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Using Social Media to Promote an Event Caryn Brown Waco Kiwanis Club 27 August 2013

Using Social Media to Promote an Event

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Event promotion through Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn can attract more attendees than any other form of promotion; making it crucial for all businesses to establish a Social Media presence for their event.

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Using Social Media to Promote an Event

Caryn BrownWaco Kiwanis Club

27 August 2013

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Why Use Social Media to Promote an Event?

• Event promotion through Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn can attract more attendees than any other form of promotion; making it crucial for all businesses to establish a Social Media presence for their event. – Time and effort are the main elements required

to effectively utilize social media to your benefit.

– You can communicate with people from all kinds of backgrounds and inform them about your event.

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Sound Familiar?

• Events – be it a networking gathering, open house, fundraiser, or class – are by nature, social affairs.

• People attend events to connect, interact, and share with their peers.

• People join social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to connect, interact, and share with their peers.

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Don’t Drown your Audience

• That doesn’t mean every tweet, Facebook post, or LinkedIn update should be promoting your organization's event.

• I recommend at least an 80/20 ratio for all your social media efforts.– 80% of your updates focused on

informational posts– 20% of your updates focused on promotion

• If all you do is promote the event, your fans and followers will tune you out and may stop following you all together.

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Socia

l M

ed

ia C

han

nels

to

Use t

o P

rom

ote

an

Even

t • Facebook• Twitter• LinkedIn

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Facebook

• Facebook is one of the most popular social networking sites. – It can be used as a

scalable, effective, and inexpensive tool to promote an event.

• Preparations should begin at least a month before your event.

• Fans should be encouraged to share the events with their ‘Friends.’

• Each fan will have diverse connections, and each connection in turn, will have some more.

• Promoting your event will attract attention and help your event get more attendees – Options such as ‘Share’

and ‘Like’ have immense power to make an event truly successful.

– You may also post your event on other Pages within Facebook as a large number of people who follow similar events will be alerted about your event.

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Facebook: Facebook Event

• Create a Facebook event for your organization’s event and make sure to regularly post content on your Facebook event.

• Encourage your volunteers, board members, and speakers, to post on the event page to help with engagement.

• Once the event page has been created, you will have to attract audiences. – People who have ‘Liked’ your organization should be

invited to the event through Facebook. – The rate of response can be significantly increased if

you also send out emails to the people you invite via Facebook.

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Twitter

• Tweet regularly and release important information that will interest potential attendees. – Ask your helpers to ‘retweet’ your

posts so that their followers can see them and be informed of your event.

• Since Twitter allows only 140 characters per tweet, catchy phrases and details of influential attendees can help you attract more guests.

• You can also communicate with those who ‘Favorite’ your tweets or mention the event in their tweets.

• Posting the same or similar tweets can bore and annoy your followers. – Make sure that each tweet is

unique and is sent at regular intervals.

• Tweets that mention the countdown to your event should be sent daily along with some highlights of the event.

• Art, in the form of your company’s logo or event’s graphic will certainly catch the eye of users, and inserting them in your posts will help your event gain more exposure.

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Twitter: Twitter Hashtag

• The best way to reach out to a large number of people is through hashtags. – A short and unique statement about

your event should be created and inserted in each tweet you post.

– All hashtags start with the # sign. (i.e. #WacoSMB)

– Everyone who shares your tweets, or tweets about your event will be connected through the hashtag.

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LinkedIn

• LinkedIn is a social networking site that is designed primarily for businesses and professionals.

• Join groups so that your organization gains publicity. – Groups that are related to a

particular niche will expose your organization and event to a large number of people, thereby spreading the word and attracting interest.

– Direct messages, with information about your event, can be sent to people who are part of specific groups.

• Content is crucial when promoting your event on LinkedIn, so gauge the right information and make your messages as interesting as possible.

• LinkedIn does not have an events function, but you can still reach out to industry contacts by:– Sharing your event on your

organization’s page, and to any relevant groups

– Sending direct messages to connections who may be interested (important: don’t spam all of your connections, pick and choose!)

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USE SOCIAL MEDIA TO:

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To P

rom

ote

Th

e E

ven

t• Create a Calendar of

Content • Post Ideas• Event Registration

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Promote Event: Create Calendar of Content

• Create a calendar prior to the opening of ticket sales so you can determine what content to push out and when.

• Remember that you will really use social media to its advantage if the online promotion is initiated long before the event.

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Promote Event: Post Ideas

• Announce when there is a limited number of seats

• Fill last minute cancellations• Share what attendees can expect at

the Event

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Promote Event: Event Registration

• When creating your event registration page, be sure to place social media buttons directly on it.

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To E

nh

an

ce t

he E

ven

t Exp

eri

en

ce

• Real-Time Tweeting• Encourage Picture

Posting• Respond to Questions

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Enhance Event Experience:Real-Time Tweeting

• Live reporting through real-time tweeting while the event is still in progress allows those who were interested in the event, but are unable to attend, to be a part of the event. – This keeps the people engaged and interested

in the event even if they are not present at the event. Thus, increasing footfall for the next year's event.

–Make sure to tag all posts on Twitter and Instagram with your event’s hashtag

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Enhance Event Experience:Encourage Picture Posting

• Encourage attendees to post pictures of the event to Instagram and Facebook to share their experience with their circles.– You can step this up a notch by adding a

photo booth to your event.– Easiest way to encourage this is with a

sign at the event.• Don’t forget to add your hashtag!!

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Enhance Event Experience:Respond to Questions

• Event attendees can post inquiries to Social Media during the event.

• Organizers should be monitoring Social Media to respond and provide support.–Make sure you include your hashtag in

all responses!!

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To E

xte

nd

th

e E

ven

t• Share Pictures• Get Feedback• Maintain a

Community

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Extend the Event: Share Pictures

• Posting pictures of your event afterwards on Social Media allows others to share the pictures of the event within their circles.– Don’t forget your hashtag!

• This will also help create a buzz for the next event!

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Extend the Event: Get Feedback

• Monitor Social Media buzz from your event after the event ends to help provide insight to make the event even better next year.

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Extend the Event: Maintain a Community

• With an annual event, Social Media can be used to keep your community engaged all year round.– Post to your organization’s Social Media

pages consistently, not just when you have an event!

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Don

’t F

org

et

to:

• Keep On-line and Off-line marketing in Sync.

• Be Active on Social Media.

• Assign one person to be responsible for Social Media.–With multiple people

posting to Social Media.

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Got Questions?

Caryn BrownWebsite Crafter and Social Media StrategistDigital Media [email protected](254) 722-2991

Services Offered:• Set up and Integration of Social Media Presence• Website Implementation and Updates• Technical Writing (including Social Media Usage

Policies)• Training and Public Speaking