Planning stellar events is only one piece of the success puzzle when it comes to growing a thriving NYC event planning business. You also need to constantly move potential clients through your sales funnel. And to do that you need a steady stream of new leads. Lead magnets are powerful marketing tools that, once created, will reel in new leads indefinitely. In this article, we’ll share five effective lead magnets you can use to attract more event planning clients.
What Is a Lead Magnet for Event Planners?
A lead magnet refers to an incentive for potential customers that entices them to share their contact information. Lead magnets can really be anything and come in many forms. They might be free items, exclusive content, attractive discounts, or anything else potential customers find valuable.
Event planners can use lead magnets to collect contact information from potential clients. Lead magnets are highly effective marketing tools because they offer incentives that appeal to people most likely to book event planning services. Newly engaged couples, corporate marketing professionals, and people who love to entertain search for specific information. Savvy event planners can create lead magnets that fulfill the needs of this select market and show off their event planning chops at the same time.
However, the real magic of lead magnets begins after the potential customer has traded their contact information for exclusive perks. You can use your growing leads list to send targeted emails and other offers to these red-hot event planning prospects.
5 Lead Magnets to Attract Event Planning Clients
Okay, now you know what a lead magnet is, but you’re stumped as to what you can put out there that will inspire your audience to hand over their information. Not to worry, we’ve got you covered with five lead magnets to grow your event planning clientele.
1. Event Checklists
People who go on to hire event planners often start out planning their own events. Children’s birthday parties, holiday parties, and low-key dinner parties are the entry points for extroverts who love to entertain. These serial hosts and hostesses are event planning clients in the making. You can attract these high-quality prospects by offering free event checklists.
Pro tip: Include tips from an experienced pro (hint: we mean you) they can’t find elsewhere for each checklist item to make your checklist better than the rest.
2. Downloadable How-Tos and Tips
Before a newly engaged couple hires an event planner, they’ll scour the internet for wedding how-tos and tips. You can create downloadable “problem solvers” to help them with everything from choosing a wedding dress to flatter the bride’s body type to a rundown of the latest wedding planning apps.
Pro tip: Make your downloadable worth the effort of sharing contact info by creating in-depth how-tos and tips that offer more than a typical blog post.
3. Case Study
Corporate planners, especially, have to prove they can deliver the goods, and there’s no better way than a case study that highlights real-world results. Share how your corporate clients solved problems, boosted their brand, improved employee engagement, or increased sales with their events. Include plenty of hard data and engaging stories to appeal to potential clients.
Pro tip: Avoid crowing about yourself and keep your customers (and prospects) front and center by focusing your case studies on helping your readers solve a problem.
4. Webinars
Webinars are a powerful way to boost your personal brand and establish yourself as an authority in NYC’s event planning space. They’re an opportunity to put a face to your brand and engage with your event audience. Webinars are also a great way to increase your social media following and get people “tuned into” your content. You can host a live webinar during which the audience can ask questions. Then, you can continue using the webinar as a lead magnet by posting it on your website.
Pro tip: Almost any event planning topic can be turned into a webinar. Here are a few ideas:
- Integrating the latest technology into your events
- Insider secrets to negotiating the best prices for all of your wedding vendor needs
- Learn how to create cocktails your guests will love
5. Interactive Quizzes
Quizzes as lead magnets are fun, entertaining, and (we think) addicting. Creating interactive quizzes for your audience is a great way to help them zero in on their personal preferences, styles, and tastes. Readers love filling out these quizzes because they’re entertaining and give them insight into their favorite topic: themselves. Interactive quizzes are so popular that, according to Content Whale, they have an average completion rate of up to 80%.
Pro tip: Make sure your interactive quizzes are both fun and insightful. Use eye-catching topics, such as “How Likely Are You to Be a Bridezilla?” or “Rapt Listener, Story Teller, or Life of the Party: What Type of Dinner Guest Are You?”
Tips for Using Lead Magnets
My Codeless Website says that lead magnets can increase signup rates by at least 41%. Make your lead magnets more successful and increase conversions by following the tips below.
- Make sure your incentive is valuable, actionable, and unique. Leads are more likely to share their information if you offer them something they can use that they can’t find elsewhere. Identify your target audience’s primary problems, and develop lead magnets that will help them solve one.
- Promote your event lead magnet on social media, your home page, and elsewhere. Your lead magnet is only useful if potential clients know about it. So, share, share away, and reel in the leads.
- Ask for more detailed information. Studies show that highly qualified leads are willing to fill out longer forms. So, ask for basic demographic information that will help you send personalized marketing materials to your new leads.
- Send a thank you message. Sharing personal information, even if it’s just an email address, is no small matter. Show your appreciation with a thank you message, and, at the same time, verify the email address.
- Follow-up leads with consistent marketing and content. Even red-hot leads will need a little more from you before they convert. Stay top-of-mind and earn their trust with consistent, authoritative content.
- Track your lead magnet’s performance and tweak it as necessary. Measure the quality of your leads and lead magnet by tracking metrics, including conversion rates, engagement, and click-through rates.
Collect More Leads When You Exhibit at The Event Planner Expo
Collecting a steady stream of new leads is the secret sauce that will help grow your event planning business. Lead magnets are heavy-hitting marketing tools that will attract new leads indefinitely. But if you’re going to smash your event planning goals in 2025 and beyond, you need more lead-generating tools in your marketing arsenal.
One surefire way to meet prospects and connect with them in person is to sign up to be an exhibitor at The Event Planner Expo. There, thousands of attendees will converge, many of them in search of the perfect event planner. You can catch their eye and regale them with your expertise with your very own exhibitor booth. Learn more about exhibiting (and showcasing your event services) at The Event Planner Expo today.
