How to Use Social Media to Drive

Attendance to Your Event and

Engage with Your Audience

1

Do I Have Your Attention?

2http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMeYdSYCC7A

About Marcel Media

Marcel Media is full service interactive marketing agency specializing in

Search Engine Marketing (SEM).

We partner with organizations to provide creative and customized

marketing solutions such as Social Media, Interactive Facebook

Applications, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Conversion

Optimization, Website Development and Web Analytics.

@marcelmedia

Facebook.com/marcelmedia

www.marcelmedia.com/blog

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About Kelly Cutler

Kelly Cutler is the CEO of Marcel Media, an

award-winning, interactive marketing firm

specializing in search engine and social

media marketing.

Beginning her career in 1997 with companies

including AOL and Classified Ventures, Kelly’s

achievements include serving as the first

woman president of the Chicago

Entrepreneurs’ Organization,

and instructing at the University of Chicago

and DePaul University.

She is a sought after subject matter expert,

speaking on industry topics such as search

engine optimization, web analytics and

social media marketing across the country.

Connect with Kelly

Linkedin.com/in/kellycutler

or

@kfcutler

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Social Media: An Overview

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Why Social Media Works

Social Media tools are built for engagement.

Benefits:

Build an online community around your event

Establish credibility in the industry

Attract attendees and speakers for the event

Help attendees connect with each other

Broadens Participation throughout the event

Encourages information sharing

Leverages the event for media cover on and offline

Supplement existing marketing efforts

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Most Commonly Used Social Media Tools

7Source: Mashable

Getting Started: The Strategy

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Is Your Brand Visible?

I. Set up a Blog - Link all social media profiles to the blog

II. Assign a check-in location on Foursquare

and Facebook Places

III. Twitter – Create a hashtag and tweet

out updates before, during & after event

IV. Facebook – Create an events page and

Facebook fan page

V. LinkedIn – Send out personalized invites

and create an event

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Optimize Your Event for Sharing

• Create a catchy hashtag for the event

• Create a branded social networking web page or virtual

whiteboard where attendees can connect before and after the

event

• Set up a live stream for those who cant travel to the event. Use

Ustream, Justin.tv or Mogulus and stream portions of your event

• Create a widget

• Create a branded badge that other blogs can add to their site

with a link to

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Brooklyn Beta Case Study

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Their website was not even created at the time of the

event, and they still managed to sell out in 2 minutes.

It is basically a sign up form. No speakers, no details.

Brooklyn Beta Case Study

The History

• Brooklyn Beta happened for the first time in 2010

• It was started by Chris Shifflet and a bunch of friends/colleagues with no real

strategy in place

• The event spread on Twitter among web designers

Ticket Sales

• 175 registered attendees

• Tickets were sold for $100

• They expanded the venue to include 200 more seats. The additional 200 sold

in less than 2 minutes

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Brooklyn Beta Case Study

What We Learned?

• Events born online or within an existing community have stronger selling

potential

• Event attendees are shaping the offer of events and organizers should be ready

to accommodate user generated initiatives

• Word of mouth marketing is more powerful then any paid advertising

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Event Marketing Tools

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Facebook

Create a Facebook Page

Create a Facebook Event and provide incentives

for guests and members who update their own

status with links to the event

Include an Events Tab on Your Facebook Page

that has a registration link

Include a “Like” button on your event’s website

Facebook Places –Events can offer incentives for

checking in like free drink coupons and

sweepstakes

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5 Great Applications for your Facebook Events Page

1. Welcome Tab- Welcome Tab adds customization to a page by creating a

custom landing page for your Facebook visitors

2. EventBrite for Pages – Provides another platform for online registration

3. Plancast – Great research tool for people to discover events

4. Nutshell Email – Allows you to send an email to all your fans and followers on

Facebook at once

5. LiveStream – Allows you to stream your event on your Facebook page

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5 Great Applications for your Facebook Events Page

1. Welcome Tab

• https://www.facebook.com/welcometab

2. EventBrite for Facebook Pages

• http://apps.facebook.com/eventbritetab

3. Plancast

• http://plancast.com/home/all/1348930

4. Nutshell Email

• http://nutshellmail.com/facebook/pages/

5. LiveStream

• https://secure.livestream.com/myaccount/launchchannel

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Twitter

Ask for people to share your event with the simple phrase, “Please RT!”

