before, during and after: social media for event promotion
TRANSCRIPT
#UMDsocialEffective Event Coverage
August 3, 2016
Alissa Arford JOUR ’94, MBA ’10Director of Online Strategy
Office of Marketing CommunicationsUniversity of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business
@AArford | AlissaArford.com
Who Am I?
Alissa Arford, Director of Online StrategyRobert H. Smith School of Business
- Executive MBA, Robert H. Smith School of Business- BA, Journalism, Philip Merrill College of JournalismUniversity of Maryland, College Park
Alissa has worked in the Office of Marketing Communications at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business since 2000. She was brought on to create the first comprehensive website for the Smith School and has since led the school through multiple website iterations and brand identities. Currently, she manages the school's award-winning online and social media marketing and communications efforts. Before coming to Smith, she held various marketing and communications positions in non-profit associations and a publishing company.
@AArford
About Smith
• #1 full-time MBA student satisfaction, U.S. Bloomberg Businessweek, 2015
• #7 executive MBA program, U.S.Financial Times, 2015
• #11 PhD program, worldFinancial Times, 2014
• #19 part-time MBA program, U.S.U.S. News & Report, 2016
• #22 full-time MBA program, U.S.Financial Times, 2016
• #22 undergraduate program, U.S.U.S. News & Report, 2015
• #23 research, worldFinancial Times, 2016
BY THE NUMBERSFaculty: 150 full-time, 50 part-timeStaff: 155 full-timeStudents:• 2,950 undergraduate• 230 full-time MBA• 820 part-time MBA• 220 online MBA• 785 specialty masters• 100 PhD• 230 Executive and EMBA studentsAlumni: 60,000+ worldwide, 30,000 alumni in metro D.C.
4 Locations in the U.S.
About Smith
6 Academic Departments1. Accounting and Information Assurance2. Decision, Operations and Information
Technologies3. Finance4. Logistics, Business and Public Policy
(Supply Chain Management) 5. Management and Organization6. Marketing
8 Academic Majors1. Accounting2. Finance3. Management (formerly General
Business)4. Information Systems5. International Business6. Supply Chain Management7. Marketing8. Operations Management & Business
Analytics
3 Academic Minors1. General Business2. Business Analytics3. Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Graduate ProgramsFull-time MBA, Part-time MBA, Online MBA, Executive MBA, Specialty Masters, PhD, Executive Education
About Smith
1. Center for Complexity in Business (CCB)2. Center for Digital Innovation, Technology and Strategy (DIGITS)3. Center for Excellence in Service (CES)4. Center for Financial Policy (CFP)5. Center for Health Information & Decision Systems (CHIDS)6. Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER)7. Center for Leadership, Innovation and Change (CLIC)8. Center for Social Value Creation (CSVC)9. Center for the Study of Business Ethics, Regulation, and Crime (C-BERC)10. Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship (Dingman Center)11. Ed Snider Center for Enterprise and Markets (Snider Center)12. Supply Chain Management Center (SCMC)
12 Research & Business Centers
Social Media @ Smith
22 Official Twitter Handles@SmithSchool
4 Official Instagram Accounts @UMDSmithSchool
20 Facebook Official Pages & Groups@SmithBusinessSchool
1 YouTube Channel/SmithBusinessSchool
12 Official LinkedIn Pages & Groups
Event Marketing on Social Media
Events = #EZwinSocial Media Goal: Expand Reach and Influence• Credibility
Events with social media coverage seem more legit and the content is more authentic – You’re posting with a purpose
• New followersEvents are a lure for new followers
• Increased exposure via engagement Reach extends to friends of attendees when they join the conversation or like/comment/share/RT
• “Trending”The ultimate goal for events =
Get your hashtag trending!
