More and more event marketers are turning to social media to promote their events. According to one study, 84 percent of marketers used Facebook to promote their events, 61 percent used Twitter and 42 percent used YouTube. Though it may seem ideal for social media, marketing events can be trickier than many first assume. With millions of people posting millions of things every day, It takes more than a simple listing to get people to notice an event. Here are six tips for effectively marketing an event on social media.
Make a clear, concise description of the event that is easy for readers to find. This is often overlooked when marketers add their events to calendars on their own websites or the event calendars for sites like Facebook. It’s okay to have a short title for the event (e.g. Company X’s Summer Bash), but be sure to include the time, location, and a brief description of what is happening in the details section. It’s better that people have too much information about the event than too little. People aren’t going to show up to an event they are confused about, just so they can figure it out.
Use a hashtag for the event. Now that hashtags are being used on almost every social network, they are essential for marketers who are promoting their event on social media. From the beginning of the campaign, marketers should choose a hashtag that will then be used for all posts and tweets about the event. Besides making it easier for people to look up previous posts about the event, using the hashtag will get other people to use the tag when they talk about the event. This will help to spread the conversation about the event and get more people talking about it and planning to attend.
Market to target audiences directly on social media. Social media networks have made it easier for businesses to market to people with specific interests. Because of these efforts, promoted content and advertisements are good tools for marketing events to target audiences. Advertisements can be used to pinpoint new fans, and once enough are acquired, promoted content can reach their friends, who probably share similar interests.
Include multimedia materials of event highlights. Every event should have some feature that should draw in attendees. Whether that feature is a celebrity guest appearance, free prize away, or the world’s largest pizza, that feature should be represented with images and videos whenever possible. As has been mentioned before on this blog, content with images is shared more on social media networks than text-only content. So if marketers want people to notice their event highlights and spread that information to their friends, imagery is a must. Headshots of guest speakers or images from previous events are good places to start.
Search for the super fans of an organization or the event. There are some things that people get really excited about and if an event contains one of those things, then marketers need to look for these super fans. They are among the most likely to attend events that feature things they like, they tell their friends, and they spend a lot of money. For event marketers, super fans are low hanging fruit and social media is a ladder. It doesn’t get much easier.
Have a prominent call to action. Even if people notice an event on social media, if they don’t easily see how to register, there’s a chance that potential attendees won’t make the effort to search for themselves. Include links to the registration page on the social media channel and in some of the posts. Since posts without links get more organic reach than those with, marketers may want to consider using paid promotion for posts that include links to make up for the lost reach. Additionally, the call to action should be prominent on the organization’s home page and marketers should consider building a landing page specifically for the event.
Using social media to promote events is an effective way to integrate social media marketing with traditional campaigns. Using these tips will help business owners reach their target audiences and foster deeper connections with their customers.