Give people an incentive to tweet out your hashtag; offer a free pass, door

prize or other giveaway

Create separate Twitter lists of event speakers, sponsors, attendees and local

restaurants and attractions

• Adding speakers to the list helps increase visibility of tweets

Have a designated “tweeter” at each session or event that tweets in real-

time about the event

• Promote hashtag before, during and after event

Create a unique hashtag for the event

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LinkedIn

LinkedIn Events App – allows you to promote global events to TweetUps

Send an invitation to the people who would be interested in the event based on

region or niche.

Create a LinkedIn poll after the event to gather feedback quickly and distribute

throughout all social profiles.

The Slideshare.net app - allows you to showcase presentations and add a video

that auto-plays when people land on your profile.

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How to Create a Viral Video

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1. Unique Content - funny, shocking, clever, controversial, interesting,

different, sexy, or quirky. Make people go “WOW”

2. Make it short: 30 seconds is good. 2 minutes max

3. Give it an attention-grabbing title

4. Use the power of the thumbnail: YouTube gives you three options for

thumbnails when uploading a video. Make sure that the thumbnail you

choose is clear and intriguing

5. YouTube allows you to tag videos: don’t

tag generically; tag creatively and specifically

Where Video’s Go Viral

Facebook Dominates: With more than 500 million people on the

Social network, Facebook dominates the sharing of social video.

People share videos on Facebook 218 percent more than through

Twitter and e-mail combined.

76%

9%

15%

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Live Blogging

Live blogging during your event can create buzz and excitement for those who

were unable to attend and provide them a snippet of what they missed. Keep

Live Blogs short, with all the highlights, quick intro and bullet points.

Blogging Best Practices

Integrate multimedia

Copy editing (Yahoo! Style Guide)

Incorporate data and infographs

Create a catchy headline

Keep entries consistent; we recommend once a week

Optimization; keywords, link building, mobile friendly

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Virtual Check-Ins

Set up a branded venue (this will be included in event details) Include address,

contact

information and links to other social media profiles, as well as event details.

Assign the event a category

Add a Tip – Tips should be valuable to people and align with your brand (e.g.

local bar or restaurant that is having a happy hour special)

Offer incentives for checking into the event. All check-ins receive automatic

entry into a sweepstakes (check-in and win an iPad)

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Social Media Monitoring Tools

Google Alerts(free): You can use Google Alerts as a buzz monitoring tool.

Social Mention (free): Allows you to set up email alerts and real time mentions of

your brand on social media

Radian 6 (enterprise level fees):This tool provides in-depth insight into real-time

conversation around your brand.

Klout (free): Determines the level of influence your brand has in the social media

Marketplace.

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Promotional Tools

Some organizers create their own social networks to build up hype and to keep

connections even after the event has occurred by using Ning

Add yourself to major event websites like EventBrite, Zvents, Plancast and

Upcoming by Yahoo

Twitter applications that promote networking: TweetChat, Tweetvite, and

TweetMyEvents

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What Social Media Looks Like in 2011

26http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgp7GwHxV14

A Case Study: Is Facebook Worth More to Event

Marketers then Twitter?

A study performed by EventBrite, which used in-house social analytics

tools to track online ticket sales showed that an average tweet about an

event drove $.80 in ticket sales. An average Facebook “like” drove $1.34

in online sales.

The study also revealed cumulative activity on Facebook was greater than

activity on Twitter for Eventbrite. People shared Eventbrite events on

Facebook almost four times as often as they did on Twitter.

People are more likely to share events if they are attending. Their

friends, according to Eventbrite’s data, are also more likely to buy tickets

to an event shared on Facebook by a ticket holder than one shared by an

uncommitted friend.

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Summary

Social Media has revolutionized events and you have a lot of resources at your

disposal. Start out on a few of the main social networks, determine where your

target audience is most active, and use what works for you!

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Thank You!

Kelly Cutler

kelly@marcelmedia.com

LinkedIn.com/kellycutler

Twitter.com/kfcutler

Questions?

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