Social Media can help promote an event, boost engagement with attendees and help in staying connected during and once an event has ended. Its biggest benefits? • Assists in getting the word out about the event • Makes events more personable and interactive • Allows attendees to share information more effectively • Makes it easy to interact and keep in touch with attendees

1. Promote, Engage and Connect:
How social media can enhance your event
1

2. About Kelly Cutler
Kelly Cutler is the CEO of Marcel
Media, a Google Certified digital
marketing firm specializing in
Website design, development and
marketing.
Kelly’s achievements include
serving as the first woman
president of the Chicago
Entrepreneurs’ Organization,
instructing at the University of
Chicago and DePaul University,
and speaking on digital marketing @kfcutler
at conferences and events across
the country. /in/kellycutler
4/23/2013 2

3. Using Social Media For Events
Social Media
Examiner
3

4. Growth of Social Media
4

5. General Benefits of Social Media
• Builds an online community
• Establishes credibility in the industry
• Helps community members connect and engage with each other and the
event hosts and sponsors
• Encourages information sharing
• Supports other marketing initiatives
• Creates more live interaction at the event
5

6. Using Social Media For Event Marketing
6

7. Three Phases:
• Promote the event to increase attendance
• Engage during the event to enhance the experience
• Follow up to build connections and maintain relationships
Connect Promote
Engage
7

8. Promote
.
Promote
.
8

9. Promote: Three Strategies
.
.
.
As a vehicle As the main A tool to
to drive registration increase
people to a platform awareness
registration
page
9

10. The Setup Phase
10

11. Promote:
If driving registrations, create an event landing page or Facebook Application
sign up page
• Include a well written event description
• Include a simple registration form
• Include social sharing widgets
• Use a URL shorten to promote
o E.g.: naus2013.com/registration
11

12. Promote:
Facebook Events & Fan Page:
• If a paid event, include link to official registration page
• Can be used as a registration platform for free events
• Encourage those to share with friends
• Send invite to company fans
• Encourage employees to share with their network
• Use as guest list and to collect information
12

13. Promote:
Using Facebook to drive additional registrations and sign-ups:
• Using Event Brite, coordinators can send automatic updates to attendees
when they click ‘Sign up’.
• After signing-up, Facebook Connect gathers necessary information so
attendees do not need to fill anything out.
• Attendees then can share with their friends via social networks and email.
13

14. Promote:
Create a LinkedIn Group to promote event
• Invite speakers and attendees to connect in advance
• Post links within groups similar to that of the Facebook events/fan pages
14

15. Promote:
Create An Event Twitter Hashtag (#):
• Use URL shortner to add registration or event page links to your tweet
• Always display event hashtag (#) in social communication
• Prepare with topics to tweet about
15

16. Tools & Tactics to
Build Awareness and Drive Registration
16

17. Promote: Tools & Tactics
Multimedia Distribution
• Distribute videos and pictures of past event presentations/performances
• Create a video promoting the event
• Distribute across all social profiles
• Share company SlideShare so registered attendees can see past presentations
17

18. Promote: Tools & Tactics
Create Contest/Giveaway & Incorporate Sponsors
• Generate buzz
o Promote through blogs and social profiles
o Include event description and how to participate
o Link to the event/registration page
18

19. Promote: Tools & Tactics
5 Great Tools To Promote Your Event:
• EventBrite: Manage tickets sales and increase turnout by giving attendees the
chance to promote the event. (FREE)
• PLANCAST: Lets people search for the event far in advance so they don’t miss
out. (FREE)
• Nutshell Email: Allows you to send an email to company Fans & Followers on
Facebook. (FREE)
• TweetMyEvents: Allows you to post the event to be retweeted to their 7,000+
followers on Twitter. (FREE)
19

20. .
.
Engage
Engage
20

21. What Attendees Expect:
Receive & Check Share Highlights &
Check-in Posts: Get Updates
Schedule Experiences
21

22. What Attendees Expect:
Receive & Check Posts: Get
Check-in Schedule Updates/Highlights
Share Experiences
FourSquare Responsive Website Event Updates Using Hashtag’s (#)
Sharing event media
Facebook Places Blog Post with Schedule Schedule Changes
materials, etc
Location Information Highlights
Special Deal/Sponsored
Events
Videos/Pictures
22

