Using Social Media to Promote Events Paul Gillin Curator, InfoboomInfoboom Author: The New Influencers Secrets of Social Media Marketing Social Marketing to the Business Customer

Types of Events Seminars Conferences User group meetings Webinars Online chats Press conferences Awards ceremonies The same tools can be used for all of these

Create a Master Landing Page List all related events, with individual landing pages for each

And One for Each Unique Event Use a page under your own domain Use EventBrite - or similar services - for registrations but not as the home page Make it easy for registrants to share and like your event on Twitter and Facebook

Announce Everywhere (Most services provide basic listings for free )

Set up a Facebook Page Source: Alan Belniak, PTC Post updates on schedule, speakers, registrations on the wall. Ask questions and invite comments.

Promote Internally Lotus Invitr Timesquare

Set up a LinkedIn Event Page and Group Invite registrants to share their plans to attend with their network

Create a Twitter Account or Hash Tag Use a dedicated account when the event is repeating Hash tags are good for one-time events to consolidate comments Sub-hash tags can be assigned to individual breakouts

You Can Even Show Live Tweets This display is from Visible Tweets (free).Visible Tweets Other options include Twubs Wiffiti Paratweet

Consolidate Twitter

Schedule Twitter and Facebook Promotions Use tools like HootSuite, SpredFast, Awareness to schedule and automate posts Post at least twice weekly to Facebook and Twitter Increase activity as event date nears Make it interactive: Quizzes Challenges Fun facts Discounts Updates

Follow Registrants & Prospective Registrants Monitor Twitter hash tag activity Ask registrants for a Twitter handle and follow them Create a Twitter list of registrants and other fans Retweet and comment upon their activity

Use Unique Tracking Codes Use cebook&utm_medium=wall_post&utm_campai gn=10287 Don’t use Google URL Builder can help Use unique URLs for each wall post, tweet and newsletter mention. You need to know where your visitors are coming from!

Create Speaker Promotion Tools Provide badges (various sizes) for speakers to display on blogs and sites. Promotion codes tied to discounts Consider affiliate programs for speakers

Create Consistent Tags Use them to find and organize content by you and others

Create Flickr Sets

Stream Proceedings UStream LiveStream Most live streaming services have free options. As long as you have an Internet connection, you can deliver your proceedings over the Web

Create SlideShare and YouTube Channels Bonus visibility Preserve content for future promotion Little incremental effort People can follow your presentations

Create an Event Blog Highlight new speakers, tracks, topics Repurpose video, images, presentations Promote specials Spotlight media coverage Repurpose content on other social channels

Create an Event Newsletter Monthly or more Use photos, energetic language. Post on conference site Include all social links Make newsletter easily shareable Don’t forget unique URLs!

Send Summary s Promote conference materials on SlideShare, Flickr, YouTube, podcasts. Summarize and link to live blog entries Promote Buzz feed Invite attendees to follow on Twitter and Facebook Post a survey form and ask for feedback Tease next event Create a sense of “membership” to attract repeat attendance

Put It All Together Source: Alan Belniak, PTC Aggregate blogs, tweets, media coverage Displays videos and photo galleries Show latest entries on event blog Tag clouds show trending topics This can be an archive/promo for future events

Paul Gillin Site: gillin.com Blog: paulgillin.com Twitter: pgillin Thank You! Join us for more discussion in the PartnerWorld Forum: "Making Business Sense of Social Media and Social Networking" "Making Business Sense of Social Media and Social Networking"