The Key to Finding Your Niche in the Events Industry

January 24, 2019 Susan Serena

We all know what making a big decision feels like, right? Especially professionals who are launching event planning companies, working for an event planning company, or those of you who are wondering what type of client to work with.

Bottom line is, there are important decisions to be made about who you should work with, yet you may be feeling torn because you’re debating where to begin. The only thing you know is that you want to plan events! Period.

If you’re someone who has spent any time speculating what your event niche should be and who you should work with, read on.

Because here’s the thing…

Most event planning companies started out at someone’s kitchen table with less than $1,000 and very little to no experience. Before that, most event professionals were just known to plan great parties or probably interned for some event planning companies.

When you decide to stop ignoring your passion and take that leap of faith to start your own event planning company, but you’re not sure what you’re doing or what to specialize in, you may end up thinking you should offer event planning services to all people.

After all, the bills must be paid, right?

For those of you are launching event planning companies, here’s what this article will help you with:

  • How to choose which event niche is appropriate for you
  • The benefits of different types of event niches instead of offering event planning services to EVERY type of client
  • The significance in identifying what you are qualified to do

The Two Event Types

For those of you launching event planning companies, here are the two types of events to consider.

Corporate Events

Corporate events can be workshops, seminars, promotional events, product launches, fundraisers, team building events, executive retreats, or incentive events.

They can also be a company, charity, or nonprofit event – basically it’s anything that concentrates on enhancing community visibility and allows companies to get their marketing message out to the world.

As stated by this Convention Industry Council Study, event planning companies are organizing millions of corporate events in the United States each year.

So, whether you plan fundraisers, receptions, or meetings there are so many opportunities in corporate event planning because they usually provide a higher rate of return and steady business for event planning companies.

Social Events

Social events are comprised of weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, reunions, or holiday celebrations. Really, they’re just about any event where socializing is anticipated and encouraged!

Now, irrespective of which industry you may choose –corporate events or social events, we highly recommend that you narrow your niche even more.

By doing so, event planning companies are opening up more doors for their business because they’re increasing the possibility of becoming an expert in a particular niche, getting referrals, and saving money.

Finding Your Niche in the Events Industry

Referrals

Without having a specific niche, it makes it difficult for event planning companies to market their event services and hard for clients to find you or refer you to family, friends or coworkers. If you do have a specific niche, you’ll be the person that comes to mind when someone needs the type of services you offer. If you’ve read articles on our blog before on increasing referrals, you know just how vital and valuable they are to your business!

Becoming an Expert

By narrowing down your niche, you are permitting yourself to become an expert in your industry. You may have heard the quote “The quickest way to do many things is to do one thing at a time.” If you decide to focus on all social events, you’ll only be able to give your clients a small portion of your full potential. If you concentrate on one event category, you will be able to master that niche and know every component of that type of event.

Saves Your Clients Money

As you become an expert in your event niche, your vendors will start to trust, know, and like you, which means you’ll become their “go-to” event planner. That means you will have the authority to negotiate better rates, which will save your clients money – something all clients will be thrilled about!

Saves You Money

Because you are focusing on one specific event type, you only need to spend money on the specific resources and supplies that are relevant to the types of events you plan. If you’re concentrating on kid’s birthday parties, it’s improbable that you will need to have access to seating arrangement or travel arrangement software. The more specified your niche is, the less you'll spend on unnecessary operational costs.

Learn About Your Interests, Values, Skills and Character Preferences

If you’re just getting started in the event planning industry, or you are refining your skills and knowledge, it is important to classify your interests, values, skills, and character preferences in order to make a well-informed conclusion.

If you understand your interests, it’ll better help you identify opportunities in the niche you choose, making networking and marketing much easier and enjoyable! If you have multiple interests, I suggest you volunteer for social and corporate events so you can choose which of the two you enjoyed most.

It’s always a good idea to get your feet wet before diving right in!

Once you are aware of your interests, it’s important to know what motivates and moves you towards making decisions. Your values are a huge determinant in the decision-making process, so being able to identify these will have a big impact on the event niche you choose (as well as your success)!

Measuring your skills allows you to evaluate which skills to obtain or further develop. This will help you identify which niche matches your skillset. If you are skilled at planning events with a large attendance, you may be more inclined to choose corporate events with a niche in seminars, conferences or fundraisers.

But in order to choose which event niche is appropriate for you, you’ll need to understand your character preferences. Understanding your own personality lets you see correlations between the ways you make decisions and your work style.

Selecting a niche is a long-term decision and it is not only wise but it's time well-invested when you figure these things out early on in your career.

When you are selecting your event niche, we want you to remember this –

You don’t have to own the entire market, you must own a specific piece of your market. Concentrate on clients you want to work with and clients who can and will pay you.

Now, we’d love to hear from you. Tell us:

Do you have an event niche or struggling to find one? Comment below!

The best place for people who are launching event planning companies to go in order to figure out what their event planning niche should be is The Event Planner Expo. Here, you’ll not only meet and greet the top event vendors, but you’ll also get to hear from keynote speakers that will help you find direction in the business.

Contact us today to learn about the workshops that will be offered at the 2019 expo and can help you figure out your niche in the events industry.

Previous Article
3 Salary Factors Event Planners Should Consider
3 Salary Factors Event Planners Should Consider

No two Event Planners in NYC are paid the same salary even when their job descriptions and responsibilities...

No More Articles