With the COVID-19 outbreak and event safety at risk, the event industry has entered uncharted territory. Live events are suddenly off the table. In turn, event production companies and employees alike are out of work or struggling to attract new clients.
Fortunately, event planner marketing can help combat these issues. In this article, you will learn some tried-and-true marketing techniques to help you achieve your employment goals and bring more work your way.
Event Planner Marketing Strategies for Job Applicants
The purpose of marketing is to convince someone that your product is worth their time and money. If you’re an event planning professional who needs to find a job during COVID-19, that product is you. Thus, you must market yourself strategically throughout the entire job application process.
Here are some effective ways to promote yourself professionally.
#1 Write a Compelling Resume With Coronavirus In Mind
Your resume is the first thing a potential employer sees. You want it to stand out and send a positive first impression.
Your resume should:
- Showcase your skills
- Explain your expertise
- Advertise your accomplishments (with quantitative data to back them up)
- Demonstrate your dedication to the industry
If you can do all that, you’ll make it easy for potential employers to view you as an asset to their team.
Tailor Your Resume For COVID-19
In the current coronavirus climate, a standard resume won’t cut it. You need to prove that you’re prepared to navigate this ever-changing industry, which has been deeply impacted by COVID-19.
To do this, emphasize these skills in your resume:
- Being a critical thinker
- Being agile in evolving industry conditions
- Using social media strategically
- Having experience using virtual event technology
Customize Your Resume For Each Company
Next, tailor your resume to each company you send it to. You’ll need to tweak it slightly for each submission, but the extra effort will pay off. By customizing your resume, you’ll make it easier for the reader to see you as a good fit for their team.
#2 Build a Strong, Professional Online Presence
These days, most hiring managers review your online presence before they give you a call. This includes any public social media profiles, as well as your personal website, if you have one.
It’s important to look at these platforms through the eyes of an employer to make sure they reflect well on you.
Optimize Your Social Media Profiles
Social media is essential in the events industry. In fact, 80% of event marketers use social media for their event promotion. In response to the impacts of COVID-19, this number will likely increase even more.
To impress hiring managers, you need professional, well-optimized social media profiles. This will give them more confidence in your social media skills. Just follow these steps:
- Spruce up your profiles – At the bare minimum, your social profiles must be professional. The last thing you want is a hiring manager searching your name and finding unprofessional content. That’s a fast way to get cut from the consideration process.
- Share your past work – To give potential employers a glimpse into your accomplishments, share content that showcases your past work, such as photos, videos, and articles about events you’ve planned.
- Share industry news – Employers want to hire someone who is passionate about their industry. Display your dedication to the events industry by sharing interesting articles about event trends and innovations. This will show that you’re up-to-date on the latest event technology, which is more important now than ever.
Create a Website
If you don’t have a personal website yet, right now is a great time to make one. Not only do you have some extra time on your hands, but creating one is an easy way to stand out from the competition.
Make sure your website’s aesthetic choices reflect your personal brand. Also, include the following web pages:
- About – Use this page to share your personal story of why you got into the event industry and why you love it. Talk about your career history and what your goals are for the future.
- Portfolio – Use this page to show off your hard work from past events. Add photos, videos, and captions that break down your marketing strategy for each event. Explain what went well and why attendees enjoyed their experience.
- Testimonials – If you have any kind words to share from past clients, friends, or family, include them on a testimonials page. This will provide valuable social proof to potential employers. They will interpret these reviews as additional “letters of recommendation.”
By creating a professional website for yourself, you will leave a lasting impression on hiring managers and give them all the information they’re looking for in one place.
Create Event Industry Content
To take things to the next level online, consider creating event industry content for a blog or Youtube channel. This will give you a space to share your industry expertise and get discovered by others in the event business.
For example, you could start a Youtube video series on how COVID-19 is changing the events industry. By establishing yourself as a thought-leader, hiring managers will respect your ambition, knowledge, and drive.
