If there’s one aspect of your event planning business that seems to change every minute, it’s marketing. And it can be hard to keep up with the latest trends and advice about event marketing and digital marketing strategies that drive actual results. Today, we’ll help take the guesswork out of crafting the perfect-fit marketing initiatives for all your New York events and your event services business.
1. Know Your Mission
With any marketing strategy, whether it’s for your event services or for promoting a specific event, you’re going to need to assess your goals. Know your mission first in terms of what you hope to achieve with your messaging. Having your objectives lined up first will help you make subsequent decisions about who to target and how to reach them effectively. Here are some event marketing goals to inspire your goal-setting process.
- Land more corporate event clients.
- Land more social event clients.
- Sell more event tickets or increase event attendance.
- Promote your brand personality.
- Introduce your services.
- Gain more referrals.
- Collect testimonials.
2. Know Your Audience
For any marketing campaign to work well, you have to make sure you’re keenly familiar with your target audience. If you’re inviting business professionals to a networking event you’re curating, for example, you’ll want to understand what roles they hold, what industries they represent, and their demographics. Consider creating personas for each unique marketing initiative so you have complete knowledge of what they like, how they engage, and where they hang out online.
3. Sell the Sizzle
With your target audience and marketing strategy missions in mind, you can then start putting together the content, the engaging hooks, and the brilliant calls to action you’ll want to use. The key to developing content that works lies in your ability to sell the sizzle, not the steak. And be mindful of your targets so you can draft messages that feel like they’re meant for them. Here are some insights to aid your efforts.
- Introduce and remind your audience your event services are different.
- Provide engaging and educational information that helps them.
- Answer any and all potential questions your audience has.
- Address their pain points and needs at the right time.
- Content should reflect your brand voice.
4. Tell Your Story
Another marketing strategy nugget you can take to the bank with your event business involves genius storytelling. Always be engaging your audience with a story they can identify with or support. Whether it’s your event services company story or a story woven around the specific event you’re marketing, audiences always love a well-told story. And more importantly, they’ll stop scrolling to read an exciting or heartfelt situation. Here are some storytelling tips to consider:
- Tell a story about how you started your business.
- Share a conversational video about something on the subway.
- Showcase the charity or cause for an event.
- Highlight the keynote speakers or high-profile entertainers.
- Use descriptive language to promote experiences.
- Introduce your team and behind-the-scenes event planning.
5. Be Visible
No matter how brilliant a marketing campaign or event marketing strategy is, if you’re inconsistent with your online presence and visibility, it won’t drive the results you want. Create a content and engagement calendar or schedule you can stick to regularly. Posting, sharing, emailing, and engaging should feel natural and frequent. And if you can only manage a few digital channels at a time, stick with those you can dominate. The more visible you are with exciting news, engaging content, educational insights, or empowering suggestions, the better your results will be for specific marketing campaigns.
6. Always Engage
Wherever you execute your marketing strategies, from social media to email marketing, be ready to engage. Don’t just post or send and wait for the magic to happen. Be available to answer questions. Prepare to respond and follow up with email marketing campaigns. Always be engaging and nurturing any potential leads into taking the next step. Event marketing and business development marketing are both rooted in relationship building. Use your resources to create meaningful connections that can be polished for long-term success.
Eliminate the guesswork with all your event planning marketing and event marketing strategies with these valuable and trending best practices. And learn even more about marketing from the industry’s best at The Event Planner Expo 2023! Get tickets and reserve your exhibitor space today!
