7 Ways to Attract Professional Event Planner Clients

Balloons are a large part of decorating for many types of events. And who organizes events? Event planners, of course! Attracting these types of clients to your balloon business is valuable because they are often more than just one-time clients. After all, they probably organize several events per week, so becoming their go-to balloon business will pay off. Hence, we've compiled a list of our top 7 ways to attract professional event planner clients.

Local SEO is essential for marketing your balloon business to professional event planner clients. This is because this type of optimization focuses all on targeting your local area, which is perfect considering you're a service-based business. Including references to your city, state, county, and region naturally throughout your website is a big part of this.

Paid event professionals turn to Google to find businesses near them that can fill their needs. Your business needs to show up right at the top of the list.

Local SEO techniques include:

• Completed Google Business Profile listing
• Completed Bing Profile
• Completed Apple Places profile
• Review generation at 4.5 stars and up
• Updating the footer on the website
• Creating location specific pages and sections on the website
• And much much more

Local SEO tactics change over time as search engines make changes to adjust to the intent of searchers. So a package from a company that specializes in Local SEO for Balloon Decor businesses is money well spent.

Before contacting event planners blindly, take time to research past events and locations. Keep an eye out for information that answers these questions:

• What times of the year are most popular for their events? And why?
• Where do they host most of their events? Is it hotels, parks, convention centers, etc.?
• What types of events are popular?
• On average, how many people attend?

This research is helpful in understanding why people come to your local area. This tells you what type of event planners to contact because you'll get nowhere contacting planners who don't specialize in events where balloons are used. 

Then it’s time to prepare your information to match the events happening in your area. Take action like the following:

• Add matching website pages with galleries and details
• Update search engine and business citation listings
• Improve the look and feel of your website to match the professional nature of your clients
  

Content such as additional site pages, blogs, or event recaps are great ways to help boost SEO. However, more importantly, creating content around what event planners want to know is the easiest way to get their attention. Consider topics that appeal to them and then determine the best way to incorporate the information into your website.

In today's digital landscape, there's no need to attend every event planner conference you can find. Instead, find other ways to connect with them. For example, many use social media, so feel free to contact them on sites such as LinkedIn or Facebook. The truth is that attracting professional event planners as clients may not be as easy as you think, so you may need to get creative and use various methods to network with event planners. 

Event planners working for small or national event planning companies are often members of the chamber of commerce or Business Networking International chapters in your area too.

Directories are usually included in every event planner's journey, so listing your balloon business in as many as possible is a great way to attract professional event planner clients. Directories can range in audience from nationally to locally, so be sure to list your balloon business only in those that serve your location. You'll find that some directories are free, and others cost a fee, so it may be best to hire the help of a marketing agency for this process. 

Local SEO providers for businesses doing Twisting, Event Decor, Rentals, and Bounce Houses know how to get your business listed and which websites are the most important. Consider contacting a company like AssetLab for a Local SEO consultation or work with BalloonSuite to get a Local SEO package.

What's the main factor professional event planners look for before planning an event? Location! Be sure your location is clearly listed on your business website and social media profiles. Your balloon business will be much more attractive to professional event planner clients if it's centrally located near their area. 

Google Search Ads are a great place to start. We’re not diving into good ad strategy in this post however. Take the time to learn what you’re doing before you lose a bunch of money on ads that don’t generate ROI.

Undoubtedly, your balloon business is already established on every major social media platform. However, just having a profile isn't going to get your balloon business attention unless you give people a reason to visit it. Be sure you are posting regularly and creating the right content. 

At the end of the day, it can be hard to attract professional event planner clients on your own. So, rather than waste precious time and money, contact us. We understand the industry and have the skills needed to help attract the right clients to your balloon business.