When marketing for an event on social media, you will want to look at your event from the perspective of one of your followers. Think about how you would want to introduce the new event to someone and anticipate what questions they may have. This holistic view will assist in your social media coverage.

Listed below are five things to think about when advertising an event on social media:

    1. Post In Advance
      You should introduce your event one to three months ahead if possible. This announcement could be as simple as a graphic with a date and time or more in depth such as a video. This allows your audience to make a mental note that there is an event coming up. With all the content being pushed out you will need to keep momentum by posting frequently so each post will only suffice for a short time being.

      SCOOTER NOTE: Do not be afraid to over communicate especially in the Instagram and Facebook stories. Another tip is to frequently set a countdown as a story so your followers can follow closely. Do not assume your audience will remember solely from the initial announcement.

 

    1. Use a hashtag
      No matter which hashtag you use – Whether it be a clever play on words or the exact title of your event, a hashtag is crucial for event marketing. A hashtag is a simple, free way to promote your event online. The hashtag should be easy to understand and related to the event. Once this hashtag gains traction, your audience can use this to promote content as well – This allows you to market without the content even coming from your account.SCOOTER NOTE: A hashtag also serves as a great way for photos from the event to populate and be easily found.

 

    1. What Is Your Goal? (Define Your Objective(s))
      What do you want the outcome of your event to be? Is the goal attendance, ticket sales, donations? Whatever the individual event goal may be, cater your social media marketing plan to work towards this. If the outcome of your goal should be having a larger turnout than the previous year, heavily push instructions for the day of the event to the public. How will attendees gain access to the event or where will the event take place? When you proactively answer these questions on social media, guests will find no barriers to attending.

 

    1. What Distinguishing Factors Does Your Event Have?
      It is important to advertise prizes, guests or any driving factors that your event will have to grow attendance. Make it clear and simple. If you are running a social media campaign that would result in the winning of a prize or free tickets, this would be a great example of what to advertise on social media. Another thing to promote would be activities going on during the event. In fact, any sort of incentive like this gives an edge to your event promotion.

      SCOOTER NOTE: Be concise, do not overcomplicate the event to lead to confusion for the audience. Focus on what details the public needs to know.

 

  1. Test, Accept Feedback, and Be Ready To Change
    Recently, many people are being forced to innovate. We are running events like never before through live streaming or regulated events. Because of the ever-changing and challenging environments, there are many event details that will need to be tested. Even if all goes smoothly with your testing, you may find that some details just are not working in the long run. In this case, feedback should be accepted and you must be ready to shift quickly.