Using Social Media to Promote an Event

Using Social Media to
Promote an Event
Caryn Brown
Waco Kiwanis Club
27 August 2013

Why Use Social Media to Promote
an Event?
• Event promotion through Facebook,
Twitter, or LinkedIn can attract more
attendees than any other form of
promotion; making it crucial for all
businesses to establish a Social Media
presence for their event.
– Time and effort are the main elements
required to effectively utilize social media to
your benefit.
– You can communicate with people from all
kinds of backgrounds and inform them about
10/24/2014 www.DigitalMediaButterfly.com 2

Sound Familiar?
• Events – be it a networking gathering,
open house, fundraiser, or class – are by
nature, social affairs.
• People attend events to connect, interact,
and share with their peers.
• People join social media networks such as
Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to
connect, interact, and share with their
peers.

Don’t Drown your Audience
• That doesn’t mean every tweet, Facebook
post, or LinkedIn update should be
promoting your organization's event.
• I recommend at least an 80/20 ratio for all
your social media efforts.
– 80% of your updates focused on informational
posts
– 20% of your updates focused on promotion
• If all you do is promote the event, your fans and
followers will tune you out and may stop following
you all together. 10/24/2014 www.DigitalMediaButterfly.com 4

Social Media Channels
to Use to Promote an
Event
• Facebook
• Twitter
• LinkedIn

Facebook
• Facebook is one of the most
popular social networking
sites.
– It can be used as a scalable,
effective, and inexpensive tool
to promote an event.
• Preparations should begin at
least a month before your
event.
• Fans should be encouraged to
share the events with their
‘Friends.’
• Each fan will have diverse
connections, and each
connection in turn, will have
some more.
• Promoting your event will
attract attention and help your
event get more attendees
– Options such as ‘Share’ and
‘Like’ have immense power to
make an event truly
successful.
– You may also post your event
on other Pages within
Facebook as a large number
of people who follow similar
events will be alerted about
your event.

Facebook: Facebook Event
• Create a Facebook event for your
organization’s event and make sure to
regularly post content on your Facebook
event.
• Encourage your volunteers, board members,
and speakers, to post on the event page to
help with engagement.
• Once the event page has been created, you
will have to attract audiences.
– People who have ‘Liked’ your organization should
be invited to the event through Facebook.
– The rate of response can be significantly
increased if you also send out emails to the

Twitter
• Tweet regularly and
release important
information that will
interest potential
attendees.
– Ask your helpers to ‘retweet’
your posts so that their
followers can see them and
be informed of your event.
• Since Twitter allows only
140 characters per tweet,
catchy phrases and details
of influential attendees can
help you attract more
guests.
• You can also communicate
with those who ‘Favorite’
• Posting the same or
similar tweets can bore
and annoy your followers.
– Make sure that each tweet is
unique and is sent at regular
intervals.
• Tweets that mention the
countdown to your event
should be sent daily along
with some highlights of the
event.
• Art, in the form of your
company’s logo or event’s
graphic will certainly catch
the eye of users, and
inserting them in your
posts will help your event

Twitter: Twitter Hashtag
• The best way to reach out to a large
number of people is through hashtags.
– A short and unique statement about your
event should be created and inserted in each
tweet you post.
– All hashtags start with the # sign. (i.e.
#WacoSMB)
– Everyone who shares your tweets, or tweets
about your event will be connected through
the hashtag.

LinkedIn
• LinkedIn is a social
networking site that is
designed primarily for
businesses and
professionals.
• Join groups so that your
organization gains
publicity.
– Groups that are related to a
particular niche will expose
your organization and
event to a large number of
people, thereby spreading
the word and attracting
interest.
– Direct messages, with
information about your
event, can be sent to
people who are part of
• Content is crucial when
promoting your event on
LinkedIn, so gauge the
right information and
make your messages as
interesting as possible.
• LinkedIn does not have
an events function, but
you can still reach out to
industry contacts by:
– Sharing your event on your
organization’s page, and to
any relevant groups
– Sending direct messages
to connections who may be
interested (important: don’t
spam all of your
connections, pick and
choose!)

USE SOCIAL MEDIA TO:

To Promote The Event
• Create a Calendar of
Content
• Post Ideas
• Event Registration

Promote Event:
Create Calendar of Content
• Create a calendar prior to the opening of
ticket sales so you can determine what
content to push out and when.
• Remember that you will really use social
media to its advantage if the online
promotion is initiated long before the
event.

Promote Event: Post Ideas
• Announce when there is a limited number
of seats
• Fill last minute cancellations
• Share what attendees can expect at the
Event

Promote Event: Event Registration
• When creating your event registration
page, be sure to place social media
buttons directly on it.

To Enhance the Event
Experience
• Real-Time Tweeting
• Encourage Picture
Posting
• Respond to Questions

Enhance Event Experience:
Real-Time Tweeting
• Live reporting through real-time tweeting
while the event is still in progress allows
those who were interested in the event,
but are unable to attend, to be a part of the
event.
– This keeps the people engaged and
interested in the event even if they are not
present at the event. Thus, increasing footfall
for the next year's event.
– Make sure to tag all posts on Twitter and
Instagram with your event’s hashtag 10/24/2014 www.DigitalMediaButterfly.com 17

Encourage Picture Posting
• Encourage attendees to post pictures of
the event to Instagram and Facebook to
share their experience with their circles.
– You can step this up a notch by adding a
photo booth to your event.
– Easiest way to encourage this is with a sign at
the event.
• Don’t forget to add your hashtag!!

Respond to Questions
• Event attendees can post inquiries to
Social Media during the event.
• Organizers should be monitoring Social
Media to respond and provide support.
– Make sure you include your hashtag in all
responses!!

To Extend the Event
• Share Pictures
• Get Feedback
• Maintain a Community

Extend the Event: Share Pictures
• Posting pictures of your event afterwards
on Social Media allows others to share the
pictures of the event within their circles.
– Don’t forget your hashtag!
• This will also help create a buzz for the
next event!

Extend the Event: Get Feedback
• Monitor Social Media buzz from your event
after the event ends to help provide insight
to make the event even better next year.

Extend the Event: Maintain a
Community
• With an annual event, Social Media can be
used to keep your community engaged all
year round.
– Post to your organization’s Social Media
pages consistently, not just when you have an
event!

Don’t Forget to:
• Keep On-line and Off-line
marketing in Sync.
• Be Active on Social
Media.
• Assign one person to be
responsible for Social
Media.
– With multiple people
posting to Social Media.

Got Questions?
Caryn Brown
Website Crafter and Social Media Strategist
Digital Media Butterfly
caryn@DigitalMediaButterfly.com
(254) 722-2991
Services Offered:
• Set up and Integration of Social Media
Presence
• Website Implementation and Updates
• Technical Writing (including Social Media Usage
Policies)
• Training and Public Speaking

Using Social Media to Promote an Event

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