#HSMAI, #affordablemeetings social media tips, social media best practices, social media strategy, social media for business, social media for events

1. How to Use Social Media to Drive
Attendance to Your Event and
Engage with Your Audience
1

2. Do I Have Your Attention?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMeYdSYCC7A 2

3. About Marcel Media
Marcel Media is full service interactive marketing agency specializing in
Search Engine Marketing (SEM).
We partner with organizations to provide creative and customized
marketing solutions such as Social Media, Interactive Facebook
Applications, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Conversion
Optimization, Website Development and Web Analytics.
@marcelmedia
Facebook.com/marcelmedia
www.marcelmedia.com/blog
3

4. About Kelly Cutler
Kelly Cutler is the CEO of Marcel Media, an
award-winning, interactive marketing firm
specializing in search engine and social
media marketing.
Beginning her career in 1997 with companies
including AOL and Classified Ventures, Kelly’s
achievements include serving as the first
woman president of the Chicago
Entrepreneurs’ Organization,
and instructing at the University of Chicago
and DePaul University.
Connect with Kelly
She is a sought after subject matter expert,
speaking on industry topics such as search Linkedin.com/in/kellycutler
engine optimization, web analytics and or
social media marketing across the country. @kfcutler
4

5. Social Media: An Overview
5

6. Why Social Media Works
Social Media tools are built for engagement.
Benefits:
 Build an online community around your event
 Establish credibility in the industry
 Attract attendees and speakers for the event
 Help attendees connect with each other
 Broadens Participation throughout the event
 Encourages information sharing
 Leverages the event for media cover on and offline
 Supplement existing marketing efforts
6

7. Most Commonly Used Social Media Tools
Source: Mashable
7

8. Getting Started: The Strategy
8

9. Is Your Brand Visible?
I. Set up a Blog - Link all social media profiles to the blog
II. Assign a check-in location on Foursquare
and Facebook Places
III. Twitter – Create a hashtag and tweet
out updates before, during & after event
IV. Facebook – Create an events page and
Facebook fan page
V. LinkedIn – Send out personalized invites
and create an event
9

10. Optimize Your Event for Sharing
• Create a catchy hashtag for the event
• Create a branded social networking web page or virtual
whiteboard where attendees can connect before and after the
event
• Set up a live stream for those who cant travel to the event. Use
Ustream, Justin.tv or Mogulus and stream portions of your event
• Create a widget
• Create a branded badge that other blogs can add to their site
with a link to
10

11. Brooklyn Beta Case Study
Their website was not even created at the time of the
event, and they still managed to sell out in 2 minutes.
It is basically a sign up form. No speakers, no details.
11

12. Brooklyn Beta Case Study
The History
• Brooklyn Beta happened for the first time in 2010
• It was started by Chris Shifflet and a bunch of friends/colleagues with no real
strategy in place
• The event spread on Twitter among web designers
Ticket Sales
• 175 registered attendees
• Tickets were sold for $100
• They expanded the venue to include 200 more seats. The additional 200 sold
in less than 2 minutes
12

13. Brooklyn Beta Case Study
What We Learned?
• Events born online or within an existing community have stronger selling
potential
• Event attendees are shaping the offer of events and organizers should be ready
to accommodate user generated initiatives
• Word of mouth marketing is more powerful then any paid advertising
13

14. Event Marketing Tools
14

15. Facebook
 Create a Facebook Page
 Create a Facebook Event and provide incentives
for guests and members who update their own
status with links to the event
 Include an Events Tab on Your Facebook Page
that has a registration link
 Include a “Like” button on your event’s website
 Facebook Places –Events can offer incentives for
checking in like free drink coupons and
sweepstakes
15

16. 5 Great Applications for your Facebook Events Page
1. Welcome Tab- Welcome Tab adds customization to a page by creating a
custom landing page for your Facebook visitors
2. EventBrite for Pages – Provides another platform for online registration
3. Plancast – Great research tool for people to discover events
4. Nutshell Email – Allows you to send an email to all your fans and followers on
Facebook at once
5. LiveStream – Allows you to stream your event on your Facebook page
16

17. 5 Great Applications for your Facebook Events Page
1. Welcome Tab
• https://www.facebook.com/welcometab
2. EventBrite for Facebook Pages
• http://apps.facebook.com/eventbritetab
3. Plancast
• http://plancast.com/home/all/1348930
4. Nutshell Email
• http://nutshellmail.com/facebook/pages/
5. LiveStream
• https://secure.livestream.com/myaccount/launchchannel
17

18. Twitter
 Ask for people to share your event with the simple phrase, “Please RT!”
 Give people an incentive to tweet out your hashtag; offer a free pass, door
prize or other giveaway
 Create separate Twitter lists of event speakers, sponsors, attendees and local
restaurants and attractions
• Adding speakers to the list helps increase visibility of tweets​
 Have a designated “tweeter” at each session or event that tweets in real-
time about the event
• Promote hashtag before, during and after event​
 Create a unique hashtag for the event
18

19. LinkedIn
LinkedIn Events App – allows you to promote global events to TweetUps
Send an invitation to the people who would be interested in the event based on
region or niche.
Create a LinkedIn poll after the event to gather feedback quickly and distribute
throughout all social profiles.
The Slideshare.net app - allows you to showcase presentations and add a video
that auto-plays when people land on your profile.
19

20. How to Create a Viral Video
1. Unique Content - funny, shocking, clever, controversial, interesting,
different, sexy, or quirky. Make people go “WOW”
2. Make it short: 30 seconds is good. 2 minutes max
3. Give it an attention-grabbing title
4. Use the power of the thumbnail: YouTube gives you three options for
thumbnails when uploading a video. Make sure that the thumbnail you
choose is clear and intriguing
5. YouTube allows you to tag videos: don’t
tag generically; tag creatively and specifically
20

21. Where Video’s Go Viral
Facebook Dominates: With more than 500 million people on the
Social network, Facebook dominates the sharing of social video.
People share videos on Facebook 218 percent more than through
Twitter and e-mail combined.
76%
15%
9%
21

22. Live Blogging
Live blogging during your event can create buzz and excitement for those who
were unable to attend and provide them a snippet of what they missed. Keep
Live Blogs short, with all the highlights, quick intro and bullet points.
Blogging Best Practices
 Integrate multimedia
 Copy editing (Yahoo! Style Guide)
 Incorporate data and infographs
 Create a catchy headline
 Keep entries consistent; we recommend once a week
 Optimization; keywords, link building, mobile friendly
22

23. Virtual Check-Ins
 Set up a branded venue (this will be included in event details) Include address,
contact
 information and links to other social media profiles, as well as event details.
 Assign the event a category
 Add a Tip – Tips should be valuable to people and align with your brand (e.g.
local bar or restaurant that is having a happy hour special)
 Offer incentives for checking into the event. All check-ins receive automatic
entry into a sweepstakes (check-in and win an iPad)
23

24. Social Media Monitoring Tools
Google Alerts(free): You can use Google Alerts as a buzz monitoring tool.
Social Mention (free): Allows you to set up email alerts and real time mentions of
your brand on social media
Radian 6 (enterprise level fees):This tool provides in-depth insight into real-time
conversation around your brand.
Klout (free): Determines the level of influence your brand has in the social media
Marketplace.
24

25. Promotional Tools
 Some organizers create their own social networks to build up hype and to keep
connections even after the event has occurred by using Ning
 Add yourself to major event websites like EventBrite, Zvents, Plancast and
Upcoming by Yahoo
 Twitter applications that promote networking: TweetChat, Tweetvite, and
TweetMyEvents
25

26. What Social Media Looks Like in 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgp7GwHxV14 26

27. A Case Study: Is Facebook Worth More to Event
Marketers then Twitter?
A study performed by EventBrite, which used in-house social analytics
tools to track online ticket sales showed that an average tweet about an
event drove $.80 in ticket sales. An average Facebook “like” drove $1.34
in online sales.
The study also revealed cumulative activity on Facebook was greater than
activity on Twitter for Eventbrite. People shared Eventbrite events on
Facebook almost four times as often as they did on Twitter.
People are more likely to share events if they are attending. Their
friends, according to Eventbrite’s data, are also more likely to buy tickets
to an event shared on Facebook by a ticket holder than one shared by an
uncommitted friend.
27

28. Summary
Social Media has revolutionized events and you have a lot of resources at your
disposal. Start out on a few of the main social networks, determine where your
target audience is most active, and use what works for you!
28

29. Thank You!
Kelly Cutler
kelly@marcelmedia.com
LinkedIn.com/kellycutler
Twitter.com/kfcutler
Questions?
29