Social Media Event Promotion: How to Increase Attendee Engagement Prior to the Event
Whatever the scale of the event you’re planning, it will require competent promotion to be successful. Whether it’s a party for clients or a huge festival, it will need to be promoted. We discuss a number of social media tools and methods that can be used for event promotion. Take a look and decide which of them are right for your needs.
How to attract visitors to your event: 7 tips for social media promotion
Before starting a promotion campaign, you need to draw up a clear action plan. Think about who your visitors will be, how many there are likely to be, and what age and social status of guests you want to see. This is called targeting. You will configure your tools and plan your promotion based on these data.
1. Use an Instagram Stories Countdown Sticker
A countdown sticker shows how much time is left before the event starts. This simple tool will not only inform the audience about the event, but also stimulate the purchase of tickets. Be sure to create an eye-catching design. Give the counter a name, change the color scheme to your branded or corporate one.
Users who are interested in the event can receive notifications about how much time is left, they can add a counter to their story so as not to miss the event. The tool has been successfully used in various fields (informing about promotions, the number of free places on webinars) and has proven its effectiveness.
Source: https://www.pinterest.it/pin/60165345011736172/
2. Create a Facebook Event
A very handy tool that is recommended to use for events of various sizes. It is suitable even for private parties. It is very important to design the page correctly. You can include links to speaker or VIP profiles or official pages.
Be sure to configure the discussion area. Revealing small intriguing secrets will ignite the interest of the audience in the event
Source: https://laketravis.com/facebook-events-management/
3. Use Teasers
Small graphic images will help to intrigue the audience and create some excitement. This is a very handy tool for conferences. With the help of teasers, you can start a promotion campaign early and introduce potential listeners to each speaker and session.
4. Use a hashtag
The uniqueness of your hashtag is very important, otherwise potential visitors, trying to find information about your event, may get confused by similar ones. Try to keep the hashtag as short and specific as possible. Use it everywhere, in advertising material, on social networks, on the event web page, in your newsletter, even in print ads.
5. Use all kinds of content
Remember, each type of content has a separate function. Bright images attract attention, catch visitors, and make them stop scrolling. Text is information, without text content it is impossible to fully convey everything you want to say about your event. Video engenders interest. You can use the brightest moments from past events, fragments of speeches, etc.
Don't forget to adapt your content for different social networks. Don't just copy messages from one account to another but rework it to be effective on a specific platform.
Always maintain the quality of your content. For example, text should not contain typos and errors, as this can negatively affect the reader’s perception of your professionalism and competence. To avoid this use a service like Grammarly, EssayTigers. They will help take your content to the next level and bring more attention to your brand.
6. Organize Sweepstakes and Contests
Create a multiple prize draw or competition. If you have attracted a sponsor, try to agree with them to provide prizes in exchange for additional advertising in the networking and promotion of the event or directly at the event itself. Come up with the simplest and most accessible rules. Invite users to share posts about the competition or draw on their profiles. This will expand your audience and increase the number of people who learn about your event.
7. Open the Curtains
This can only be used in the final stages of preparation when there are still people wondering if it is worth buying a ticket. Shoot funny videos of how the event is being prepared: a stage being set up, or show the hall where it will take place, show a buffet table for guests, comments from speakers who are preparing for the event, etc.
Seeing all that is happening encourages people to take part. This makes it possible to dramatically increase ticket sales in the days running up to the event.
One last tip: be forward-thinking. Show people how it goes. Be sure to upload the most interesting photos and videos to social networks. Tell people what gifts and privileges guests received. Film interviews with participants.
Create an archive for yourself. It will be useful in many ways: to advertise your events, to boost your reputation, to impress future clients or employers.
Organizing an event of any size can be transformed from stressful work into a fun and exciting activity if you have a clear plan and use the right tools and methods.
