How to Promote an Event Using Social Media

Social Media Strategy Posted by Glen Kosaka Leave a Comment

Social media is a great channel for promoting events. It’s not only a great way to reach your fans, but also a great way to expand your reach through shares and retweets. Promoting events like seminars, webinars, special guests, product demonstrations, conferences and concerts using social media can be effective if you follow these guidelines.

Here are 7 tips to show you how to promote an event using social media.

1Tell them why they’ll benefit

Make sure your fans know why it will be so great for them. Get them excited about what they’ll experience or the value they’ll receive. Here’s a great example:

An incentive doesn’t have to cost a lot!

2 Create a hashtag and keep the drumbeat going

Create a unique hashtag to promote your event, then carefully plan out a series of posts for your social networks to make sure everyone has a chance to see your announcement. On Twitter, this could be 3 posts a day, while on Facebook it could be 1-2 per week, depending on how active you are. But don’t just repeat the same thing over and over – that’s boring! See tips 3-5 below for some ideas for varying your post messages.

Here’s a great way to schedule a series in Rignite. First, create a Campaign to Promote an Event by Scheduling a Series of Posts.

Then, create multiple base posts for each social profile so your fans don’t get bored seeing the same subject. For example:

Now schedule how many times to post per day or per campaign.

Press Next, and voila! You have a series of posts on multiple social networks with alternating messages.

You can even customize any individual post. For example, add a sense of urgency as suggested in tip 4.

3Offer an incentive for early registrants

You can get early commitments by offering a special discount or reward for early entrants. A higher discount if the customer registers by Friday, or a free T-shirt could generate some early activity and buzz.

Of course, some events are more fun to promote than others.

4Add urgency as the event nears

Let’s face it, many people are procrastinators. Your series of posts should start to convey more urgency such as “Time is running out!” or “Only 4 days left” as the event or deadline nears.

5Ask your fans to tweet and share

Anyone who plans to attend the event should be encouraged to let their friends know by tweeting, retweeting, or sharing. This could be as simple as scheduling a few posts in your series reminding people. You should also add a social share box with a preset tweet and facebook post on your registration page.

6Keep promoting during and after the event

Schedule posts to occur during the event, and add real-time posts during the event. Photo’s are great for live events! Short video’s are even better. Use a unique hashtag for your event to build momentum. Always take the opportunity to promote your brand for followup business even if it’s too late for someone to join the event.

Here’s a good promotional tweet for after an event.

7Enlist your partners to help promote the event

If your event has prominent guests, sponsors, or partners, be sure to ask them to promote it through their social channels. Give them sample posts and tweets to make it easy. Use a hashtag so you’re all building on the same theme.

Now you know how to promote an event using social media!  It can be fun and effective. With the right combination of excitement, value, urgency, and entertainment your event can be a smashing success.

About the Author

Glen Kosaka

Glen Kosaka is the CEO and Founder of Rignite. He’s the guiding force behind Rignite’s mission to help businesses grow through social media.

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