You’re having an event and you want to use social media exclusively to promote the heck out of it? You have plenty of local friends and fans you engage with daily, so surely they will come to support you in person at your event right? Not so fast…
Here’s what I urge you to remember when you’re promoting a live event in the social media space: getting people to leave the house is harder than you think.
What will compel your online friends to leave their house, spend their time and money and come support you?
Remember, it’s easy to like or tweet with someone you’ve never met. Why? Social media has its own set of social etiquette rules at work. Think about it this way: you can befriend people on social media with ease and enjoy conversational banter. You’re not face-to-face, so the pressure’s off.
In other words, there’s a lack of commitment as compared to befriending someone you see in person on a regular basis.
Therefore, getting someone to attend a live event, no matter how much social media engagement you share with them, adds an entirely new dynamic to your relationship. Also, keep in mind the number of people with whom you regularly interact with on social media. Quantity really does matter when it comes to event promotions!
Use These Social Media Tips When Promoting Your Live Event
Keeping all of this is mind, here are a few tips you can use when promoting your event in the social media space:
- Encourage attendees to talk about the event waaaaay before it happens. Start conversations about what will happen, who’s going to be there, highlights, etc.
- Make it look like “the place to be”. Make sure you specifically invite people who have a sizable local following and those who will talk about it on multiple social media platforms before, during, and after the event. Even if they can’t attend the event, they can still promote it!
- Assign a Twitter #hashtag to the event and remind people to use and follow the hashtag for updates.
- Create the event with an RSVP option on multiple platforms and promote it across those platforms. The more exposure you can generate for your event the better.
- If you’re on a panel or in a vendor space, promote the event like you own it! See my earlier post on why event vendors need a promotional strategy for further insight.
- Encourage people to live tweet/post about the event, share pictures on Facebook, blog, etc. during and after the event.
Probably one of the most important things to remember when promoting an event via social media is repetition. You must have a real strategy when you’re promoting on social media, and repetition of posts is crucial to ensuring your audience is well-informed about the event. Just don’t be a pushy spammer and get on people’s nerves.
Events that have people engaged throughout the entire process always look like great events don’t they? There’s a reason why – the attendees share the experience and make you feel like you were there. Everybody’s joining in the conversation, asking questions, sharing pics, blogging about their experience, etc. Of course that event was awesome, look at the buzz around it!
Ciao,
Miss Kemya
[…] be afraid to get face to face with people. Organizing an event for your business or becoming a part of an event which is already taking place is a great way to […]
I really needed this post. I’m hosting a book signing/Meet & Greet for my e-book. Will tweet you in invite to RSVP on FB.
Thanks Joyce, I’m so glad you had the opportunity to read the post before the event. Now you can work on a social media “plan of attack” to rock the event!