What is an Event Specialist?
Event Specialists are marketing professionals who bring marketing to the public, interacting with potential customers and demonstrating a company’s product or service. Event Specialists organize and ensure the smooth operation of marketing efforts, from planning to implementation. Their goal is to generate excitement, brand awareness and boost sales by hosting events in stores, at trade shows, concert, sporting events or other public venues.
Event Specialist might work directly for the company that they are promoting, or they may work for a Public Relations or Marketing firm. They often work as part of a team to promote their products or services. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that employment of marketing professionals will grow 9 percent by 2024. As organizations seek to expand their market shares, advertising, promotional and marketing campaigns are expected to continue to be an essential part of business.
Want to add value to your job application? Using a professional cover letter builder can help you stand out from the competition. Use ours to build a stand out letter that will get you noticed.
Event Specialist Duties and Responsibilities
Organize Promotional Events
Set Up and Take Down Displays
Interact with Potential Customers
Evaluate the effectiveness of campaigns
Event Specialist Skills
Employers describe the perfect Event Specialist as “self-motivated, outgoing and friendly.” Events Specialists should be enthusiastic, positive and full of energy, from the planning of the event all the way through its completion. Strong interpersonal and communication skills are an absolute must, as they need to connect with customers and sell products. They should also confident and articulate. Success as an Event Specialist requires excellent planning, time management and organization skills, and the ability to work independently.
Core skills Based on a review of Event Specialist job listings, employers are looking to hire candidates with these core skills. If you want to work as an Event Specialist, make sure you have the following.
- Proven record of organizing and planning successful events
- Ability to stand comfortably for up to 8 hours a day
- Demonstrated flexibility and adaptability
- Ability to manage resources and budgets
- Analytical skills to forecast and identify trends and challenges
Advanced skills The following skills are not necessary to become an Event Specialist, but they will help you stand out of the crowd. These were listed as preferred or desirable skills on multiple Event Specialist job listings.
- Experience in event marketing, demonstrations, sales or retail/grocery
- Understanding of the principles and implications of union and labor laws, liability insurance and venues policies to show production
- Demonstrated ability to take initiative and interact with all levels of management
- Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously
Tools of the trade The tools used by an Event Specialist will depend on the particular job and product they are promoting, but the following tools will be useful to any Event Specialist. Make sure you have a grasp on these if you want to be an Event Specialist.
- Microsoft Office software Word, Excel, PowerPoint
- Internet applications, especially social media platforms
- CRM software
GO PRO
Choose from fully customizable
GET PAST THE BOTS
Ensure compatibility with Applicant Tracking Systems
LOOK YOUR BEST
Save time with sleek and stylish professional design templates
Event Specialist Q & A
What are some of the core duties performed by an Event Specialist?
Duties are broad so someone with a varied skillset is ideal. You might do everything from ideation to completion, including developing theme and branding, marketing, securing sponsors, logistics, decor, day of facilitation and follow up reports.
What challenges does an Event Specialist face?
You must be highly organized, able to think on your feet for any challenges that arise, and able to direct a team of varied personalities.
What skills do Event Specialists use most?
Marketing and PR skills, organizational skills, ability to talk to and get along with all types of people, team building.
What should someone consider before becoming an Event Specialist?
Many, though not all. jobs are contract so no insurance or benefits.
What type of person is successful in this job?
Those that are outgoing, organized and have a marketing mindset. My career as a Marketing and PR Consultant lead me to opportunities.
What do you find to be the most rewarding about being an Event Specialist?
As an Event Specialist you have the opportunity to take jobs all over, travel is a fun perk! I also love the opportunity it gives me to continually meet new people.
Event Specialist Salary
Event Specialist Resources
Event 360 is an event marketing company with years of experience in pulling off events of all sizes. The blog is a great resource for everything event marketing, covering important basics like social media outreach for events, staffing your booth and selecting the right event for your organization. This is a hilarious, thoughtful and informative blog full of trade show knowledge. The blog, written by an industry expert, aims to help other marketers be successful at trade shows. AMA has lots of resources to help prospective marketing professionals break into the field, including job board and academic resources page. Marketing EDGE is a national nonprofit that is committed to acquainting professors and college students with the business of marketing. It has great resources for students looking to learn more about careers in marketing. A successful Event Specialist needs to understand the basics of marketing – this book has you covered. Learn the tips of the trade to get the most out of your marketing events.On the Web
Event 360Industry Groups
American Marketing AssociationEvent Specialist Books
Marketing
Event Specialist Resume Help
Explore these related job titles from our database of hundreds of thousands of expert-approved resume samples: