How To Use Social Media To Promote Your Event

Social media has become integral to event marketing strategies in today’s digital age. It allows event managers to connect with a vast audience, build excitement, and create a buzz around their events.

According to EventMB, 58% of event organizers use social media marketing for event promotion, with 40% stating it as a critical metric for event success. With such impressive statistics, it’s clear that a well-executed social media strategy can significantly impact the success of your event.

Planning an event? Learn everything you need to know about creating a digital marketing strategy for your event with our digital marketing guide. 

Social Media Practices To Plan Before Your Event

Set Your Event’s Marketing Goals

Before diving into social media marketing, it is crucial to establish clear social media goals for your event. Do you want to increase ticket sales, generate leads, build brand awareness, or enhance attendee engagement?

Defining your goals will guide your social media strategy and help you measure its effectiveness. For instance, if your goal is to increase ticket sales, you can track the number of tickets sold through social media promotions.

Define Your Event’s Unique Selling Points

To stand out in a crowded event landscape, it’s essential to identify and highlight your event’s unique selling points.

What sets your event apart from others? Is it the lineup of influential speakers, interactive workshops, exclusive networking opportunities, or innovative event formats?

Understanding your event’s unique value proposition will enable you to create compelling content and marketing messages that resonate with your target audience.

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Identify Your Target Audience

Knowing your target audience is fundamental for effective social media marketing. Research their demographics, interests, and online behaviors.

By understanding their preferences, you can tailor your content and choose the right social media platforms to reach them.

Conduct surveys or use social listening tools to gather insights and create buyer personas representing your ideal event attendees.

Choose The Right Social Media Platforms For Your Event 

Not all social media platforms are created equal. Each platform has its own strengths, user demographics, and content formats. 

Selecting the platforms that align with your target audience and event goals is important to maximize your event’s reach and engagement. Here are some popular social media event promotion platforms and their key demographics:

• Facebook: With over 2.8 billion monthly active users, Facebook appeals to a broad demographic, making it suitable for events targeting a wide audience.
• Instagram: Known for its visual appeal, Instagram is popular among younger demographics, particularly millennials and Gen Z.
• Twitter: Twitter is ideal for real-time updates and engagement, making it suitable for events with live discussions, conferences, or breaking news.
• LinkedIn: If your event caters to professionals and industry experts, LinkedIn offers a platform for networking, sharing insights, and promoting B2B events.
• TikTok: As the fastest-growing social media platform, TikTok attracts a younger demographic and offers creative and viral content opportunities.

While it’s essential to pick and choose which platform to emphasize, it’s still important to announce the event across all social media channels to reach more people.

Curate A Social Media Plan For Your Event

A comprehensive event social media plan ensures that your marketing efforts are organized and consistent. Here’s a step-by-step guide on crafting an in-depth social media plan for your event. 

Before the event launch

• Finalize the social media channels: Set up dedicated event pages and accounts across chosen platforms.
• Create a content calendar: Plan and schedule engaging posts, including teasers, behind-the-scenes glimpses, speaker spotlights, industry news, and interactive polls or quizzes. Think about how to introduce an event on social media through unique content ideas.
• Make teasers, stories, and other content: Leverage visual content like teasers, behind-the-scenes stories, and videos to create excitement and anticipation among your audience. Engage with your audience through interactive features like Instagram polls or question stickers.

After the Event Launch and Before the Event

• Post consistently: Maintain a regular posting schedule to keep your audience engaged and informed about updates, speakers, and other event highlights.
• Share snippets from previous events or performances: Highlighting successful past events or captivating performances by artists or speakers builds anticipation and credibility.
• Share Instagram stories with a ticket link: Utilize the swipe-up feature to make it convenient for your audience to purchase tickets directly from your story.
• Get the artist or speaker to share a story or post: Collaborate with the performers to extend your event’s reach. Ask them to share a story or post from their account, promoting their participation in your event.
• Host a giveaway: Engage your audience by offering tickets, exclusive experiences, or merchandise as prizes. This generates excitement and helps spread the word about your event through user-generated content.
• Collaborate with influencers: Find dedicated influencers with the right target market for your event and partner with them to promote your event through their platforms. The more engaged and targeted their audience is, the better the ROI from their strategy.
• Utilize Paid Advertising: While organic reach is valuable, consider leveraging paid advertising on social media platforms to amplify your event promotion efforts. Platforms like Facebook and Instagram offer targeted advertising options, allowing you to reach specific demographics and increase event visibility among potential attendees.
• Collaborate with Partners and Sponsors: Collaborating with partners and sponsors can significantly boost your event’s social media presence. Co-create content, cross-promote each other’s posts and leverage their networks to reach new audiences. This strategic partnership expands your reach and adds credibility and trust to your event.

During and After the Event

• Post live stories and videos: Capture the excitement and atmosphere of the event in real-time to engage both attendees and those unable to attend. Live streaming platforms like Facebook Live, Instagram Live, or YouTube Live are great for this purpose.
• Live tweets: Encourage attendees to share their experiences on Twitter, using event-specific hashtags to generate buzz and create a sense of community.
• Interview attendees: Conduct interviews or capture testimonials from attendees to share authentic experiences and encourage future participation. This can be done through videos or written testimonials.
• Share snippets from the event: Create highlight reels, image galleries, or short videos showcasing the event’s best moments. This content can be shared on various platforms to keep the excitement alive.
• Measure and analyze performance: Utilize social media analytics tools to assess engagement metrics, reach, sentiment, and conversion rates. Analyzing this data will provide valuable insights into the success of your social media marketing efforts and guide future event strategies.

Planning and executing a social media marketing plan for your event can get overwhelming (and expensive), especially if you don’t have a dedicated team consistently working towards your social media goals and are unsure how to promote an event on social media. 

In such cases, it’s better to outsource your social media marketing efforts to event partners like Platinumlist. Our expert social media marketing team with years of event marketing experience curates a personalized marketing plan for your event and helps create awareness and increase ticket sales by reaching a highly targeted audience.

Interested in learning more about our social media marketing solutions? Get in touch with us now!

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