THEADVANCED GUIDE

TO USING

SOCIAL MEDIAFOR EVENTS

LEARN HOW TO MASTER SOCIAL MEDIA WITHINSIGHT AND ADVICE FROM MARKETING EXPERTS

PREFACEMany event planners who try socialmedia end up disappointed anddiscouraged. Here are the biggestreasons your past social media effortshaven't delivered the results you hadhoped:

1 You're following advice andinformation that isn't true.

2 You don't understand socialmedia's uses and benefits.

3 You haven't set clear goals foryour social media.

4 You're not on the rightplatforms.

5 You don't check your socialmedia efforts effectiveness.

6 You don't tweak your strategyfor success.

If you find yourself saying things like"We had high hopes, but got poorresults", "Our entire budget went towaste", or "We're never doing thisagain!" you're suffering from the resultsof one of the 6 mistakes to the side.

Just one of those 6 mistakes is enoughto make all of your social media effortsunsuccessful, but don't worry, we'vecollected advice, information andmethods from social media marketingspecialists.

Read through this book and you'll be amaster of social media in no time.

After putting the advice and methodsfrom this book into practice, you'll beginexperiencing more ticket sales, anincrease in attendee satisfaction, lowercustomer service costs and more.

I Already TriedSocial Media...

Chapter 1

(Common Misconceptions, Myths and Mistakes)

CHAPTER 1: I ALREADY TRIED SOCIAL MEDIA...

Lately, we've seen a dramatic increasein the number of event professionalsusing and expressing interest in usingsocial media for their events.

Many blogs, industry websites andevent professionals are claiming thatyour event must be on social media tobe successful, but blindly rushing ontosocial media is a sure fire way to end updisappointed or worse, permanentlydamaging the reputation for your event.

Much of the world's population is onsocial media in one way or another, butthat doesn't mean your audience iswilling to use their social media for theevent.

The truth about social media and eventsis that every audience is different. Thismeans they will interact with your eventdifferently, and on different platforms.It also means they may not be willing touse social media during your event atall.

That is why it's tricky giving andlistening to advice from other eventplanners. Their Audience is totallydifferent from yours!

Most often, event professionals fall preyto these common misconceptions aboutsocial media and events:

You believe you should use socialmedia because a competitor is. (Youshould perform a true competitoranalysis first.)You hear from a fellow event planner,or a trusted website that [socialmedia platform] caused [some crazyawesome benefit for their event].(Every event and audience isdifferent!)You think social media will turn anunsuccessful event into a successfulone. (Social media can add to anevents success, but it doesn'tmagically fix bad events.)You have high hopes for socialmedia, but don't have the necessarytime and effort into it to see any realresults. (It only takes 20 minutes aday!)You feel like social media is too riskyand would take too much money.(Social media requires very littlebudget, resources and time to runproperly.)

Social MediaDoes What?!

Chapter 2

(Social Media's Uses and Benefits)

CHAPTER 2: SOCIAL MEDIA DOES WHAT?!

Social media has powerful benefits anduses for events. It's important to knowwhat these are before you get started.

There are 9 big benefits you get fromusing social media for your event:

Social media is most commonly used inthe following 7 ways:

Customer ServicePR/Online Reputation ManagementMarketingSalesEvent EngagementEvent FeedbackResearch

It creates additional layers ofcontent.It extends the event's reach to thoseoutside of the event.It increases the event's attendancerate.It increases attendee engagement.It gives you the ability to seeattendee reactions in real time.It increases the event's impactoverall.It creates buzz.It increases event ticket sales.

You can (and should) experience all 9benefits when you've completed thisbook and the steps within it. Thesebenefits apply to all events, but theyshouldn't be what you focus on rightnow.

Instead, these should just be things tokeep in mind. What you need to focus onat this stage is social media's uses andwhich uses are most important to yourevent.

Take a moment to rank the 7 uses inorder of importance.

In theory, you could utilize social mediafor all 7 uses, but that involves asignificant amount of time andresources. We advise that you choosethe top 3 or 4 important uses and focuson them.

These 3 or 4 uses are going to decide (inpart) which social media platformsyou'll be uses and what you will use tomeasure your social media's success.

Got Any PlansTonight?

Chapter 3

(Creating a Successful Social Media Plan)

CHAPTER 3: GOT ANY PLANS TONIGHT?

Ideally, your social media efforts willtake no longer than 20 minutes a day.Here's an example of a 20 minute socialmedia plan:

SCHEDULING POST

5 Minutes: Scheduleposts.

10 Minutes: Respond tomentions, messages, etc.

5 Minutes: Analyze yourefforts and do research.

This 20 minute plan will hold true forthe time leading up to the event andafter the event, but in the daysimmediately before the event and thedays during the event you will need totweak the plan. This is especially true ifyou are using social media to increaseevent engagement!

