Social Media plays a significant role in Event Planning. Different social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and/or interest are all platforms that can help boost your company/event and take it to the next level as it allows you to be seen by more people. It’s important however to make sure to use social media only if you need it and to your advantage. Many companies are disappointed when using social media due to false expectations they have of it which is that their business will, for example, instantly gain visibility and popularity or that they can be successful on social media without quality content.
Integrating Social Media into Event Planning
Debunking these myths is the first important thing when it comes to social media event planning. It’s important for you to know that social media is what you make it. It’s just a small virtual platform for you to present your content. Letting social media “do all the work” will most likely result in failure and displays a lack of support, professionalism, measurement and clear objectives on your part.
After you’ve studied and done your research on social media, you need to decide whether or not social media is right for you. This can be done by asking the following: Does our audience care about or even use social networks (age group plays a prominent role)? Do we have enough time and content to promote regularly online? Will an online presence get us more attendees at our events than we already have?
Once you’ve decided that incorporating social media into your event (planning) is a good idea that will be beneficial in the long run, you have to get to work and plan out what is called a social media “strategy.” It’s important that you as a brand, firm, company or event planner know exactly what your goals are (online), what content you will promote to the public, how will you decide to do so, during which times, and also how much you are going to be investing into building your online presence. You need to make sure that these different factors (time, money, content) can work well together to bring your page success and popularity.
While strategizing on your social media plan whether it’s before or during the launch of your online presence, you also need to get to know the social network(s) you will be using in greater detail in order to fully take advantage of it. For example, if you are going to be using twitter, familiarise yourself with the importance of hashtags. A good event planner will use the hashtag phenomenon to their advantage and create new ones for one of more events. This can lead to more visibility and is also a way of branding yourself so that people online know what it is you do. This is the same when using another networking platform such as Instagram. On the latter, it’s crucial to pay attention to the quality of your pictures making sure they are aesthetically pleasing since it’s solely those photos that represent your brand.
Social Media Metrics
Lastly, you need to regularly measure the impact of social media to your brand and or event. Ask yourself: Is social media bringing more people to my events? Am I investing too much money for nothing? Are my results satisfying? These questions will help you decide and or realize whether or not social media is helping your business boom or if it just costs you more money.
For more tips on integrating social media into your event planning business, be sure to attend The Event Planner Expo in NYC!