More often than not, event planners think that marketing their event planning business is something that they cannot afford. Especially for event managers who are still starting, spending on advertisements may be out of the question.
So how does one market your event-planning business without shelling out cash? The main purpose of marketing your company is for your brand to be recognized.
Here are some creative ideas that you can do to market your business without spending money for advertisements. These tips can help your business in building your brand, as well as build your confidence as the owner of an event planning venture.
1. Digital Marketing
One of the most convenient methods of marketing your business for free is to establish your online presence. Create business pages in top social media networking sites such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. These social media sites should be solely for business purposes for your company. Post updates about your events. You can also post some tips or photos and videos of events that you have successfully planned. You can also use these pages to promote any upcoming events that you are currently working on.
Another way of establishing your online presence is to register your business with online directories such as Craigslist, Google Local, or Yelp. You can also try creating a YouTube profile and upload videos of your past events or create a page on Pinterest and show photos and videos of events that you have successfully planned.
2. Referral
Another way to market your business is by word of mouth, through referrals. You can inform your clients to refer your company to their friends who need event-planning assistance. Referrals are a more reliable way of marketing your business since these clients you’ve worked with before can attest to your work. They can definitely share their experience when it comes to your service.
3. Flyers, Brochures & Business Cards
When planning for an event, you can give out flyers, brochures or business cards to potential clients. You can also check out local events or trade fair where you can hand these out.
4. Promotions
Another way to market your business is to create promotions via social media. You can create a post with your business’ logo and a sample picture of one of your events. You can let people know that if the posts get a certain number of shares, they will be given a certain amount of discount on event management services. You can keep track of the people sharing the post and do an online raffle on who gets to have the discount for your services. This is a great way for your brand to be recognized.
5. Email Marketing
Email marketing is one of the most efficient ways to keep your contacts updated with your current products and services, or any new promotions that you have as an event manager. As your company grows, you have more news to share with your contacts.
You can send email to previous clients that you’ve worked with, and you can also ask potential clients who inquire about your services and offer to send them information via email.
The lack of funds should not stop you from marketing your event planning business. It also does not mean that you have less opportunity to promote your business. All you need to do is be creative with how you market your business. The key to successfully market your business is to captivate an audience and attract possible clients that you will be working with in the future.