SOCIAL NETWORKING 101

CASSIE ROBERTS

SIT BACK AND RELAX

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SOCIAL NETWORKING

Our working definition:• Social networking is the practice

of connecting your customers through social media outlets to facilitate positive relationships that grow your brand.

SOCIAL MEDIA VS. SOCIAL

NETWORKINGSocial media and social networking are not synonyms.

Social media are the OUTLETS like Facebook, Twitter, etc.

• Use social media outlets to create your social network.

The social NETWORK is what you create to bring value to your event.

Your social media outlets are only as good as the network you build

on them.

PRESENTERS

• First job managing events for non-profit

• Began building websites in 1995 for Fortune 1000 company

• Started own company in 1998

• Brings big-company experience to the event industry

Kendra Wright

• Received BS Public Relations, & Masters Sport Management, The University of Texas

• Born in Central City, NE• United States Olympic

Committee• Rodeo Austin

Cassie Roberts

HISTORY

SAFFIRE CLIENTS

SAFFIRE CLIENTS

SAFFIRE ASSOCIATION

PARTNERS

PALAMINO FEST

Our goal is to elevate the event industry by enhancing its most important virtual front

door – its online presence.

WHY USE SOCIAL NETWORKING?

Local TV Ad Campaign: 200,000 people/commercial Print: Varies

based on Send

Traditional Networking Model

Local Radio Ad: 5,000 people/

commercial

*Based on midsized market

WHY USE SOCIAL NETWORKING?Social Networking Model

ME: 1

My Friends: 500+

My Friends’ Friends

250,000+

WHICH OUTLETS TO USE?

YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA PRIORITIESSpend 70% of your time on Facebook

Use an app that posts tweets when you post on Facebook (adding 0-10%)

Spend 15% on YouTube

Spend 5% between Pinterest and Instagram (photo sharing)

WHICH OUTLETS DO I USE?

Focus your attention on key players.

DON’T try to have a presence on every social media outlet.

From the marketer’s standpoint, it’s much more effective to have a solid presence in one or two channels than it is to try to dominate every platform.

WHAT TO SHARE & WHEREWhat to Share Where

Short blurbs Facebook, Twitter

Longer stories Facebook (and/or link to website or blog)

Photos Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram

Videos Facebook, Twitter, YouTube

Contests Facebook, Twitter (website)

FACEBOOK

POLL

How many of you have a personal Facebook account?

How many of you have a Facebook

account for your event?

FACEBOOKOver 1 BILLION monthly active usersOne in every seven humans on earth is active on FacebookThe most important way to spend your social networking energyFacebook trends to know• People use it on mobile• People use it for photo sharing

FACEBOOK COVER PHOTO

Be creative! Use this space to make big announcements, i.e. event dates and upcoming performers.

Change it daily during your event to highlight the day’s activities.

You can’t put links on your cover photo.

FACEBOOK PROFILE PICTURE Don’t forget the profile picture! It will appear “solo” throughout

Facebook; it needs to be able to stand alone and represent your brand.

COOL FACEBOOK COVERS/PROFILES

COOL FACEBOOK COVERS/PROFILES

COOL FACEBOOK COVER PHOTOS

TAGGING IN FACEBOOK

Let’s do an experiment.

Smile!

TAGGING IN FACEBOOK

Take pictures of the crowd at concerts, post them and encourage them to tag themselves

Your photo appears in

their Facebook feed!

Ask questions that get people to talk about themselves in

relation to your event

DEEP THOUGHT

• Consider funny – posts from mascot, etc.

• Personal/human interest stories get a lot of hits

• Posts with photos get more views!

Think about what YOU would want to click!

GRAB THEIR ATTENTION

TWITTER

POLL

How many of you have a personal Twitter account?

How many of you have a Twitter

account for your event?

TWITTERYour 2nd priority for social media530 million accounts340 million tweets a day1 million accounts added to

Twitter every day

WHY TWEET?Twitter is current on up-to-the minute important news and cultural happenings.

Ramp up your publishing frequency, and make timely content the focus of your Twitter activities in order to satisfy information-hungry users.

STEP 1: SET UP TWITTER

No more than 15 characters in UsernameExample: Amador County Fair

• Too many characters: @AmadorCountyFair• Use: @AmadorFair• Use your real business name so search engines &

customers can find you

SAFFIRE RECOMMENDATIONInclude your state in your username if you need to

differentiate yourself!

COMPLETE A FEW FIELDS

AmadorFair

WHO TO FOLLOW IN SET UP

When you set up your account, just follow the minimum - Industry associations & businesses• IAFE @IAFE• IFEA @IFEAworld• State/regional organization• Saffire Events @SaffireEvents

STEP 2: CUSTOMIZE YOUR

PAGEEdit Profile• Add a photo (logo)

o Get 10x more followers

• Add a bio (mission – make it fun)o Get 8x more followers

Customize your design• Use your website background

NEW! ADD A HEADER

Make a file that is 1200px wide by 600px tallIt will be a background behind:• Twitter name• Bio• Location• URLJust another way to convey your brandUpload it to Profile/Design

Amador header

STEP 3: DO A FEW RE-TWEETS

Re-tweet people you follow• Look through your timeline• At first, this is just to get your

feet wet• Give people a taste of what’s

to come

STEP 4: FOLLOW SOME PEOPLE

Events similar to yoursBig eventsPeople involved in your eventLocal businessesJust for fun

SAFFIRE RECOMMENDATIONDon’t follow too many until you have tweeted

and have a branded page!

