6 Tips to Boost
Event Attendance Using Social Media
Social Media
plays a large role in the attendance of an event, and benefits event marketers in a variety
of ways. If used correctly, social media can foster viral branding for your
event, give educators an opportunity to offer collaborative programming, provide
event organizers with a platform to gather feedback and deliver real-time
customer service. Additionally, social media can reduce planning and
promotional costs.
Implement the social media tips below to
help drive registrations, interact with your audience and engage your attendees
before, during and after your event.
1. Educate Your Audience
Use social PR, blog posts, and status
updates to promote your speaker line-up and breakout sessions so attendees are
aware of what is taking place at your event.. Social media is a great way to
send out soft reminders to your attendees about important dates and is less
intrusive then ongoing emails.
2. Research Conversations
Spend some time in
the networks where conversations are happening. Understand what people
are saying about your event, your speakers, and trends in your industry.
Engage. Ask for feedback, add a comment, and leave a suggestion or a fact about
a recent survey or resource you came across. Highlight some high level takeaways
attendees will benefit from if they attend your event.
3. Join Relevant Groups On Social Networking
Sites
Look related groups
on LinkedIn and Facebook that relate to your topic and join them. Become an
active member of the online community, answer questions, ask questions, and offer
content- then post a link to your event. Trust needs to be built in any
relationship, online or offline, before you start asking for favors.
4. Follow Your Speakers And Attendees On
Twitter
Set up hash tags
(#HSMAI2011) encourage attendees and speakers to use them when tweeting about
the event. This will help you identify your audience on Twitter. Also provide a
slot for attendees to submit their Twitter handle when signing up for your
event. Include the Twitter handle on the registration list so other attendees
can connect with each other online as well. Use sites like Twellow to search on Tweets and
bios for keywords relative to your event.
5. Get Your Colleagues Involved
Create an email that
your colleagues can forward to their professional and personal contacts. This
will help to spread the word about your event and encourage attendance. Include
informational bullet points like, who, what, when and where, so your peers can
easily grab snippets of content and post it to their social networks.
6. Convert One-time Attendees To Regulars
Relationship marketing is the driving
force of a successful social media campaign. Encourage one-on-one interaction,
by reaching out personally to your online network. Be thoughtful and
considerate of their online social space and keep your conversation authentic.
Your bottom line should never be the driving force of your social media
marketing campaign. If you do things the right way, not the “quick” fix, and
build community overtime, a successful, well attended event will follow.