SOCIAL MEDIA FOR EVENT PLANNERS AND VENDORS: 8 TACTICS YOU CAN USE

Presented by Deanna Ferrari !November 16, 2011

“‘Build it, and they will come’ only works in

the movies. Social media is a ‘build it, nurture it, engage them, and they may

come and stay.’” – Seth Godin

TODAY’S AGENDA

§  About Deanna §  Fast social stats §  Learn the 8 tactics:

§  Pre-event §  During the event §  Post-event §  Bonus tactics

§  Questions/comments

Twi$er  Hashtag:  #ISESpgh  

ABOUT DEANNA

FAST SOCIAL STATS

Source: Digital Buzz Blog

Source: GoPopcorn.ca

Sources: SocialHype, OnlineSchools.org

LET’S TALK TACTICS

Source: Old Spice

PRE-EVENT

TACTIC 1: PLAN IT OUT

•  Set a goal – Attendee number? – Gain new business? – Create awareness? – All of the above?

•  Make a list •  Develop a schedule •  Stick to the plan

Collaborative tools you can use: •  Google Docs/Calendar •  PB Works •  Yammer Import editable Excel spreadsheets and pertinent dates

TACTIC 2: TAKE ADVANTAGE OF PARTNERS & SPONSORS

•  Partner with other organizations to split costs and gain more reach

•  Meet frequently to touch base on progress •  Link love: use your partners and affiliates to

link to you on their website/blog/social networks

Source: Leeann Marie Photography

http://www.leeannmariephotography.com/

Blog

Facebook Example:!Wedding photographer

Invitation/event page: Choose where all event details/RSVPs will be hosted (make sure it’s easily sharable via social media!)

–  Facebook (Events tab) –  Eventbrite –  Anyvite –  Blog post with share buttons (Facebook, LinkedIn,

Google+, Twitter) – already integrated with Tumblr and Wordpress

Event hashtag: Decide on a universal hashtag to use before, during and after (#ISESpgh)

TACTIC 3: GET THE WORD OUT

Facebook Event:

Integrate with Eventbrite:

Direct RSVPs http://www.eventbrite.com/t/facebook-connect-eventbrite

TACTIC 4: USE THE POWER OF ONLINE REACH & INFLUENCE

1 tweet = 2,945 followers reached

4 retweets + 1 mention = 11,764 additional followers reached

TOTAL = 14,709 people reached

The power of a tweet

•  Tease event with sneak previews/weekly info •  Have special guests or speakers talk about

the event on their social networks

TACTIC 5: TEASE & ENTICE

Weekly spotlight

Friday fill-in-the-blank

Keynote retweet

•  Develop a schedule leading up to the event – Weekly trivia – Contests – Rewards for those who come to event

TACTIC 6: CONSIDER REWARDS & INCENTIVES

DURING THE EVENT

§  Live-video stream (Ustream) §  Live-tweet (use the same hashtag from the

event promotion) §  Photo uploads as they happen (Instagram,

Lockerz, Facebook mobile uploads)

The event is shared from multiple perspectives, both in attendance and at home

TACTIC 7: BRING THE EVENT TO LIFE BY BRIDGING ON & OFFLINE

Live-tweet stream!

Encourage attendees to live-tweet the event and project it on a big screen (consider Tweetdeck for this)

Drive people back online!

Exclusive deal for those in attendance, just for “liking” you on Facebook

Engage people at the event with exclusive content and a call to

action via a QR code (“Like” us, Follow us, discount, more info, etc.)

Drive people back online, con’t!

POST-EVENT

§  Do a blog or Facebook recap §  Create and link to a photo album (consider

Facebook or Flickr) §  Embed the archived video from Ustream into

the recap §  Create a Twitter transcript from

TweetReports.com §  Use same hashtag to promote post-event

recap and continue conversation §  Favorite tweets by those who participated

TACTIC 8: FOLLOW UP

Favorited tweets

Twitter transcript uploaded to SlideShare; promoted via Facebook

Event photo album

BONUS TACTICS

Instagram it

Create a unique album of Instagram images to share with your audience

Source: Leeann Marie Photography http://www.leeannmariephotography.com/

Don’t have an iPhone? Try similar apps such as streamzoo or picplz

“Pinspiration” Use Pinterest to garner new ideas as well as showcase your own

Add a “Pin it” button to your blog

DIY Playlists with Spotify

To promote 500 Days of Summer in Europe, 20th Century Fox partnered with Spotify for a competition that had people submit playlists of their top 3 favorite songs. The best playlist submitted each day would then be featured on the site.

Use Spotify to create a playlist at your event, then share the code with

guests to listen to post-event

FINAL NOTE: !Don’t let social allow you to lose

the moment

Thank you! Questions?

dferrari@marcusa.com

Twitter @dferrari deannaferrari.com