#3 Network Online
Getting ahead is not always about what you know, but who you know. Even though traditional networking events are on a temporary hiatus, you can still forge valuable industry connections online.
LinkedIn is a great place to start. Build out your network by connecting with professionals in the event industry. Reach out with a polite introduction and express your interest in connecting. This will help you get on the radar of people who may be looking at your resume later on.
Marketing Strategies for Event Production Companies
If you’re still employed at an event production team, you can use similar event planner marketing strategies to boost event business. Maybe clients aren’t coming like they used to before COVID-19. Considering the self-quarantining and social distancing, this isn’t a surprise.
However, with these event marketing strategies, you can attract new clients despite the odds.
#4 Get Active On Social Media
To score new clients, you need to make new connections. While there are many ways to accomplish this, social media makes it easy to cast a wide net.
Simply use the following techniques:
- Show off your work – The best way to sell a new client is to impress them with your past work. This gives them confidence you’ll do the same for them. Share photos and videos from recent events and include links to your website so viewers can learn more.
- Create a marketing video reel – To go one step further, combine your past event’s footage into a show-stopping business reel. This will provide potential clients with a sense of your work. If they like what they see, they might reach out for your services.
- Make new connections — To increase your following, regularly add new friends and follow accounts related to the event industry. When people see that you followed them, they will be curious and go give your profile a look.
- Ask clients to tag you in their posts – Consumers trust recommendations from people they know more than advertising. By getting tagged in your clients’ posts, their followers will view it as an endorsement of your event planning services.
By curating your social media presence properly, you can build your brand awareness and get more clients to reach out for event planning services.
#5 Start an Email Marketing Campaign
Email marketing is very successful in attracting new leads. It has an ROI of 4,400% when done right. Your email campaign’s effectiveness depends on how well you craft your email and who you send it to.
Make sure your email list is made up of people who are open to receiving it and interested in your services. For example, registered attendees from past events are a good place to start. Once you’ve created your list, optimize these parts of your email:
- Subject line – This will be the first (and possibly only) thing an email recipient sees. It should entice them to open your email by promising value, whether that’s a promotion, interesting information, or an exciting news update.
- Personalization – People are more likely to read an email that addresses them by name. It immediately draws them in. Most email software allows you to include personalization tokens, which automatically insert the recipient’s name into the appropriate locations.
- Content – Make your email’s content easy to read and valuable. During COVID-19, you could write an email that explains your pandemic-tailored services, such as virtual event checklist planning and livestream management.
- Call-to-action (CTA) – Every good event marketing campaign needs a CTA. Make sure your CTA is compelling and easy to find in the email. It should prompt readers to take advantage of your promotion or to inquire about your services.
By constructing a well-optimized email campaign, you can attract new leads for your event planning business in no time.
#6 Nurture Your Reputation With Reviews
Word-of-mouth marketing is one of the most effective ways to get new clients for your event planning company. 92% of consumers trust recommendations from their friends and family more than any form of advertising. By cultivating a stellar reputation, you’ll be the first name on people’s minds when they’re asked for event planning recommendations.
While you’re socially distancing and staying at home, use this time to build up your reviews on Google, Facebook, and Yelp. You can do this by asking satisfied clients to share their experiences. Once you’ve received some positive reviews, feature them directly on your website on a testimonials page.
Vario: Your Virtual Events Specialist
Even though the event industry is facing tough times, there are still ways to get hired and boost business. An event planner simply must adapt to the new post-pandemic market and use their marketing tactic strategically.
Fortunately, virtual events are growing in popularity and advancing in their innovation. With the latest technology, virtual events can engage remote audiences from across the world. If you market yourself as a virtual event specialist, you will have no problem getting work.
Just take it from Vario, a leading provider of virtual event technology. To get inspired, check out Vario’s portfolio of events that use mixed reality, holographic conferences, live streaming, and other state-of-the-art tech-trends.