PEOPLE INVOLVED IN YOUR EVENT

SponsorsVendorsEntertainersVolunteersExhibitorsBoard members

SAFFIRE RECOMMENDATIONFollow people on a Tuesday morning;

there may be better chance they’ll follow you back.

LOCAL BUSINESSESLocal businesses• Amador (county)• Plymouth (city)

Local press

SAFFIRE RECOMMENDATIONPilfer from those we are following & our

followers!

It’s a chicken and the egg: people don’t follow people without tweets, but you’ll get better bang for buck once you have more followers

Tweet what you think will be helpful to your target audience• Don’t be too self-serving

STEP 5: WRITE SOME TWEETS

Website changes/blog posts/email articlesTestimonialsPhotos/Videos“Insider info”News of weird/human interest storiesContestsQuestions

WHAT TO POST

SPECIFIC IDEASSend opening day congrats to other fairs

Judiciously promote big sponsors for retweet

Same with vendors and entertainers

Post thanks to people/groups; they’ll repost

TRICKS & TIPS FOR TWEETS

For the highest click-through rates:

Tweet between 120-130 characters.

Write tweets containing “via,” “RT,” “please” and “check.”

Post weird/human interest stories.

Tweet on the weekends.

SAFFIRE RECOMMENDATIONUse: www.bufferapp.com or www.hootsuite.com

to schedule social media in advance.

WHAT IS THIS?

#

THE ART OF THE HASHTAG

A hashtag is how Twitter users organize themselves.

People start including a hashtag when tweeting about a topic.

It becomes easier to find that topic in search.

It is more likely to appear in Twitter’s Trending Topics.

ENSURE ADOPTION OF A HASHTAG

You can’t!

WHAT YOU CAN DO

POST it – relevant places on your website/blog

PRINT it – event materials, signage, scoreboards, etc.

PUBLICIZE it – Twitter feed, regularly and consistently

SAFFIRE RECOMMENDATIONMake it easy and enticing for customers to find, adopt

and promote hashtags.

AN RECENT EXAMPLE

Many also use hashtags to add something parenthetical/funny at the end of a tweetManti Te’o hashtag: #catfished

STEP 6: MANAGE YOUR TWEETS

TAKE IT A STEP FURTHER

STEP 7: GO ABOUT YOUR DAY

Install Firefox extension• While you are online reading

articles, don’t just post them; highlight text and click Buffer icon at bottom right to tweet

EVEN WHEN YOU’RE MOBILE

TWITONOMY

STEP 8: TWEAK & REPEAT

Check BufferApp or Twitonomy analytics.

Write down topics that had the most reach. • Do more of those.

Write down topics that had the least reach.• Do less of those.

what is the fastest growing website of all time?

PINTERESTPinterest was the first site to get 10 million unique visitors in a month.

Pin event photos (and more) and invite your customers to follow your boards!

Not your highest priority, but do it! It’s fun!

PINTEREST

PINTEREST

50% of all web content is…

YOUTUBE

Customers exposed to videos are 437% more likely to engage in your brand.

• Engagement = Purchases

SAFFIRE RECOMMENDATIONMake your videos raw and not too produced to help

customers identify with your brand.

YOUTUBE

3rd in your social media priorities4 billion videos/day viewed800 million unique users visit YouTube each month44% of YouTube’s users are agedbetween 12 and 34

INSTAGRAM• Mainly for mobile• Known for image

“doctoring”• Trends younger• Ease of use lowers

barriers to content creation and helps fuel posts on other networks.

Reach younger customers with…

1. CREATE AN ACCOUNT

2. TAKE A PHOTO

3. PICK A FILTER

4. POST!

FUN FACTS ABOUT INSTAGRAM

• Social media users plan to increase their use of Instagram at a rate higher than that of any other network.

• 85% of Instagrammers use the platform at work, way above any other social media format.

USE HASHTAGS ON INSTAGRAM TOO!

SAFFIRE RECOMMENDATIONUse the same hashtags that you use on twitter so

people (and you) have less to remember.

FINAL WORD ON INSTAGRAM

The most important thing you can do for your Instagram community is to remain active, engaged and provide value by responding to comments.

Where is the best place to maximize your social media

presence?

MOBILE NETWORKING

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

PINTEREST

YOUTUBE

YOUR WEBSITE

HOW DO YOU MANAGE YOUR

SITE?

YOUR WEB GUY

THE GOAL

you must be able to market your event on your

website in real time

MAXIMIZE SOCIAL MEDIA ON WEBSITE Facebook or Tweet your FESTIVAL

MAXIMIZE SOCIAL MEDIA ON WEBSITEFacebook/Tweet a festival EVENT/FEATURE

MAXIMIZE SOCIAL MEDIA ON WEBSITEFacebook or Tweet a PHOTO of an event/feature

OTHER SPECIFIC IDEAS

• Be the first to know about X via social media!

• See behind-the-scenes looks at our event!

Your customers feel special, and they are more likely to be long term

followers.

MAKE PEOPLE FEEL LIKE INSIDERS

• Photo contests on website and Facebook

• Caption that photo

• Funny video upload

Photos and video are naturally VIRAL and give you more event

photos!

MULTIMEDIA

Show live tweets on concert side screens

Have a vote or quiz• Answer on text, app, QR code,

etc.

GET PEOPLE TALKING

RECAPDon’t try to spread yourself too thin over social media outlets-pick a few and be successfulDon’t prioritize social media at the expense of your website

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