23. Engage: Check-In
Establish Platform For Attendees to Check-In:
• Allow attendees to notify their social networks of their location and activities
• Help them connect with others that are at the event
• Add tips to event place pages and offer incentives for checking-in
• Add event name as venue name
• Two useful tools: Foursquare and Facebook Places
23

24. Engage: Check-In
For those not on Facebook or Foursquare, Set up a hashtag(#) so they can
tweet upon arrival.
• Use tools such as Hootsuite to monitor their Check-In and engage
24

25. What Attendees Expect:
Receive & Check Posts: Get
Check-in Updates/Highlights
Share Experiences
Schedule
Blog Post with
FourSquare Event Updates Using Hashtag’s (#)
Schedule
Location Sharing event media
Facebook Places Schedule Changes
materials, etc
Information
Highlights
Special Deal/Sponsored
Events
Videos/Pictures
25

26. Engage: Event Schedule
Create a Schedule for Attendees to Access:
• Create landing page with event schedule & map
• Send out in a blog post, across social profiles, and through email
26

27. What Attendees Expect:
Receive & Check
Check-in Posts: Get Updates Share Experiences
Schedule
Blog Post with
FourSquare Event Updates Using Hashtag’s (#)
Schedule
Location Sharing event media
Facebook Places Schedule Changes materials, etc
Information
Deals/Sponsored
Events
27

28. Engage: Posting
Event Updates
• Post on:
o Event happenings (Blogs, Videos, Pictures, etc)
o Agenda changes
o Speaker interviews
o Special Deals (Check-In incentives, Restaurant/Food Specials, etc)
• Always respond. Include event hashtag (#).
#GoodFoodFest
28

29. Engage: Posting
Launch Contests for Attendees During the Event
• Make it easy to enter and share with friends
• The prize should be worth their time
• Share across all social profiles
29

30. What Attendees Expect:
Receive & Check Share Highlights &
Check-in Posts: Get Updates
Schedule Experiences
Blog Post with
FourSquare Event Updates Multimedia
Schedule
Location
Facebook Places Schedule Changes Using Hashtag’s (#)
Information
Deals/Sponsored Event media
Events materials
30

31. Engage: Sharing Experiences
Empower Your Attendees to Share
• Make sure there is an event presence across all social profiles
• List attendees Twitter names on their badges to help engagement
• Include social channels on all event materials
Example Content:
• People have opinions. Ask easy questions.
• Use Fill-in-the-Blanks (Facebook)
• Pictures & Videos get most engagement
31

32. Engage: Sharing Experiences
Facebook Photos/Videos Generate Higher Engagement
32

33. Engage: Sharing Experiences
Post Pictures & Videos
• Let enough time pass before the next post so engagement isn’t lost
• Main Channels: Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, Twitter
Examples:
• Post pictures of attendees (Facebook) and ask them to tag themselves
• Post Event Speaker Highlights
• Post blogs to social profiles with interesting images
33

34. Secondary Social Engagement Tactics
34

35. Engage: Secondary Tactics
Blog During the Event:
• Create buzz and excitement by live blogging for those unable to attend
• Encourage attendees to share reactions on social profiles
• Include highlights, quotes, and key points as they happen
• Keep live blogs short
35

36. Engage: Secondary Tactics
Ustream: Stream live events online to those who cannot attend.
• Ustream integrates with Facebook Timeline to share live videos with Facebook
friends in real-time
36

37. Engage: Secondary Tactics
TwitVid:
Take videos at events and
share across social profiles
VisibleTweets:
Display event tweets in a public
space for attendees to see.
37

38. Connect .
Connect
.
38

39. Connect: Post Event
Create stronger relationships beyond the event hashtag (#) and earn
long lasting fans and followers.
How to do it?
• Post Event Research
o Google Alerts(free)/Social Mentions (free)
• Connect via social profiles
• Direct connection, search hashtag (#), LinkedIn groups, etc
• Get attendees list and set up email programs to follow-up
• Thank you email, survey, SlideShare, YouTube clips, etc.
• Connect with stragglers :
• Continue to use hashtags (#)
• LinkedIn groups to support content related to event
39

