5 most effective marketing tactics for an event planning business By Basil Mbuna

5 most effective marketing tactics for an event planning business

Building a service-based business like an event planning business is no easy task, mainly because you are essentially marketing and selling yourself and your ability to do what you say you can do.

Any experienced event planner or professional will tell you that one of the keys to running a successful event planning business is keeping the pipeline full of prospects. And so we asked hundreds of event professionals on LinkedIn what marketing strategies work best for them, and here are the top 10.

1 – Networking / Referrals
Event planners are social animals by nature, so it’s no surprise that most of them find that networking is by far the most effective marketing tactic they use.

Developing and nurturing relationships with other vendors who can refer you business is critical here. This could be as simple as mutually referring prospects back and forth, like a hotel referring a party client to a planner and a planner referring a wedding client back to the hotel. However, you could also offer up services in exchange for leads. One planner agrees to donate their services to manage a charitable event for a hotel in exchange for getting loads of referrals from the hotel.

2 – Facebook
Surprisingly, many event professionals cite having great success using social media sites – primarily Facebook – to find new clients. In fact, one planner said that 60-70% of their business comes from Facebook.

For starters, this tactic requires both having a well-developed Facebook page as well as building up the number of your fan page “likes” (which you can do by putting links to your Facebook page in your email footers, on your Web site pages, in your e-newletters, etc.). Simply adding likes from your friends, networking partners and clients can give you a great start on this. (Again, you must ask for them.)

Several event planners also noted that locally targeted Facebook ads worked well for them in driving visitors to their pages, and it may be worth trying.

3 – Search Engine Marketing and Optimization
Of course this requires a Website (which, in our opinion, isn’t a marketing tactic as much as it is a necessity of being in business), and you need to put the requisite time and resources into making your event Web site stand out.

But one of the most effective ways that event planners are driving visitors to their site is through programs like Google AdWords and Bing Advertising. You can easily bid on localized keywords and try this yourself to see if it works in your area. For example, if you are an event planner in Denver, CO, you can bid on keywords such as “Denver event planner”, “Denver wedding planner” and “Denver event planning” to drive search traffic to your site. It’s advisable to start with a small budget and test.

4 – Email
Event planners are using email in three different ways to attract new clients.

First, they are emailing current and former clients to stay top-of-mind in case they or their acquaintances need event planning services.

Second, they are building their own lists via their Web site (using incentives like free e-newsletters) as well as information they gather at trade shows and such, and they are periodically emailing these lists with useful event-related information.

Third, they are using email groups to connect with both prospects as well as referral partners, sharing their expertise and passing leads back and forth among community members.

5 – Trade Shows
Finally, trade shows round out the top five marketing tactics for event planners. At the least, planners attend trade and bridal shows and walk the floor to interact with prospective clients. However, many planners choose to exhibit at shows, which besides providing them with a prominent presence at the show also can provide additional perks (like a list of show attendees, which alone can be worth the exhibitor’s fees).

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            Basil   Mbuna