This document provides guidance on using social media to promote events. It discusses using platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr and Instagram for objectives like announcing the event, recruiting speakers, promoting to exhibitors and delegates. Key recommendations include creating official accounts and pages for an event, developing consistent branding, sharing media content regularly, and engaging communities on each channel. The document emphasizes that each social platform has different strengths and should be used appropriately for the event's specific promotion goals.

1. Social Media for event
promotion, marketing
Training for: Hannover Milano Fairs India Pvt. Ltd.
Date: 8 May, 2015
Trainer: Brian Pereira - brian@hmf-india.com

2. Agenda
• Objectives
• Facebook
• Twitter
• LinkedIN
• YouTube, Vimeo
• Flickr, Instagram

3. Objectives
• Announce event (theme, dates, venue etc)
• Speaker recruitment
• Delegate sales
• Event promotion
• Exhibitors
• Partner associations
• Branding
We use multiple marketing channels to achieve these objectives.

4. How is Social different from other channels?
• It’s more direct.
• It’s dynamic and instantaneous.
• You can personalize the communication.
• Talk to an audience en masse, but still make it individualistic.
• The communication is 2-way – interactive channel.

5. What you can’t do with Social Media
• While you can convince people to come to your event, you can’t do
ticket sales or sell space through this channel.
• It doesn’t beat the actual conference itself, which has in-depth
conversations.
• Nothing beats physical meetings – eye contact, handshake, trust.

6. What do we use Social Media for?
• Community building.
• Publicity (word of mouth).
• Event promotion.
• Event updates.
• Information dissemination.
• Building connections, database. (LinkedIN).
• Media sharing (photos, videos, ppt).
When?
• Before, during and after the event.

7. It’s all about engagement and community building.

8. Getting started
1. Elect an internal administrator.
2. Create official accounts, IDs, handles, pages, groups – passwords.
3. Logos, backgrounds (follow specifications outlined).
4. Consistent messaging (Titles, tag lines, slogans). Page description.
5. Images, photos, videos (provisions for editing; platforms for
hosting).
6. Links, integration (Social logos and links on your event Website).
7. Databases, contacts.
8. External vs internal “social warriors”

9. Next steps
• Build your pages, groups, populate activity streams with some posts.
• Consolidate contacts (Gmail).
• Search for people and invite them to join your groups (FB, LinkedIN),
like your pages, or follow you on Twitter.
Build a community
• Start with people you already know.
• Elect a moderator and ambassadors for your groups and pages.
• Collect Twitter handles, LinkedIN profiles etc

10. Facebook

11. Facebook
• World’s largest social media network – 300 mn. users
• Draw the line between professional and personal (use official
handle/logins)
• Facebook is more personal
• Can share more media

12. Facebook (Groups vs Fan pages)
• Both are used to engage audiences, but there is a difference.
Groups (Use for promoting the event)
• Like a private club with exclusive membership.
• Membership is restricted.
• Send email to members (upto 5,000 members).
• Description, logo, contact info, URL, news updates, a wall, discussion
space

13. Facebook
Fan pages (Use for promoting the company or a product or a celebrity)
• They look similar to personal pages on Facebook.
• Good for branding or company communications.
• Tabs for photos, videos and discussion boards.

14. Facebook
• Groups or Fan pages?
• Use both.
• Fan page: For company branding.
• Group page: For event promotion (community, audience
engagement).
• Create a Group for each event that you organize.

15. Examples
• https://www.facebook.com/GartnerSymposium?fref=ts
• https://www.facebook.com/cebit.fanpage?fref=ts
• https://www.facebook.com/cebit.global.conferences
• https://www.facebook.com/adtechindia?fref=ts
• https://www.facebook.com/pages/Shahrukh/107850762581808?fref=ts
• https://www.facebook.com/cocacolaindia?fref=ts

16. Facebook (Events app)
• Both Groups and Fan pages have an events app.
• Announce an event, invite people to register, RSVP.
• Though people say they are “going” there is no guarantee that they
will actual buy the ticket and show up at the event.
• Remember: This is a promotional tool and NOT a professional tool the
enables you to do commercial transactions.