40. Connect:
Social Channels: Reach out and connect with attendees across all social profiles
• Follow on Twitter, Facebook and connect on LinkedIn
• Create conversation by asking questions and asking them to share experiences
For Example:
• “What about your event got them most excited?”
• “Are they looking forward to attend next year’s event?”
Email: Send a “Thank You” email to all attendees
• Send to all emails on attendee list
• Include highlights
• Connect
Remind attendees of deadline for event special offers
• Include presentation/ SlideShare links
40

41. Connect:
SlideShare: Showcase presentations and add a video that auto-plays
when people land on the event profile
• Include link in your “Thank You” email/ across social profiles
Survey/Polls: Create a LinkedIn poll after event to gather feedback quickly
• Distribute across social profiles, email, blog, groups, etc
41

42. Connect:
Blog: Continue to blog on topics related to the event, but not directly about the
event.
• Share posts across social profiles and in online groups (LinkedIn)
• Include link to blog in email signatures
• Use social mention to find popular topics to blog on
LinkedIn Groups: Continue posting to these groups after the event
• Keep members up-to-date on next event
• Give members opportunity to register first
42

43. Summary
Social Media can help promote an event, boost engagement with attendees
and help in staying connected during and once an event has ended.
Its biggest benefits?
• Assists in getting the word out about the event
• Makes events more personable and interactive
• Allows attendees to share information more effectively
• Makes it easy to interact and keep in touch with attendees
Promotion
Connect Promote
Beyond EngageEngagement
43

44. Case Study: Pivot Conference
As a seven-person startup, the Pivot team’s resources were limited, and
traditional forms of communications and marketing were taking enough
effort without much result on enhancing their two day event.
Main Objectives & Goals:
• Build Audience and Follower Engagement
• Convert current Pivot followers into attendees
Secondary Goals:
• Enhance social media relationships with partners & speakers
• Increase followers
• Increase blog following
• Build Brand Attention
44

45. Case Study: Action Plan
Promote
• Produce quality content year round to gather a loyal following, and
eventually acquire them as attendees.
• Craft clear and constant messaging. Send Updates.
• Create groups/communities to get the buzz out
• Promote conference using different tools & apps
45

46. Case Study: Action Plan
Engage
• Be accessible at all times
• Respond and interact with each and every followers and attendee
• Use HootSuite to listen to social conversations to improve conference, etc.
• Use contests and sweepstakes to engage
• Make sure attendees know hashtag (#) so they can engage
46

47. Case Study: Action Plan
Connect
• Connect with attendees after, through social media and email
• Share with them links to presentations on SlideShare, etc.
• Keep past attendees up to date on next years event. Offer discount, etc.
47

48. Case Study: Results
Promote
• Increased Followers: 1,000 new followers over the course of one month. More than a
quarter of which attended the conference.
Engage
• Built Engagement: Tracked over 6,000 tweets and hashtag (#) trended on twitter.
Connect
• Enhanced Social Media Relationships: Created lists for each group (sponsors, speakers,
etc) to participate in conversations more effectively.
• Increased Blog Following: 23.5% of referral traffic came from Twitter during the event
month. This percent was 16.04% the month before.
48

49. Case Study: What We Learned?
• Lay Out Goals & Promote in Advance: Social media can be great, but a
campaign with no direction can feel inauthentic.
• Make it Easy To Engage: Clear and constant messaging is key. Be accessible
at all times for everyone.
• Get the Word Out Early: In order for others to plan to attend the event,
they need to know about it far in advance.
• Brand Association
• Opportunity Creation
• Network Growth
• Building Trust
• Innovation
• Reputation
• Client Retention
49

50. Thank You!
Kelly Cutler
kelly@marcelmedia.com
LinkedIn.com/kellycutler
Twitter.com/kfcutler
Questions?
50