Since Facebook launched its Events back in 2005, social media became the new goldmine for event marketing. It was the Gold Rush of the time. Nowadays, the mine is already up and running at full capacity, just waiting to be exploited.
Event Marketing with Social Media
So, what are you waiting for? Go grab your pickaxe and let’s get down to business with these five ways social media can help your event marketing strategy:
1. Establish Your Base
Social media is an excellent way of building and expanding your loyal base of followers; the type of people that will most likely come to your events in the future. The bigger the base, the better it is for your event marketing. That’s why it’s essential that you build a solid foundation for your community. However, don’t make the rookie mistake of going overboard with the use of many different social media platforms.
Instead, what you should be doing is sticking to two or three platforms that best resonate with your target audience. After all, you want to create a loyal fanbase and engage with them as much as possible.
Spreading your message on too many social platforms is extremely time-consuming and it may be difficult to establishing a coherent and well-rounded connection with your fans.
Instead, focus on answering all of their questions and keep engaging them as much as possible. Facebook Pages is a good place to start. There, fans can easily check on your many updates and get in touch with you.
2. Befriend the Locals
Another cool way social media can help with your event marketing is by making a video that will grab people’s attention and then sharing it on your social media profiles. Use a video that highlights your previous event and how epic it was, or make a ‘teaser’ video of the event that is yet to come.
This smart event branding strategy will attract a lot of potential attendees, but make sure to use your logo with each video if possible, so the viewers can connect it with your brand more easily.
Another idea would be to use a catchy slogan which would circle around social media platforms for a time, improving your brand recognition. If you want people coming to your event they first need to know who you are. Keep in mind that the quality of the content is what matters here.
With quality content, you are more likely to attract the right kind of people, and lots of them. Otherwise, you could see your content becoming a laughing stock of the social media and thus backfire on you completely.
3. Start the Hype Train
Exploiting the hype created around your event on social media can be a powerful marketing tool. Make your followers do the promoting for you. Spark their interest with mini-competitions they can participate in before the event, and reward them with various giveaways or tickets. Tweet fun quizzes or some interesting trivia to get the ball rolling in the community.
Get them to talk about your event online on their social media profiles; one hashtag with your event name should do the trick. This way, your followers will be like a beacon for their own followers and friends.
By creating a positive vibe, you not only make a lot of people excited and rallied up for your event, but you also gain a lot of commendation for it as well; which will encourage new people to give your event a chance.
4. Get Endorsements
Closely connected to the previous point, getting your loyal followers to share your event with their friends is one thing, but having a social media celebrity sharing it is another. Endorsements from people with well-established fanbases will extend your event marketing to their followers in turn.
Try getting a prominent participant (speaker, performer) of your event to endorse the same in an interview perhaps, then post it on their social media profile.
In addition, look for other suitable candidates that might be willing to vouch for you and your event. Make a few ‘I scratch your back, you scratch mine’ arrangements; just don’t forget to return the favor. LinkedIn in particular has this option of endorsing skills which is a great way of showcasing your abilities.
5. Keep Us Posted
Finally, don’t forget to properly announce your event and to update it consistently. Facebook Events is by far the best feature out there. The fact that people are still using it, since its creation back in 2005, is a testament on how viable it really is.
Another neat idea would be to place a Twitter widget on your website so customers can check your tweets from there. As a result, your followers would be constantly updated if something concerning your event changes, and they’ll know where to look for those timely updates.
All in all, social media truly is a goldmine for event marketing. Abandoning it would be a huge waste of potential. So go on, catch your breath and continue on with the mining because there’s gold to be had in them thar hills.
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