I spent 34+ years immersed in the Dallas-Ft. Worth wedding and event industry. I owned and operated a wedding and event design company. I did several guest appearances on the Style Network’s ‘Whose Wedding Is It Anyway’. I worked in the Convention Industry for the City of Grapevine and prior to that, I worked in convention and tourism sales for Southfork Ranch during the filming years of ‘Dallas’ the tv show. I was there when they shot Jr!
Now I run Social Media Marketing Campaigns for my clients and for events. Half the work of creating a successful event is in marketing it and social media makes marketing an event easier and more affordable.
When you think of an event you think most people are posting, tweeting and chatting during the event, right?
That is true, however, many starts as soon as they purchase their tickets or sign up because they want their friends to join. They want others to know what they are involved in and planning to do and they don’t want to be left out. #FOMO (fear of missing out). So they share and @ their friends.
You want to start marketing an event as soon as you can. Say you have a show you are promoting. You can create your event flyer and promote it through Facebook events, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter. Create your own # and encourage everyone to use it and share it. You can share your event through tagging and encourage attendees to share through tagging and using your #.
Offer some type of discount or special to get your pre-registered attendees to share it on their social channels using your # and @(tagging their friends). Invite the local press; they are always looking for good stories.
During your event do something that will encourage guests to take pictures and share them. You can use a photo booth, backdrops even stage props to encourage people to take photos and share them. Post signs reminding them of your event # and @.
After your event, it is important to create follow up posts about how great the event was and thank everyone who made it a success. Monitor #’s and your social feed to catch comments and acknowledge those comments, good or bad. It is particularly important to address any negative comments and turn them in your favor. Offer any disgruntled followers something to make them happier. Send out a survey in follow up. Share images with the local press.
If you want help promoting your next event, give us a call. We know how to drive success in your direction!
