Event management is a promotional plan that business managers use to link their firms to events such as sports competitions and trade shows. Through event management, a business has the power to dictate upon self created events or sponsored ones for that matter. Since an event is all about gathering the target group in a place where the business message is to be passed, it is considered as one of the most effective promotional strategies used by different companies (Saget 46). The ever rising costs associated with the traditional ways of product promotions have compelled most companies to shift to the use of events as a marketing tool. The organizations, through the events, are able to interact face-to-face with their target groups. Therefore, event marketing is not only cost effective, but also the best way of increasing company’s sales (Shone and Parry 103). This paper will outline the factors that have made most businesses turn to events as a marketing tool. How Events are Used as a Marketing Tool Event management entails a thorough study of the details of a particular brand before identifying the target audience. Once the intricacies of the products have been identified and well listed, the managers then identify the people who are likely to purchase the company’s products. The next step is to formulate an event that suits the target audience (Preston and Hoyle 46). For instance, if the target group is composed of youths, then the most suitable events would be road shows since members of this target group are likely to attend such events in large numbers. The event management team should ensure that the technical aspects related to event marketing are well coordinated before executing the proposed plan (Preston and Hoyle 47). The most effective event management strategy is event greening or sustainable event management. Event greening enables the organizing team to plan and execute an event that can address economic, environmental, and social issues at the same time (Preston and Hoyle 47). Sustainable event management ensures that an event is hosted responsibly by seeing to it that the plan formulated includes definite sustainable development practices and business principles. Therefore, sustainable event management starts from the inception of the marketing plan and ensures that the major key players such as organizers, clients, venues, and suppliers are included in the plan (Raj and Musgrave 128). The most common events that companies use for event marketing include executive meetings, trade exhibitions, trade shows, road shows, dealer meetings, corporate-customer meetings, charity shows and sports competition among others. Many firms have been able to effectively use these events to market their products to their targeted potential customers and prospects (Shankar, and Carpenter 407). However, if the events are not used effectively by the companies, they can’t be of any help to these companies as far as marketing strategies are concerned (Preston and Hoyle 46). Classification of the Events Used for Product Marketing There are several ways through which a firm can identify its potential clients and also retain the existing customers. Events have proven to be the most effective way of identif