Events should be a part of your marketing strategy. They’re one of the best ways to bring in new business. This is especially true if your primary source of new business is referrals. At most, referrals trickle in if you rely on your clients to make the sale. By hosting marketing events, you’re giving your clients the opportunity to put their people in front of you. Successful events take work and require the ability to adapt when things don’t go as planned. If you’re new to planning marketing events, here are some tips that can help make yours a success.
Stay flexible
If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s taught us that you have to adapt in order to survive. The term “marketing event” evokes the image of a real in-person event. Thanks to COVID-19 that’s not an option right now. Financial advisors who are willing to change their plans haven’t lost steam. They pivoted to hosting virtual events while others scrambled to get on board with the new normal.
Plan for your target audience
Targeting a specific niche is a major part of your marketing plan. It’s important to keep that niche in mind when you plan your events. Your clients are a part of that niche, so you have some idea of what they like. Play to that with your events. If you know that some of your clients are into art, then host an event at an art gallery. By playing to their likes, you create a space where they feel safe bringing in their friends and colleagues.
No free lunches (or dinners)
Getting a bunch of people in a room so that you can market your services to them sounds like a wonderful plan. That all changes if you end up with 50 people in the room and 30 of them just wanted to eat the food you provided. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t host events with food. It does mean that you have to make sure you’re getting the right people in the room. You can cultivate the right people into great clients. In that case, the cost of lunch is well worth it.
The effort you put into planning your marketing events is critical to their success. Whether they’re in-person or virtual, events are great for growing your business.
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