17. Tips
• Write your page or group description in great detail.
• Art of persuasive writing.
• Create a sense of urgency.
• Date and venue of the event.
• What happened last year? Photos.
• Make people feel that it is worth investing in and attending the event.
• Page and Group settings.

18. Facebook
• It will take a lot of time to build a community (inviting people one by
one).
• Create an Ad and spend money on it. (e.g. TechWow page).
• Through the Ad you can do extremely targeted marketing.
• Restrict the ad to viewers by geography, age, gender, occupation, and
other parameters.
• Factor this in your marketing budget.
• Cost Per Click or Cost Per Mille (thousand impressions).

19. Twitter

20. Twitter
• Microblogging social platform.
• 140 characters (People use images to workaround this).
• It’s fast and simple to use.
• Instantaneous though you could also schedule posts.
• Provides real-time networking with a targeted audience.
• Has a multiplier effect.
• Gives the ability to interact, discuss and ask questions (Tweet chat,
DM).

21. Twitter tips
- By tweeting regularly, make your Twitter timeline as a place for real-
time, relevant discussions.
- Write tweet posts that are informative, valuable and informative.
- People reading your tweets should feel like they are getting insider
information.
- Credible source of info and knowledge.
- Promote your Twitter page through good branding.
- User name, logo, background, title, profile description should all
reflect the event or company branding.

22. Twitter
• Create hash tags #Cebit2015
• Quote hashtags and handles in your posts
• Hashtags expire (promoted tags last longer)
• Follow people – they follow you back.
• Collect Twitter handles of speakers, exhibitors, associations etc.
• Start following them.
• Prominently display your event Twitter handle and hash tags.
- Spend on promotional tweets. (Marketing budget).

23. Examples
• https://twitter.com/cebitindia
• https://twitter.com/NASSCOMfdn
• https://twitter.com/CeBITAus

24. Third-party Twitter tools
• TweetDeck
• HootSuite
• Twitter Fall
• Buffer (Schedule tweets)
Twitter tools
• https://blog.kissmetrics.com/10-twitter-tools/
• http://www.shoutmeloud.com/twitter-tools.html
• https://blog.bufferapp.com/free-twitter-tools

25. LinkedIN

26. LinkedIN
• It’s different from Twitter and Facebook.
• Profiles, look for jobs.
• Head hunters, talent hunters, HR specialists.
• Personal branding.
• Can also be used for promoting events.
• Powerful features: Connections, InMail.

27. LinkedIN
Premium account
• Upgrade to a Premium/Paid/Professional account.
• Can mail people to whom you are not connected.
• Depending on the plan you opt for, you can see more profiles or send more
direct messages per month.
• With basic account, only mail first level connections.
• LinkedIN Groups. (Event promotion).
• Paid promotions, targeted. (Marketing budget).

28. LinkedIN for events
• Look up profiles of potential speakers.
• Send mailers to targeted groups in the LinkedIN database.
• Create a group for your event and ask all attendees to join and
discuss topics and other aspects of your event.
• Effective for speaker communications.
• InMail evokes faster response than e-mail.

29. YouTube

30. YouTube
• Create a channel for your event.
• Post short clips at regular intervals.
• Branding: Create backgrounds and logos for the channel.
• Put the YouTube channel link on the event home page.
• E.g. CeBIT Channel

31. Flickr

32. Flickr
• Share photos and videos of the event quickly.
• Instantaneous. (Takes longer to put photos on your own event
website).
• Put the Flickr links to your photos on the event website.
• Other platforms : Picasa Web etc.

33. Instagram

34. Instagram
• Suited to the mobile platform.
• A fast way to share photos and videos.
• Share on Twitter, Facebook and other social platforms.
• https://instagram.com/

35. Bring it all together
• Integrate it all on the event website.
• Social Media links, logos
• Embed Facebook and Twitter streams on the home page
• Embed YouTube videos
• Photos on your website
• Understand what each platform is best used for.

36. Thank you.
• brian@hmf-india.com