• The event #hashtag is the most important component of event marketing on social media
• Not all events need a custom hashtag or social media campaign• If you don’t need or want an event hashtag, use the sponsor’s
preferred hashtag. At Smith, we use #SmithTerps• We use acronyms and years for most event hashtags• Make sure your hashtag is not too long, misleading, awkward, or
currently in-use• Include the hashtag in your marketing materials• Without a hashtag, the relevance of your tweet is fleeting• But if you have a hashtag and don’t use it, that’s even worse
Smith School Business Summit (#SSBS16)CEO@Smith (#CEOatSmith)Women Leading Women (#WLW16) Graduation (#SmithGrad)Emerging Markets Forum (#EMF2016)Cupid’s Cup (#CupidsCup)Social Enterprise Symposium (#SES16)
Examples
Event Marketing on Social Media
www.mugsypr.com
Effective Event Coverage - #DoingItAll
1. Pre-Event2. Event Day3. Post-Event
Event Marketing on Social Media
Pre-Event
Event Marketing• What’s your goal? Do you need to get attendees?• Think about: organic posts, paid/boosted posts, engagement
contests/giveaways, surveys, videos, countdowns• Over time, modify your strategy based on your attendance
numbers. Increase or decrease number of posts.• Get into the existing conversations: #UMD #DC #DMV
#MotivationMondays #TBT #GoTerps #FearTheTurtle• Images are important! If you must repurpose existing images go
ahead – but it’s better to make images specifically for social media that have less text and are more square.
• Is it a huge event? Think about updating your cover photos to custom images promoting the event. #GivingDayUMD
Pre-Event
Event Marketing• Include handles of speakers, sponsors, organizers, and
location in pre-event tweets. • Have an especially prominent speaker or large company?
Offer praise and do what you can to get a retweet!• To increase the perceived engagement, make different tweets
from multiple accounts.• If possible, schedule weekly posts via Hootsuite so you don’t
forget. • If you will be too busy at the event doing other things,
schedule event-day tweets throughout the day – welcome, agenda/speaker related, closing/thanks.
• Make a “Tweet Sheet” for the event with handles, hashtags• Provide a toolkit with sample posts and images to partners• ALWAYS USE THE EVENT HASHTAG!
Pre-EventCupid's Cup Tweet Sheet 2016 #CupidsCup – Include event hashtag with every Tweethttp://www.cupidscup.com LIVE FEED - Access 2-4 p.m. via http://www.cupidscup.com Related Handles:@CupidsCup@TheClariceUMD@UofMaryland@UMD_Dingman@SmithSchool@UnderArmour #CupidsCup #StartupShowcase There are four businesses at the @UMD_Dingman Startup Showcase with #SmithTerps: @RouteOneVC @spothis @nonichhouse #uBoard #UMD Finalist: @JAVAZENEric Golman ’15 (economics and environmental science)Ryan Schueler ’14 (marketing)Aaron Wallach ’14 (kinesiology and exercise science)Yoni Razin ’14 (communication) #CupidsCup Judges: Kevin Plank @UnderArmour & @cavsdan @cavs @QuickenLoans & @WesMoore1 @BridgeEdUTeam & @ariannahuff @HuffingtonPost
Tweet Sheet Example for Live Event Coverage
Pre-Event
Event DayTop priorities for posts:• Remind attendees to tweet using the
event hashtag• Audience photo (unless the room is
empty)• Host welcome photo• Photos of keynote speakers - Can’t get a
great photo? Ask for a posed shot afterwards.
• Quoting a speaker? Use their personal/company handle. Paraphrasing? Don’t use quotes!
• Twitter and Instagram are the best outlets for live event coverage. Don’t annoy your Facebook audience with too many posts. Direct them to the event hashtag. Using SnapChat? Create a story and geofilter.
Alissa A. Arford @AArford Apr 20#Ravens Coach Harbaugh: There's no such thing as failure unless you decide to stop trying. #fearlessteams
Event Day
• Mess up on a post? Don’t be afraid to delete or apologize. • Live tweeting at an event is not easy! • Enlist help from others. One of you can do Twitter, the other
Instagram or split up sessions.• Be sure to like all of the audience-generated event posts and
retweet some, but it’s not necessary to retweet everything.• Is no one tweeting at your #hashtag except you? We’ve all
been there. Maybe your audience is just not into Twitter. • An amazing event can look like a bomb if there is not
adequate coverage on social media and a small event can look fabulous with the right social media coverage!
Uh-oh!
Post-Event
It’s a Wrap1. Tweet out a thanks at the end of the conference.2. Connect with people you met on social media.3. Organizers should post the event photos on Facebook so
attendees can tag themselves.4. If there is a highlights story and/or video, post the links.5. Using Storify? Collect Twitter highlights.