Business, Education, Your Event Career
Market Your Event Planner Certification the RIGHT Way
Getting started in the event planning industry is much easier when you’re holding a certification. But that piece of paper can only help you start off on the right foot. How can you maintain that momentum when starting your own business?
Your certification shows potential clients that they can trust you. You have visible proof of the hours you’ve invested in yourself and education. Now it’s time to market it! You may be tempted to accept whatever projects come your way. These are valuable learning experiences, after all. But at a certain point, you’ll realize that you want to try taking on different events with different paces. A single certification can secure you many different types of jobs.
Keep reading to find out how you can effectively market your event planner certification!
Highlight what sets you apart
Distinguishing yourself from the competition is key. You don’t want to get lost in the sea of other event planners. And if you’re just starting out, how can you make sure your name will even pop up on people’s radar?
Research what other planners in your area are offering. Ask yourself these questions when you’re researching your local industry:
- Are they offering the same services as you?
- Are their services priced well compared to their level of experience?
- How does their professional portfolio look?
- Do they have any unique offerings?
- Who is their target market?
- Is there an oversaturation of a certain type of event planning?
Once you’ve accurately studied your local event community, you need to address what you’ve found! This is when you need to amp up your brand marketing and clearly show why you’re different. The best way to do it? With your online presence…
Promoting your brand
Promoting your brand is easier said than done. You need to make sure that all your promotional materials reflect what you do. It doesn’t make any sense to have a business logo written in comic sans when you specialize in corporate events! Here’s where you should focus your attention:
Website: If you don’t meet potential clients in real life, your website is probably where you’ll create your first impression. Make it count! Target your website’s texts and images to create one cohesive brand. If your target clients are looking for rustic, small weddings, use keywords like “intimate” and “charming” on your website. You should let your portfolio do the talking, but don’t be afraid to help it out a little. Part of your job is being able to anticipate your clients’ needs!
Social media: Social media can be a tricky world to navigate. It can be hard to create a strong presence on every platform. For event planners, Pinterest is more popular than Twitter, so allocate your time accordingly. Address your audience with your posts. Who do you want to become your clients? If you’re trying to break into the luxury event planning scene, share posts about high-end venues or gourmet catering. Appealing to your target audience’s interests can grow your clientele.
Portfolio: Having a high-quality portfolio is a must! Besides including good photos, you should accompany each event with a description. Use your portfolio to tell a story and draw in potential clients. The events you choose to show off should appeal to the types of clients you want. People look for events located in their ideal venues and styled similarly to how they want theirs. If you can make your portfolio’s images match your mission statement on your website, you’re golden!
Related articles:
- Mastering Pinterest Marketing for Event Planners
- The Busy Event Planner’s Guide to Social Media: Where Should You Focus?
- 7 Musts to Include in your Event Planning Portfolio
- Marketing Yourself Through a Styled Shoot
Stretch your skills
Even if you specialized in wedding planning, it doesn’t mean you can only plan weddings. Your skills are 100% transferable! Look into your local demographics: are people in your area likely to throw extravagant sweet 16s? Your skills in planning milestone events can stretch to include similar events.
If you’ve only planned small weddings and parties, it’s intimidating to tackle larger projects outside of the nuptial sphere. Galas, company events, and large conventions, anyone? Not to worry, though! Even if you scale up, you’re still trying to meet your clients’ goals. And you can bet you’re still following the same event planning and decor principles.
Yes, you may not have to secure a sponsor for a Bar Mitzvah like you would a product launch party. You can expect some differences, but the planning process is (mostly) the same. You’ll still have to scout out venues, contact your vendors and hire entertainment. Let’s not forget that you have to stay under budget and finish planning by the big day. If you break it all down, it’s the exact same process!
Package your services
Who can say no to a good deal? If you can make enticing service combinations, there’s no telling how fast your business will grow! Put together packages you feel people would want to purchase. Don’t make them hard to find. Advertise your service packages prominently on your website and social media. Be sure to pick services that mesh, and price them competitively!
Choose combinations of services that go well together. Build packages based on what will interest your target clients. Ideally, you should offer a variety of packages that range from day-of coordination to full-service planning! If you have an Event Décor certification as well, packaging your services can grow your salary.
Whatever you do, make sure you still offer à-la-carte services. Sometimes a client will already have a planner but need a decorator. If you offer those services together AND separately, you will open your business up to more opportunities.
Benefit from major holidays
Our final tip? We’ll keep it short and sweet. Big holidays like Valentine’s, Christmas, New Years, etc., are huge markets! Some people might think it’s gimmicky, but it’s really not. Especially if you live in an affluent area, people are more likely to hire an event planner to take the reins. It’s not just private events for close friends, either! Consider citywide public parties, business parties, and college campus events, too.
Have any tips we missed? Let us know!
