Social media is a platform where major part of your potential audience is present. It helps events and their planners to have long-term interactions with attendees. So you should definitely make sure that you’re present on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and LinkedIn in order to reach your target audience.
Now create buzz-worthy events through social media marketing using the following tips:
- Create and use a hashtag
Enhance social media buzz and increase participation through a specialized hashtag for your event. For twitter, create a hashtag that is relevant, short, unique and sweet. An example of a hashtag fail can be that of Susan Boyle’s album release party that used the hashtag #susanalbumparty. Whoops!
You don’t’ want your event hashtag to sound funny like this one does! Also just creating a hashtag won’t help to promote your event. Promote your hashtag everywhere including your event website, emails, social networks and the event’s mobile app. Through hashtags you’ll be able to watch what is trending around your event and also get feedback for the same.
- Promote early
You have more chances of being successful if you promote the event and dedicated hashtag early. Time is of the essence, so you have to get started as early as possible to create momentum and reach a larger audience. Ensure a wider reach by promoting a few months in advance.
- Get yourself involved in social buzz
Create an enthusiastic atmosphere before the event that will encourage others to promote it. Reach out to your attendees by initiating conversations on the channel. You could also share some relevant content and thereby initiate social buzz. Social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook are ideal for initiating conversations. True success on social media is when you’ve engaged people into your story.
- Know your biggest promoters
Develop mutually beneficial relationships with industry and thought leaders by sharing their updates and engaging them in conversations online. Since already being established in the industry, they surely have a say, as they have loyal fans and are admired in their industry. Spread the word by encouraging attendees to leverage their social network.
- Encourage your speaker to promote the event
If some of your event speakers have a significant social media presence, ask them to promote your event on their social media platforms before, during and after the event. This can help you drive visits to your website and generate buzz. Encourage your speakers to promote the event further by taking pictures with event attendees and engage with them on social media.
- Create contests
Engaging audience before the event is necessary. Create challenges and try to do something different if you want to promote your event. Interact with your guests through contests. Creating contests is indirectly the best way to make your event successful. It can also be a great way of giving a behind-the-scenes of the event content along with blog posts and giveaways. You could also offer discounts or broadcast curated streams using your twitter hashtag.
- Create a LinkedIn group and Facebook event page
As you know most people log into Facebook at least once a day. Make it easy for them to keep up with event news by creating an event page listing. The benefit that you can get by creating an event is that it encourages sharing by attendees. On similar basis, you can create a LinkedIn group and grow attendees on these networks by eventually enjoying higher shareability for your event.
- Follow back
Don’t forget to reward your audience who are regularly promoting and mentioning your events on social media. Encourage two-way communication. Initiate conversation with your audience while asking them what they liked best, least, and what they hope to see for next time. This may also increase the possibility to return the following year and also share their positive experiences in their own networks.
By using these tips you can easily promote your event without spending a dime. Remember, social media can be a powerful tool and social media promotion for events doesn’t really have to cost you. So, which of these 8 tips have really worked for you? If you have any other tips to add to the list, do let us know in the comment section below.
