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CONNECTING PEOPLE. MARKETING EVENTS.How Social Media Marketing Can Drive Your Event’s Success

By Christine Cullity, Director of Marketing at Convention Data Services Christine Cullity has over 15 years of experience in strategic marketing and tradeshow logistics.

If Facebook were a country, it would be the world’s largest, fi nally surpassing China’s population in 2016 with a total of 1.65 billion monthly active users. Chances are your attendees are using social, so why aren’t you for your event? Social media has changed the way we communicate with each other. Maximize your event’s exposure and interact with your attendees and exhibitors utilizing social channels to communicate and stay top-of-mind.

If you’re not sure where to start, we’ve got you covered:

How to Get StartedEstablish Objectives• Defi ne your audience. What social platforms is your network using? Make sure you focus your social strategies on

the platforms that speak to your desired audience.• Select a point person to ensure a single voice is expressed consistently throughout all social channels.• Develop a cohesive theme that carries your company’s brand and vision through all of your social accounts.

Suggested Social Media Platforms for Your Event• Facebook: Think of Facebook as an extension of your company’s culture. Sharing updates, having contests and

offering promotions, and posting photos/videos are all ways to personify your brand and market your event.• Periscope: Similar to Facebook Live, this live broadcasting application is a great way to express your brand’s

personality through videos.• Snapchat: Send multimedia messages to friends or followers giving them unique insight into your brand.

Although the messages have a short lifespan, using geofi lters, exclusive content, and the “story” feature provides a creative foreground for your marketing efforts.

• LinkedIn: Don’t shy away from a corporate LinkedIn just because it’s viewed as a “professional platform for individuals”. LinkedIn is an ideal place for a business to grow its network and build rapport.

• Twitter: Limited character space means that being strategic with your Twitter marketing is vital. Use Twitter for live updates, sharing product announcements/specials, and driving followers to accomplish call-to-actions.

• Instagram: With Instagram, a picture really does say a thousand words. Make the most of your posts by using general or unique hashtags (see below) to align your pictures with themes and trends.

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Make a Timeline• Pre-show: About six months out from your show is the ideal time to generate buzz for your event and to drive

home your objectives. Share event content that pertains to exhibitors, attendees and speakers to drive more conversations and conversions.

• During: Make timely updates about attendee experiences, live sessions and other exciting onsite occasions.• Post: Thank attendees, exhibitors and speakers, post photos of show highlights (“In case you missed... “) and talk

about next year’s event details to gain early adoption.

#CreateAnEventHashtag• Generate a hashtag that is unique to your event, which will help you to stand out from the crowd.• Having an event hashtag builds a mini community that your attendees can engage with pre, during and post-show• Encourage everyone who will attend your event (exhibitors, industry partners, attendees, etc.) to interact with you

utilizing your unique hashtag.• Easily measure your event activity (mentions, comments, tags, etc.) by monitoring your social accounts’ engagement

reports by using your event hashtag.

Tips and Tricks on Each Platform• Facebook: Utilize the Facebook Sign Up call to action button to link to your registration page from your Facebook

profi le. This creates another touch point to advertise your event to your attendees. Additionally, Facebook Live provides real-time video messaging and alerts your connections of your stream.

• Periscope: Announce a VIP or speaker interview on your stream to build anticipation for the event. Be sure to interview event goers and get the inside scoop on what brought them to your event. Periscope creates authenticity around your business and event.

• Snapchat: Although Snapchat gets a wrap for targeting Generations Y and Z, with over 30 million users, the event industry is fi nally starting to catch up. If you’re worried that your followers aren’t on snapchat, screenshot your own posts and share them on your other channels to drive adoption rates. Snapchat also allows you to utilize geofi lters based on your location. Because the messages are short-lived, it’s a great platform for trying new marketing tactics.

• LinkedIn: Although great for individuals, creating a LinkedIn group (or leverage existing ones) as a business is a great way to keep a specifi c conversation going and event updates.

• Twitter: Live tweet your event, pose questions and photos to keep the “what’s happening now” momentum going. Those followers who have a fear of missing out will make sure to register for next year!

• Instagram: Ask attendees to crowdsource photos from your event and then share them on your corporate account. It’s a great way to keep the conversation open and show your event from a unique perspective.

Social media plays a major role in attracting attendees to events and engaging them all year long. Leveraging social media is a sure way to generate a positive ROI!

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