PCO ASSOCIATION
PCO ASSOCIATION
Social media for events
Gone are the days of being able to get away without social media platforms for our events , but the frustration is still higher than ever , writes Yvonne Adele .
As a very busy emcee , I am involved in many events a year . Each event has a social presence , but event planners are struggling to get the desired engagement , and show tangible return-on-investment . Often you can hear the tumbleweeds blowing through the blank canvas .
It ’ s best to expand the “ social media ” term to “ online marketing ”, which then includes your website
Online marketing is the earned part in your marketing landscape . You ’ ve also got bought ( advertising ) and owned ( website , staff , building , email database ).
If done on purpose , online marketing can assist you with all aspects of your event from organising it , promoting it , delegate experience through to continuity to keep the conversation going after the event .
To do it on purpose , you need to start with the end goal in mind . You ’ re either selling tickets to an event , or for corporate conferences full of employees : you ’ re looking to build the buzz . In both cases , you ’ ll provide a platform for delegates to begin connecting with each other before the event even begins .
Let ’ s break it down to before , during and
after your event .
Before
A rich , compelling newsletter is the perfect way to keep the conversation going with potential delegates in the lead up to your event . The more relevant subscribers you have , the more people you have permission to market to . The key to getting people to sign up is to offer something irresistible in return for their email address . For example , I ’ ve got www . yvonneadele . com / topfive – a ‘ Digital Marketing Top Five ’ download anyone can grab if they sign up . Once they have signed up , I know that type of content is relevant to them and they are now in the funnel for that topic .
Set up Google Alerts www . google . com / alerts . You can tell Google to send you an email every time someone mentions your competitor , your industry terms , your speakers , your sponsors or you . This is a great research tool and gives me a never ending supply of content for blog posts etc .
Begin to gather social credentials of your speakers , exhibitors , partners and create a Twitter list with them in it . You can use this to quickly see new content from those people and also share the list with your delegates .
Create a blog post at least once a month – preferably once a fortnight . Why ? To bring relevant eyeballs to your final destination , your website . Blogging provides as many roads as possible to travel to the final destination .
Think of it this way : someone is doing a Google search using terms related to your industry or event . If you ’ ve done one blog post every month with those search terms included , you ’ ve now provided 12 roads into your website . Imagine if you ’ d done three blog posts a month – that ’ s 36 roads into your website .
Choose two social channels only . Facebook should be the first one . Then choose Twitter if you ’ re marketing to business people or Instagram if you ’ re marketing to consumers .
Have each of your speakers do a selfiestyle short one to two minute video with a couple insights they ’ ll be sharing at the event . Load the videos to your YouTube Channel . Share the videos and other relevant content about the event across your social channels .
During
Use a unique hashtag and ensure your event materials , your emcee and your speakers mention it often . Encourage delegates to post highlights including video and photos by offering a prize ( two tickets to next year ’ s event or tickets to the gala dinner ) for the best post . Be sure to retweet and share the best posts from your delegates . Do short live videos with your most valuable exhibitors / sponsors .
After
Keep the conversation going by thanking your speakers on the social channels .
Curate a great sample of social posts from the event and put these into a newsletter for a few days later , with a special early bird offer to buy tickets for next year . Your Google Alerts should let you know whenever someone does a blog post or mention of your event , so you can be sure to engage with and share that content . To measure the effectiveness of your hashtag , use a platform such as www . tweetreach . com
42 Convention & Incentive Marketing , Issue 2 , 2017 www . cimmagazine . com