Let's dive into each category and seeexactly what you need to do.

Post on each platform.On Twitter, try to incorporatetrending hashtags.Do not spam posts (if you can dothat in 5 minutes, kudos to you).Your goal is 1-2 a day per platform.

RESPONDING TO MENTIONS, MESSAGES,ETC.

This can be divided into two steps:Monitoring, and Responding. Do notspend more than 3 minutesmonitoring.The goal is to respond to as manymentions, message and other postsas you can.If nobody is directly mentioning you,respond to relevant topics andhashtags. The goal is to give morethan you take.

ANALYZE AND RESEARCHYou should spend time every daylooking over your audienceengagement and your social mediaplatform's analytics.We discuss how to do this in a laterchapter, but it's important you setaside the time for it in your socialmedia plan.

#?Chapter 4

(Everything You Need to Know About Hashtags)

CHAPTER 4: #?

Nothing is more universally accepted onsocial media then the hashtag. Rightnow, you can (and should) use a hashtagon Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Google+,Pinterest and more.

As event planners, you have a uniqueedge because hashtags work muchbetter with events than a product, aservice or a business name.

There are 8 benefits to using hashtagsat your event:

HOW TO CREATE THE PERFECTHASHTAG

ConsistencyAwarenessAnalysisEngagementFeedbackDistributionCommunityNetworking

Now, in order to obtain those benefitsyou must create the perfect hashtag.Don't worry though! Creating a greathashtag is incredibly simple and onlyinvolves 4 steps.

STEP 1Create an original hashtag. Research allsocial media platforms and ensure thatnobody is using the hashtag you'vechosen.

STEP 2Pick a short hashtag. The optimal lengthis 6 characters, but it's not the end ofthe world if your hashtag is longer.

STEP 3Make sure the hashtag isunderstandable. Acronyms areacceptable as long as it's easilyunderstood.

STEP 4Add the year to make the hashtagscalable.

EXAMPLES:Event: Miami Benefit ConcertHashtag: #MIABNFT15

Event: Digital Technology Trade ShowHashtag: #DGTL16

Oh, the PlacesYou'll Post

Chapter 5

(Which Social Media Platforms to Use and How)

FACEBOOKAT A GLANCE

EVENTS IT'S GOOD FOR

HOW TO USE THE PLATFORM

PLATFORM'S USES

Facebook is the most popular social media platform, andallows you to share images, videos, and text.

Networking EventsConcertsPersonal EventsFestivals

MeetingsProduct LaunchesConferencesTrade ShowsExhibitions

MarketingResearchSalesEvent Feedback

Customer ServicePR/Online ReputationManagementEvent Engagement

Post outside of business hours and only twice a day. Include alink, an image or video, and one or two hashtags. Keep posts

short and informal, and do not spam other pages.

TWITTERAT A GLANCE

EVENTS IT'S GOOD FOR

HOW TO USE THE PLATFORM

PLATFORM'S USES

Because of it's real time nature, Twitter is the go to for manyevent planners. Trends and hashtags are king on this platform.

Award CeremoniesConventionsSports EventsFestivals

SeminarsProduct LaunchesConferencesTrade ShowsExhibitions

MarketingResearchSalesEvent Feedback

Customer ServicePR/Online ReputationManagementEvent Engagement

Avoid tweeting with @username for maximum reach, tweetseveral times a day and always use your event hashtag with

one other for maximum impact. Don't ask for retweets/follows.

YOUTUBEAT A GLANCE

EVENTS IT'S GOOD FOR

HOW TO USE THE PLATFORM

PLATFORM'S USES

Youtube is the most popular platform for video. It can increasewebsite traffic and if used properly, event signups.

Award CeremoniesConventionsPersonal EventsFestivals

SeminarsProduct LaunchesConferencesTrade ShowsExhibitions

SalesMarketingEvent Feedback

Use Youtube to upload your ads, recordings of speakers,presentations, sessions, and any other video content you mayhave. Keep promotional videos under 3 mins, and other videos

under 18 mins. Utilize good SEO practices and optimize yourupload for target keywords. Use a powerful CTA.

GOOGLE+AT A GLANCE

EVENTS IT'S GOOD FOR

HOW TO USE THE PLATFORM

PLATFORM'S USES

Google+ is worth using for SEO purposes and Hangouts, but don'texpect much engagement due to the small amount of users on

the social media component.

ConferencesConventionsNetworking EventsExhibitions

SeminarsProduct LaunchesConferencesTrade Shows

Event EngagementMarketingSales

Having the page created for the event and keeping thedescription and event information updated is highly beneficialfor SEO purposes. Hangouts on Air is also a great, free tool for

broadcasting parts or all of your event live.

LINKEDINAT A GLANCE

EVENTS IT'S GOOD FOR

HOW TO USE THE PLATFORM

PLATFORM'S USES

Linkedin is a social media platform developed for professionalsand business making it well suited for professional events.

