As an event planner, we know you are extremely busy on the day of your event. It is not easy from handling glitches, managing a team, networking with attendees and surveilling and ensuring that everything is on time and well in place. We know that promoting the event and encouraging engagement fall under the enormous list of things you have to do during the day of your event.
Today, we have for you 7 quick wins that will increase engagement and promote your event on the big day.
You can’t always promote your event, as there are certain internal events that must stay secret, for example, internal seminars, board meetings, product kick-offs…. You need to decide whether promoting will add value or not.
If you decide that it will add value, here are some goals and reasons for promoting your event:
An event hashtag enables the experience sharing on the social media, as it lets you:
Finding the perfect hashtag involves a bit of brainstorming and a bit of tech savviness 😉
It should be unique and significant to your event.
Here are some quick tips on choosing a hashtag:
Some great examples of event hashtags we have seen in the past are:
Creating a challenge or a game on the big day with a prize at the end of the event will incentivize your attendees to take part and keep them engaged during the day.
Doing this will need you to get creative with the tools you have at your disposition. If you are using Eventdrive, you can use the Instaphoto feature. This is a feature in on the app that allows you to take pictures and post them on the event wall, then allows for other attendees to like and comment on them.
We have seen in earlier events an Instaphoto challenge was very successful. The manager had created two rewarded challenges : the most liked photo at the end of the day and the most engaged attendee. You can have a look at the case study here!
This kind of activity allows you to engage the attendees and keep on promoting the event internally and externally. These challenges could be conducted on social media or on the event app.
Here are some quick tips on creating a good challenge:
The challenges will need you to think about how to integrate it in your event and if it is right for the setting!
This is a major plus to your event promotion strategy as live videos especially on Facebook have a huge reach. Facebook Live videos are a great way to bring engagement and visibility to your event. According to stats, they are 3 times more viewed than regular videos.
The live videos allow you to create FOMO – Fear Of Missing Out. They enable people who weren’t:
Live streaming in events is this years big trend. Do you remember our article on the top tips for your next live stream?
Some examples of great live streams are:
We live in a generation where pictures say it all! Why not integrate it in your event?
The photo booth allows attendees to have a souvenir and share it with friends, colleagues and potentially others interested in the next edition. This can bring interactivity and increase your social engagement statistics and reach.
There are many ways to integrate it in your event. Here are some ideas:
If you are doing this for your event, make sure the:
Our world is extremely connected thanks to all the social media outlets that exist. We spend more than 5 hours a day on social media. So it’s only logical that your attendees will be posting away on all throughout the event. You need to join them and Tweet, Insta, Snap and Facebook! The more you post, the more you get your event out there.
We recommend adding in a Snapchat geofilter. This will allow you to create a personal touch on people’s posts. You can also integrate the hashtagging tip we mentioned above? You should make sure you have already defined the purpose and tone for each social media channel and remind attendees to share while mentioning the organiser and use the event hashtag!
Influencer marketing has become huge! Why so? Well that’s easy, because it works. The word of mouth method is something people trust and has a long-term value. Having keynote speakers that are also involved in the event process brings a huge added value to the event. You see this often in music festivals: certain artists in the line-up are also listed as the event organizers.
Influencers at events increase credibility, increase the reach your event to your target, works to create brand awareness and add real value to you audience.
You can do something similar by inviting or collaborating with the influencers in the event planning, maybe by doing some posts on social media together to get the word out or even a mailing. When targeting very famous influencers, a personalized approach is advised.
Here are some tips when dealing with influencers:
Just because the event is over doesn’t mean that your promotion is over, as there will always be a next edition to come. 😉
It is always a nice touch having a blog post at the end that acts like a recap of the event or even a newsletter. This refreshes the attendees’ brains on the important topics and potentially reminds them of their promise to recontact you.
It is always a good idea to:
According to studies, a satisfied person will share their experience with 2-3 people. However, a dissatisfied person will share their dissatisfaction with 8-10 people. It shows you the importance of a great attendee experience, one that they enjoyed and will remember. This way, you gain from the positive benefits and it’s an event that you are proud to link your brand image to.
So there are our 7 quick wins for successfully promoting your event on the big day. We would love to hear about unique wins you put in place to promote yours! Hope these help you in your quest to change the way you create and live events!