using social media to manage, promote events
DESCRIPTION
I presented to an event planners group about how to use social media effectively for managing and promoting events.TRANSCRIPT
Using social media to manage and promote your events
University Event Planners meeting, Oct. 13, 2010
About me
Jessica Soulliere Social media communications
coordinator & senior PR rep for UMHS Founder of Social Media Club Ann
Arbor Tech geek Not an expert! [email protected] @jesssoul
A step-by-step approach:
When it comes to social media, time and advanced planning are your friends.
A step-by-step approach: Get your event details down first
Name of event (should be short and sweet): “Event Camp Ann Arbor 2010”
Description: “A yearly networking conference for event planners to share best practices, learn new techniques and trends in successful event planning and more.”
Time, date, location, speakers, schedule, costs for attendance/tickets, etc.
Who is going to manage the online promotions/communications once your plan is launched
A step-by-step approach:
Define your audience(s) Administrative assistants, donors,
students, general public, etc. Who needs to be here? Who should want to be here?
A step-by-step approach: Start listening and looking (30 days)
Use Twitter, Facebook and Google Search key words related to your event and
your audience See who is talking about or engaging online
about your event topic or speaker topics Connect, follow, fan/friend (pay attention to
who is talking about what) This can be a way of getting speakers, and/or
possible sources for registrants when you are ready to begin promoting
A step-by-step approach:Create a digital home as soon as
possible before you start promoting▪ Static website ▪ hard to update▪ not very social media friendly▪ definitely not interactive)
▪ WordPress site ▪ MANY templates to choose from▪ easy to update and integrate with SM▪ there are plug-ins and widgets for almost anything
you want to do▪ doesn’t have to be a blog▪ doesn’t require Web designer/developer to manage
A step-by-step approach:Decide on content for your
digital home Example: http://detroit.140conf.com/
Logo/representative image of your org or event▪ If you have one, use it, if not, have one
created (Fiverr.com $5)▪ 150x150 px for Facebook and Twitter avatars▪ 600 -900 px wide for Web site
banner/headers depending on design
Content continued:
Main content area Contains event description, articles and/or
blog postsSidebars
Left bar = navigation and sponsor ads▪ Home – key details about the importance of your
event▪ Registration – Deadlines, discounts and costs
and online registration form that takes online payments and/or manages your registrations:▪ Eventbrite – www.eventbrite.com (integrates very
well with WordPress)▪ BrownPaperTickets – www.brownpapertickets.com
Sidebars continued:
Left bar:▪ Schedule – detailed schedule of what
attendees can expect▪ Speakers – Photo, bio and topic of talk▪ Location – address, building/room names,
and a link to a Google map!▪ Sponsorship (optional) – Opportunities for
sponsorships (levels and fees)▪ Press info (optional) – press releases, who to
contact, where to meet for interviews, how to get credentials, etc.
Sidebars continued:
Right bar▪ Search field▪ Twitter feed▪ Widgets▪ Blog categories▪ Ads▪ Tag clouds▪ Latest posts/articles/comments▪ Whatever you want!
Create your social media outposts:
Create your social media outposts Helps you:▪ drive traffic/people to your site▪Creates buzz once you launch▪ Assists others with sharing information about your event▪ Integration with social media tools helps visitors propagate the message
Twitter outpost:
Twitter profile – good for listening, building connections EventCampA2 (limited number of chars
in title)▪ Create a hashtag for your event “Event Camp
Ann Arbor” becomes #eventcampA2 or #eca2 (the shorter the better)▪ Example: #WCDET (Wordcamp Detroit)▪ Ask followers to use same hashtag when
discussing the event before, during and after
Facebook, other outposts:
Facebook page – Event Camp Ann Arbor Fill out information and links to your site Use same logo on FB and twitter accounts Link FB to Twitter to simplify updates
Flickr – EventCampA2/Event Camp Ann Arbor (whichever fits)▪ Ask attendees to tag their photos on Flickr with the
same hashtag▪ Post photo feed on page
Use same generic e-mail account for each ▪ Gmail is easiest way: [email protected]
Manage your time:
Create a communications calendar: Launch date (with ample time to promote
and planning time for get speakers/attendees to get to your event)
What will be communicated when and by whom▪ Periodic tweets/Facebook posts▪ Blog posts▪ Registration updates▪ Photos/videos of speakers, etc. Whatever you
want; it doesn’t have to be the kitchen sinkLaunch, listen, adjust …
Keep the conversation going:During the event
Post mobile images and status updates to Facebook and Twitter ▪ people who didn’t sign up will be jealous
Tweet the key points (use same hashtag) Be sure attendees provide
slides/presentations if you are not taping the event for posting afterwards
Keep the conversation going:After the event, be sure to engage
attendees with follow-up: Thank you’s Lessons learned Videos Photo albums Downloadable presentations/freebies, etc. Invitations for feedback
Next year: Update site, rinse and repeat
Thank you!
Questions?