Sometimes things you know are smack dab in front of you and you don't even realize it. I was struggling this month to come up with a blog post regarding online marketing since I've been spending a lot of free time ensuring the success of physical events put on by the Saskatchewan Professional Marketing Association (SPMA). Given the fact I've helped organize 25 events in the past two years it all of a sudden occurred to me that I've been learning a lot about event management and promotion. More specifically, promoting events online and primarily through social media. Every event the SPMA has done that past two years has only utilized online channels to get the word out. So, based on lessons learned I've put together a list of five pointers regarding how to promote your events using social media.
1. Creativity makes all the difference
If you receive similar messages repeatedly about similar events at similar locations featuring similar topics then you eventually become numb to them. If you think about how boring the average corporate communication regarding events are and then realize that 50% are even worse than that it becomes clear that you just need some semblance of creativity to break through the pack. Unique events with catchy headlines are critical and being creative is the most important part of this.
Take for instance the number of holiday party invitations you have received this month, I bet the majority of them all say the same thing - "Come to our holiday party, there's free drinks and appetizers". I'm rarely one to turn down free drinks/food and I'm grateful for every invitation I get, but one can only go to so many parties. We have to prioritize which ones we want to spend our precious time at so we end up paying attention to and picking the ones that seem the most appealing. The holiday event for the SPMA is not "free drinks and appetizers", it's actually "Marketing Trivia Thunderdome: A Festivus Tradition". It's not typical, in fact it's kinda risky, but it's different and gets noticed. By the way, you should totally come to the event; it's going be 50% more fun than any other holiday mixer you've been to this year.
2. Utilize content marketing
Content marketing has become somewhat of a buzz term in 2012 but it's far from a new idea. The premise behind it is utilizing interesting content assets to promote something - A term I like to use to describe it is "info-tainment" (It's a word I borrowed from my friend Mike Klein). The easiest form of this is to use blogs, pictures and videos to draw attention to your events (Tip: Pictures are the most viewed piece of content on Facebook, so attach a picture to important updates to get more views). So, instead of sending an email with a text based event invitation you could instead create a picture or video providing a background story on the event.
In regards to a specific example, The SPMA created a short video to promote our First Annual AGM back in August. Since AGM's are not known to be lively events we decided to put together a fun video to draw attention to it as a birthday party extravaganza. At the time we hade about 200 members and the video got 169 views - That's a pretty darn good click thru rate and the event was the most attended one we had all year. Check out the video on YouTube - SPMA First Annual Birthday AGM Extravaganza.
3. Don't burn out your communication channels.
We're likely all guilty of this at some point since the easiest way to get a message out is to repeatedly do a "spray and pray" hoping you'll hit somebody. The problem with using this approach is that if that's all you use social media and online channels for then people will start to unfollow you and some may possibly become angry with you. If you're growing your likes, followers, and subscribers only to blast them with promotional messages then you're doing it wrong. People will only follow you if you deliver interesting content that is informative and/or entertaining. Also consider that different audiences may be reached better using different channels.
For the SPMA, we use a combination of channels including subscriptions, Twitter, and LinkedIn to ensure we cover our bases. We customize the message a bit different for each platform and use each one responsibly. For most events we rarely send out more than five communications spread across the three platforms. In between event notifications we try spread content that is valuable to our audience so that when an event promotion does come their way they hopefuly don't mind.
4. Make it easy for your audience to RSVP and share
A great power of social media is the ability to reach your network's networks. It's really that simple and that's why things can go viral on the web - It's about people sharing things with their networks who in turn share it with their networks and so on. Keep in mind "viral" is not a strategy; it's an outcome and a rare one at that. That said, if you have a specific market in a specific area then utilizing social media can aid greatly in spreading the word. It might not get shared a million times, but even 25 times is good since that may be shared to 25 networks you may not have had access to. However, nothing will be shared unless you make it easy to do so.
Ensure you have appropriate social media networks and sharing links built into your communications (E.g. emails, website, and blog). The SPMA uses a platform called meetup.com and it integrates social media very effectivly by tying in people's Facebook profiles to show who's attending events, creates pre-populated tweets to share the events, automatic email reminders for those who haven't RSVP'd, and the ability to leave comments directly in the event listing that members can follow.
5. Encourage online public feedback
Social media has given a voice to the masses to the point it has helped cause revolutions in Egypt and spread a worldwide movement against capitalist greed (I.e. Occupy Wall Street). Promoting your event will not be as grand as these events but the point is people have a voice online and they expect their opinion to be heard. If you're hosting good events then most feedback will be positive so be sure to allow people to leave online public ratings and remarks about the event. This also aids in social proof that your events are credible so that prospective customers will gain confidence that attending your events will be a good experience. At the end of the day people trust peer recommendations far more than advertisements or promotions.
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So, there you have it - Five pointers regarding how to put on successful events and promote them by utilizing social media. I know it has been solely focussed on the Saskatchewan Professional Marketing Association and there are many other examples I could have used, but I went with what I know to be true. If you haven't gathered by now, I'm President of the SPMA and also a co-founder of the association. It's a non-profit organization I'm very proud of and it would not have taken root like it has if it wasn't for our online marketing and social media strategy. Thanks for reading and happy holidays!
