It’s absolutely vital to publicise the event as much as possible during its run up. Engage with relevant media through press releases and digital content. However take note of copy deadlines. Your event may be a long way away but a magazine’s copy deadline for the right issue may have passed.

2.    Get social– Fully utilise digital and social media to communicate with people and help them to find out more about your event. Take advantage of Facebook event pages and social media advertising. And make sure you put some effort behind building your social media presence before promoting the event.

3.    Location, Location, Location– Picking the right location to host your event is important. Is it suitable for your brand? Can people from all over the country easily get there?

4.    Invitation, Invitation, Invitation– Put together a list of media, important customers, colleagues, partners and potential new business leads that you would want to join you at your event. Timing is key with this. Don’t leave it so late that it it’s impossible for people to commit but don’t send invites too early as they could forget.

5.    Bag a star– We arranged for Quentin Willson, renowned automotive expert, motoring journalist and presenter of Channel 5’s The Classic Car Show, to attend the sale and give a talk on how to buy a classic at auction.

6.    Be prepared– Is each member of the team clear on their responsibilities for the day? Chances are that you’ll be rushed off your feet so to ensure that the day runs smoothly it’s important that all staff are up to speed on exactly what they have to do.

7.    Enjoy, smile and be a fantastic host!