Getting Clients Without Relying on Referrals

Perhaps you're getting your clients through referrals.  That's great!  But, is it scaleable?  What happens when your business referrals dry up?  What happens when you're hit with a lot of bad reviews online?  Relying on referrals as a main source of income is great when referrals keep coming, but how many times do you have no business?  If you have gaps between clients, it's time to look into marketing your business.

​Let's look at several ways to get a steady stream of clients without relying on referrals:

1.  Advertise on Facebook in your local area.  Local Facebook ads are one of the easiest ways to see ROI from Marketing, if the ad is done well.  Also, if your events are public (such as not a wedding), you can even promote the events on Facebook ads as well and see a higher client satisfaction.

2.  Become great at Social Media Marketing.  Start by posting twice a week, at least.  And the great part about it is you don't actually have to write the content.  Find a well written article from your industry (perhaps something about best practices for events) and share it on your social media profiles.  Also, build your following through Facebook ads that reach as many people as possible.

3.  Get partnerships with other event services.  For instance, if you're a wedding planner, get in touch with local Churches and local venues to see if they need a dedicated wedding planner to help the couples who are getting married.  This can ensure that you are getting the visibility necessary to book more weddings.

4.  Website - We can't emphasize this enough.  You need a great looking website that performs well on the search engines.  Web design isn't enough - you also need SEO services.  Depending on your role in the Event Service industry, there's a possibility that most of your business is done in the Summer.  If that's the case, you don't want to close the business up during the rest of the year - you want to be found year-round.  This is why Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is essential for you to be found online, even if you live in a smaller city.  You want to be the one people find on Google, not your competitor, right?

5.  Keep your reputation up with Reputation Management.  This is very important, as bad reviews online keep people from choosing you over your competitors.  Also, a lack of reviews means that either you're new or people didn't love or hate your service - or, just that you need to start asking for reviews and testimonials (hopefully it's that one if you don't have any reviews).

For more help on Marketing, visit our Marketing Services page to get help with your Event Services Marketing.  We help Wedding Planners, Event Planners, Christian Speakers, and Venues find clients or locations to speak.  We can't wait to hear from you and see how we can help you grow your business.