Using Social Media as an Effective Events Promotion Tool

With social media permeating our lives in our communication and interactions, it’s easier than ever to use it for promotion, paid ads, and more. If you’re organizing a small community gathering or a large-scale event, harnessing the power of social media can boost the reach and overall effectiveness of your event. 

Below are our top strategies and techniques to leverage social media for event success! 

Define objectives
Before tackling your promotions and strategy, clearly define your event’s objectives and what you want guests to take away from the experience. Ask yourself questions such as:

• What is the purpose of my event?
• Who is my target audience?
• What messages do I want to convey through my event?

Once you’ve established your primary goals, you’ll be able to build a social media marketing strategy that makes sense for your business.

Using the Right Platform
Every social media platform is different and caters towards a specific demographic. With unique features on each one, picking the right platform for your purposes takes a little research. Here’s a basic breakdown of each:

• Facebook: Ideal for creating an event page, sharing updates, and targeting specific audiences via ads. This platform works best for a more mature audience.
• Twitter/Threads: Best for real-time updates, engaging with attendees through comments and tags, and using event-specific hashtags.
• Instagram: This is where you can share beautiful images and videos, behind-the-scenes content, and give live updates via stories.

Creating Content
While it’s easy to brush off content creation while planning your event, resist that temptation! Interesting content is crucial to attract (and keep) the attention of attendees and media outlets. 

• Event teasers beforehand: Use the weeks leading up to your event to share sneak peeks, exclusive content, and special details to build anticipation!
• Speakers and Guests introductions: Highlight your speakers, performers, or special guests to generate interest and give their backstory.
• Informational graphics: Use Canva to create aesthetically pleasing event details, analytics, statistics, or important points to make information easier to share across stories and posts. 
• Attendee Experience: Encourage your guests to share their experiences, memories, and photos using event-specific hashtags.

Keep your brand voice consistent across platforms to establish brand recognition and credibility.

Leverage Influencers
Partnerships with influencers for marketing events, product launches, services, and more are a great way to use social media and amplify your event’s reach. Research influencers in your industry, community, or whose values reflect your brand and target audience and collaborate to create engaging content. These can include sponsored posts, takeovers, or live streams.

With their endorsement, their audience can significantly boost awareness and attract a wider audience with all eyes on your event! During these events, encourage both your collaborators and attendees to live video stream on Facebook, Instagram, and even YouTube to broadcast key moments, sessions, or interviews. 

Live videos allow those who could not attend still enjoy interacting with your brand digitally through comments and questions. 

Paid Advertising
There are so many forms of paid advertising – take advantage of the ones that reach your target audience. Set aside a budget for paid ads and consider hiring a professional (or someone on your team) to run and manage the ads. 

Use visuals, concise ad copy, and don’t forget a strong call-to-action to maximize clicks and sales. Social media promotion and ads can be used on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Threads, and Twitter!

Post-Event Marketing
When the party’s over and everyone goes home, there’s still work to be done! Keep the momentum going by engaging with your attendees and capturing content.

• Share highlights: Recap your event with photos, videos, testimonials (if applicable) and throw in some fun like adding questions to your stories (“What do you enjoy most about ____?” “Ready for next year?”)
• Thank those who joined: Get a little gushy! Give your thanks and gratitude to those who attended or supported your event (especially your sponsors).
• Ask for feedback: Whether via social media or email, gather post-event feedback so you can improve future events and strengthen your community relationships.

Summary
In our world, social media is indispensable not only for communication but for promotional purposes. Don’t be afraid to try new things with event promotion and get creative with the resources and ideas in this blog post. Embrace the power in the palm of your hand and watch your next event soar to new heights! 

…and remember, we are always here to help you ROCK IT!