The average American’s disposable income has grown manifold in the last five years. That probed the trend to celebrate small occasions in life. The number of marriages in the US also increased. More than 2 million marriages are now held every year in the country. Let’s understand How to Market an Event Planning Business.
Hence, the event planning industry is also catching up with the wind.
An assuring tailwind will also support the launch of new businesses in the sector. Especially when small and micro-sized companies already dominate the industry.
There are 94293 event planning agencies in the US. However, most of these are small-scale businesses.
You may also launch your own event planning business now. The time is favorable. The market resources are also conducive.
Planning and organizing are the initial steps. However, it would help if you also had a robust marketing plan.
More micro competitors mean your approach and services must be unique. Otherwise, you’ll be lost in the sea. So, we’ll emphasize How to Market an Event Planning Business here.
Here, you may read about the other factions of an event planning business, such as setup, organization, licensing, and other nitty-gritty things.
The US Target Market
In the US, people aged 20 to 30 host most events. They have a high median income of approximately $80,240, which helps them host events easily. Around 97% of this age group uses the internet for entertainment and utilities. You may begin by targeting this group. However, the target niche depends mainly on your services. For instance, a wedding planner won’t be much interested in this age group. Accordingly, you may sort your target market as well.
How to Market an Event Planning Business?
| “The art of marketing is the art of brand building.” → Philip Kotler |
In the same essence, we will explore marketing options with the ultimate brand-building goal. If there is no brand, there’s no point in selling. Because, as a small business, you ought to sell your brand alongside your products.
Sort Whom You’ll Target
Your event planning business won’t see sunshine without the right target audience. Moreover, you can’t channel your marketing expenses if you don’t know whom to target.
In a nascent stage, access to funds is limited. Our marketing investments should bring us new clients.
Let’s take the example of NYC Events Pro. This emerging event-planning brand is barely five years into the industry. But they made it big time with the right product profile for a dedicated target market. Their focus has been DIY parties and concept events since day 1.
Eager to set your target audience, too? Here’s the trick.
First, research your industry in depth. Find out everything about the niche market that seems befitting to your buyers. Then, plan your marketing strategies accordingly.
Here are some market factors to consider:
- Income
- Age
- Locations to serve
- Background of customers
- Household size of customers
- Hobbies of customers
Use SEO to Promote Your Small Business
SEO is the most cost-effective yet helpful marketing strategy you may consider. SEO will top the suggestions chart if you search online- How to Market an Event Planning Business.
The first step to SEO is website optimization. But it would help if you also had good on-page and off-page SEO tactics for a well-optimized site.
So, let’s check out the factors that determine the quality of your eve planning website.
1. Keyword Research
As you have a dedicated audience, they will have a resembling search intent. So, your first goal is to create long-tail keywords that match the search intent.
Moreover, long-tail keywords help in attracting quality traffic.
Keyword research can be overwhelming. But you have easy tools like Google Keyword Planner and SEMRush to help you.
2. Link Building
After the keyword, the most crucial step is backlinks. If you get backlinks from high authority sites, it will help your marketing.
Backlinking makes your site more trustworthy. However, backlinks are not all. Your site must have good content where backlinks can be placed.
You’ll understand better if you check out NYC Events Pro’s website. They have informational and guiding content to help customers plan their events better.
Besides, backlinks assure Google that your site content is valuable to users.s Hence, your SERP ranking also improves.
3. Page Speed Optimization
Many professional sites have a page speed of less than 1 second. However, small sites may have a speed of up to 2 seconds. That is deemed effective as well.
Search engines rank pages with lesser load speed over others. So, your site’s ranking depends on it considerably.
4. Updated Web Design
Web design is the crux of getting customers hooked.
If you go for plaintive product details, customers may lose the charm of reading. However, sites like NYC Events Pro have a mix of short promotional content, photo thumbnails, and clever categorization of their services.
Readers can also read client testimonials about their events and see snippets or clips. Hence, the site has everything to help clients make informed decisions.
Business Listing
Listing sites play a deciding role in marketing. The same goes in proper sync with small businesses.
Even if your site has a low reach, people will find your business through the listing pages.
Some listing sites with utility details on business planning companies are:
ii) Bizzabo.com
iii) hotelengine.com
Pro Tip: Try listing your business on all possible online directories. You may go for Google and Bing listings besides the ones I mentioned.
Pros and Cons of Business Listings
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Increases site exposure | Listing in irrelevant directories may bring your reach down |
| Makes your business meet more clients | Searching the best local business listing sites is difficult |
| Most listing sites are free | |
What to Do?
Searching relevant listing sites may be a snag. However, I am here to help.
Follow these steps to get the best out of site listing:
Step 1: Visit a listing page
Step 2: Go to its niche list
Step 3: Search the most relevant categories
Step 4: Find out the most popular regional business categories
Step 5: List your business
Social Media Marketing
Forbes found that 41% of US small businesses generate revenues from social media marketing. Small companies who need to learn how to market an event planning business can simply use social media.
They can save the intricate market analysis for later. Simply being active on social media is a great marketing tactic itself.
Already, 65% of customers in the US feel more connected with brands active on social media.
There are many ways for event planners to engage on social media. Here are some plausible suggestions:
- First, create social media pages with your business name
- Then, list your business on social media marketplaces
- You can also create short reel videos as promotional content on social media sites
- Thirdly, flash limited-time discounts on social media posts
- You may also DM active followers with special discount links
- Posting event photos and tagging clients on social media may also help to get referrals
Pro Tip: Remember to comment to customers who actively engage with your posts. Most customers prefer brands that are active on social media.
Live Streaming of Events
Around 232 million people in the US watch live streams of events and programs. Therefore, it became an excellent promotional opportunity for event planners.
I suggest live streams on Facebook, Instagram, Facebook, etc.
The live streams are one-time screenings only. So, there’s a chance to entice people with FOMO.
Create a Circular Economy
The event planning industry in the US is enormous. Ranging from birthdays to divorce parties, there are hordes of events every day.
Then, there are individual events, alongside group events and corporate events.
Indeed, you can’t be a specialist in all kinds of events.
So, having a shared space is better.
You may reach out to related market players and list your specialties.
For instance, let’s assume you are a specialist in corporate party management. However, you don’t do food catering. So, team up with a few caterers in your area.
If you give them orders, they’ll reciprocate the same way.
When they get food catering orders, they’ll refer you for hosting the concerned event.
The Bottom Line
We discussed multiple suggestions for How to Market an Event Planning Business here. But choosing the best strategy depends on you.
You must have a great understanding of your strengths. At the same time, knowing your target market is crucial.
Eventually, I recommend choosing a marketing plan that suits your budget.
Many businesses go overboard and face contingencies. So, save your funds until you have the right marketing strategy.
However, digital marketing strategies like SEO are more effective. In the same vein, collaboration with other brands may also bring more clients to you.
Contact us for further details and tips on marketing your business! You may reach us anytime by commenting below.
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