Award CeremoniesExhibitionsNetworking EventsMeetings

SeminarsProduct LaunchesConferencesTrade Shows

MarketingEvent Feedback

ResearchSales

Start by creating a group or company profile for your event,then, begin to share industry related content, not promotionalcontent. Linkedin users do not want to be converted or sold to.They want intelligent discussion. Make sure to keep a formal

tone and to make your posts brief. Make use of Linkedin'sSlideshare to share content from your event.

INSTAGRAMAT A GLANCE

EVENTS IT'S GOOD FOR

HOW TO USE THE PLATFORM

PLATFORM'S USES

Instagram is one of the most popular apps among millennialsand photos and videos can be created by everyone at the event.

Award CeremoniesFestivalsTrade Shows

ConcertsProduct LaunchesConferencesExhibitions

Event FeedbackSales

Event EngagementMarketingResearch

Post content leading up to the event and after the event using5 hashtags, and share unique and engaging images and videos

such as behind the scenes content. During the event you shouldencourage attendees to share their own images and videos

using your event's hashtag.

PINTERESTAT A GLANCE

EVENTS IT'S GOOD FOR

HOW TO USE THE PLATFORM

PLATFORM'S USES

Pinterest is a social bookmarking website and app that can beused for research and may increase web traffic, but you

shouldn't spend a lot of time and resources on Pinterest as theother social media platforms will deliver more results.

Trade ShowsAward Ceremonies

Product LaunchesFestivals

MarketingResearchSales

Pinterest won't deliver the same results as some of the othersocial media platforms, but if you do use it, make sure to

include high quality images and pin more than just your owncontent. As a research tool, Pinterest is very effective. You can

quickly gather ideas for catering, decorations and more.

Advanced SocialMedia Strategy

Chapter 6

(Best Tools to Use, Boosted Posts and Your Budget)

CHAPTER 6: ADVANCED SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY

So, You've overcome the common socialmedia myths, you understand how it'llbenefit you, you've got your hashtag,you've created you plan and you evenknow how to use each individualplatform. That doesn't make you amaster of social media yet!

First, you'll want to get Hootsuite.Hootsuite is a social mediamanagement tool and it'll save you time,keep your message consistent and allowyou to quickly stay engaged with youraudience.

Hootsuite should only cost you $10 amonth.

Now, you'll want to boost some postsand create some ads on social media aswell, and this is where things get tricky.

You've got a few choices here, butFacebook Ads, Twitter Ads, Linkedin Ads,and Instagram Ads are the main choices.

Jia-Ying Lin, a social media marketingspecialist gives the following advice forusing boosted posts and social mediaadvertisements:

To start, make a low cost ($10)advertisement on each platform. ChooseCPM instead of CPC, because eventhough it'll cost more, you'll get muchhigher quality traffic.

Facebook is the safest choice forboosting posts and social mediaadvertising. Make sure you take thetime to set up your target audienceproperly - it will help you tremendously.

Linkedin is more expensive, so I'drecommend you stay away unless you'veseen strong results from the test ad.Some [events] do well on the platformand others don't.

Don't mess with twitter ads muchbecause I never see good results comingfrom the platform.

Instagram is a great platform if youraudience is on it, but if you aren'ttargeting millennials then it won't showstrong results.

As for your budget: Start with $50 amonth, and if you see good results feelfree to increase that number. Werecommend you stay under $200.

Someone Liked MyPost! Now What?

Chapter 7

(Tracking ROI and Audience Engagement)

CHAPTER 7: SOMEONE LIKED MY POST! NOW WHAT?

There are two ways to tell if your socialmedia is succeeding. First is to checkaudience engagement. This method isfairly straightforward and quick.

Basically, it involves seeing which levelof social media engagement you are at.There are 5 levels of social mediaengagement:

Engaging (Level 3):Your audience is interacting, but only ina limited way. They are liking posts, butthat's all.

Endorsing (Level 4):Your audience is now sharing yourcontent with others.

Contributing (Level 5):Your audience is now activelyparticipating.They are commenting,posting on your wall and tweeting usingyour hashtag.

Obviously, you want your audience to becontributing, and the easiest way to dothis is to analyze, tweak and repeat.

Start by measuring the engagementeach post receives, then take the mostpopular posts and figure out why theyreceived the extra engagement, thentweak your strategy to incorporate theelements that made that postsuccessful and repeat the process!

The second way to track success is totrack ticket sales, attendee engagementand other tangible statistics. Theseshould increase with good social media.

Observing

Following

Engaging

Endorsing

Contributing

Observing (Level 1):Your audience is watching your postsand deciding whether it is interestingenough to join.

Following (Level 2):Your audience is now following yourevent or liking it's pages.