the event planner's guide to social media
TRANSCRIPT
The Event Planner’s Guide To Social Media
You can use social media to your advantage in many ways; whether it’s creating that buzz around your event, engaging with and increasing the number of your attendees or gaining feedback after the event.
It is vital that you choose the correct social media channels in order to promote your event. At first glance it doesn’t sound too complicated, however knowing your audience and how they spend their time online is essential.
Do your research; are there similar interest or industry relevant Facebook Groups? Are they frequent Twitter users that use hashtags relevant to your industry or event, or are they more predominant on LinkedIn?
Tip: Once you have established which social media outlet you are
using, make your presence known. Promote your online presence
by adding URLS to newsletters, emails, websites, blogs and any
other promotional material that you may have.
The Event Planner’s Guide To Social Media
You can use social media to identify other people with similar interests to that of your event or industry by searching Facebook groups, Twitter lists and LinkedIn groups.
This can be an extremely helpful tool as you can interact with specific individuals by sending targeted messages and material that will increase their engagement and interest in your chosen social media channel or channels.
Giving sneak peeks of products on offer or services at the event are also a great way of increasing interest. Why should they attend your event?
Ask group members for their input. Surveys or polls on key issues or subjects of interest are a good way to start. You can also ask for recommendations for caterers, photographers, and musicians, or any other vendors you might be looking to hire for your event.
Tip: Everyone likes giveaways; offer incentives to those following
your event such as discounted entry for early registration, (the
early-bird discount), or competitions.
The Event Planner’s Guide To Social Media
Create an Event Page that has a concise message, making sure that it is consistent with your organisation’s website.
Make your page detailed and interactive; remember just capturing peoples interest is not enough, you need to keep them engaged.
This may seem like a simple concept; however such customisations take up valuable time and can be extremely costly.
There are websites and software that can aid you by creating a professional event website.
Tip: Remember to include key elements in your page, for example:
dates, location, contact and registration information as well as links
to your social media channels.
The Event Planner’s Guide To Social Media
You have conducted your research, created your page and organised your event, what next? You need to promote your page by publishing your event to your social
media channel as well as several carefully selected event directories.
Simply posting a status update is not sufficient in promoting your event; instead you should create a unique Facebook event that can be linked to your page, from which invitations can be sent to members, friends and acquaintances.
Although your event page has all the necessary details required for you event, creating a blog can go further and help spread awareness throughout different channels.
WHAT COULD YOU BLOG ABOUT?
You could provide information about key speakers, give information about related articles or provide snippets of the upcoming event. Photographs and video content can also enhance your blog. You may also wish to write about results or findings from your surveys or polls.
Tip: Your blog should also direct readers and promote interaction
with your social media channels through a Facebook Like button,
re-tweet or LinkedIn share option.
The Event Planner’s Guide To Social Media
The event is over, that doesn’t mean the buzz created around your event needs to be! You can use social media to capitalise on the interest raised to promote future events. Consider uploading videos of your event onto a dedicated YouTube channel in addition to sharing them through your social media channels and blog.
Tip: It is a good idea to make a list of all your followers on your
chosen social channels, as well as the event attendees. Use the
list to send personal invites for future events. More importantly,
thank the attendees and conduct a final survey to help plan your
next event.
The Event Planner’s Guide To Social Media
Sometimes when we’re talking to event directors they say ‘You guys provide online registration software, don’t you?’ That’s true, but we really are so much more than that. We are your marketing magicians, your pricing advisers, your best practices buddies, and more. We are your partner and we are as dedicated as you are to growing your event and the industry. And we are also participants, which gives us a special insight into your world.
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