8 Effective Ideas To Get More Venue Leads
Are you struggling to get enough venue leads for your event space at your restaurant, hotel, or unique venue? In today’s competitive market, standing out and attracting potential clients for event bookings can be challenging.
But don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. In this article, we’ll share eight ideas on how to market your venue so it ultimately gets discovered more. You’ll see more venue leads and increase your event bookings!
Why Are Venue Leads Important?
Before we dive into the strategies, let’s first understand why venue leads are crucial for your business.
Venue leads are potential clients or event planners interested in booking your event space or venue for their upcoming event. These leads are essential for a social or corporate occasion because they can turn into paying customers and help you generate revenue. The more leads you have, the higher your chances of converting them into bookings and increasing your profits.
1. Optimize Site and Social for Lead Generation
A proven way to get the most leads to your venue is to make it easy for potential clients! First, ensure your website is visually appealing, easy to navigate, and mobile-friendly. Include high-quality photos and videos of your event space, an FAQ for events, as well as testimonials from past clients. Additionally, make it easy for potential planners to contact you by including a contact lead form. Tripleseat users can create multiple lead forms in their accounts and use these customizable form links on their website, email marketing, social media, or any digital marketing tool. Tripleseat even has an integration with Facebook. Include the link anywhere you’re promoting your business online. The more places your lead form can be found, the more opportunities you have to attract more leads.
2. Use Visuals to Secure More Event Leads
Visual content is a guaranteed way to grab the attention of prospects and turn them into leads. Share videos and images showing off your events, services, and what makes your venue unique. Make certain your images are high-quality, so they make a great impression and turn into actual venue leads!
Many people prefer to research and make decisions online in today’s digital age. Virtual tours of your event space or venue can help you reach a wider audience and generate more leads. You can create a virtual tour using 360-degree photos or videos and share it on your website and social media platforms. Give prospects a visual sense of what it’s like to have an event at your venue. Post your visuals on your venue’s website, social media, email marketing, and an EventUp profile.
3. Create a Comprehensive Profile on EventUp
EventUp will connect your venue with millions of social, corporate, and wedding event planners to grow your event business. Every Tripleseat customer can create a profile on the directory. If you’re a Tripleseat customer and haven’t set up a profile or haven’t used yours recently, now is the perfect time to make sure event planners notice your profile. Follow these tips to make your venue stand out.
4. Tap Into the Event Planner Network
We’ve heard this tip multiple times from Tripleseat customers because it works! Event planners are always looking for unique and beautiful event spaces for their clients. Schedule an event, an open house, around a particular time of year – wedding season or the holidays for example, Invite event planners in order to meet new potential clients and build stronger relationships with existing ones. It’s a great way to showcase your event offerings. Provide a tour of your venue and answer any questions they may have. Give them a taste of what menu items, amenities, or experiences you’re offering now so you’ll be top of mind. Offer them a discount or referral fee for every booking they bring to your venue.
Additionally, why not attend industry-specific events, such as wedding expos or corporate event planning conferences, to connect with event planners and potential clients? Make sure to have your business cards and brochures with QR codes ready to capture leads. Be prepared to talk about your venue and what sets it apart from others.
5. Be Prepared to Communicate Quickly
Event clients have a lot going on and don’t have time to follow up with venues that won’t return their messages. They’ll move on to the next venue on their list. Make certain that you respond promptly to leads and inquiries. Use Tripleseat’s notifications, discussion previews, and daily digest to know when prospects reach out. Then, set up email signatures, email templates, and BEO templates to create communication and documents that will help you respond within minutes via Tripleseat.
6. Forecasting Is Your Friend
If you run events at your venue, data at your fingertips will help you bring in and close more leads. If you have information on past sales, forecasting helps you by offering insight into the likely behavior of your most valuable customers (VIPs). You can predict future sales, as well as improve pricing, advertising, and menu and service development. Use Tripleseat’s reporting features to get an accurate look at forecasting. Track your event statuses and use those statuses to forecast revenue. Keep track of your prospective and tentative events, and follow up with those clients to finalize their contracts and book their events. Is there a local company that usually books you for their yearly retreat, a college or high school that plans their class reunions with you, or a nonprofit that has an annual fundraising event in your private dining space? Contact them in advance and lock them into your events calendar.
7. Gain the Lead With Email Marketing
Email marketing is a cost-effective way to reach potential clients and generate leads. Create a mailing list of past clients, event planners, and anyone interested in your venue. Send regular newsletters with updates, promotions, and photos of your event space. You can also segment your email list and send targeted emails to specific groups, such as corporate clients or wedding planners.
8. Build Your Referral Network
This is a strategy that pays off. There are many ways to broaden your reach including collaborating with other local businesses – hotels, restaurants, or transportation companies and offering package deals or discounts to their customers. This can help you tap into their customer base and attract potential clients looking for event spaces. You could also build your network by sponsoring a charity or hosting special chef experiences or workshops. Anything experiential or something that exposes your business to new people will allow you to reach a new audience and generate more leads.
Get More Venue Leads With Tripleseat
Getting more venue leads is crucial for the success of your event space or venue. You’ll increase your bookings and attract more potential clients. Remember to track your leads and conversions to see which strategies work best for your business. If you’re not a Tripleseat customer yet, schedule a demo at your convenience to learn more about how our technology can help with leads and the entire event management process.
