SOCIAL MEDIA
7 secrets to better event marketing
BY CATHERINE HEEG
DO YOU WANT to get
more people to come
out to your consumer
events?
Are you eager to cre-
ate more buzz around
your social marketing?
How about making
better use of social ads to captivate your
audiences?
You’ve come to the right page! Social
marketing provides a wealth of simple
ways to get your message out there.
While many marketers rely solely on
advertising, let’s explore some under-
used gems to fill your tours or events.
Easy event marketing tools
Creating buzz and building ticket sales
are essential whether you’re hosting a
consumer event to promote your newest
tour or looking to boost attendance at a
concert or festival.
Facebook Events is a powerful tool that’s
unused by so many. By simply filling in
a template, you can create a marketing
tool that you can use to invite individu-
als and as the basis for an ad.
After clicking “Create an event” on
your business page, you’ll be taken to a
template and can insert all the details of
your upcoming event: date, time, place,
ticket options and an outstanding photo
to entice viewers.
Make sure you include a website that
leads people to more information or a
ticket purchase opportunity.
Interested
Cover image: Remember back in the day
when businesses spent time and money
on window displays and posters? Your
cover images are modern-day storefront
windows. They are perfect (and under-
utilized) tools to showcase your tours,
events and festivals.
Have you changed the cover images
on your social sites lately? How about
changing cover images to match the
themes of your social posts? You can
use an editorial calendar to plan your
weekly themes as part of a cohesive
marketing plan, and changing your
cover images is a nother tool in your
toolbox. Here’s a sample editorial calen-
dar you can try out: bit.ly/2s1Qnah.
Email signature: Another tactic in a
cohesive marketing plan that’s so pow-
erful, yet often neglected, is your email
signature line. While we all include our
contact info, how many times do you
see a line in an email signature show-
casing an upcoming event?
For example, you could write “Do
you want to learn more about cruising?
When you ‘like’ my Facebook page, you’ll
find travel tips and unique cruise des-
tinations.” And be sure to hyperlink the
highlighted words to your social site.
Note: Follow this message with your
standard e-signature and contact info.
Stories sell!
Facebook Event template example
20
July 2017
Are you looking for longer exposure
to your Instagram and Snapchat fans?
With the ephemeral style of these plat-
forms, staying in front of your fans is
easier when you use the Stories feature.
Adding a snap to a story increases its
exposure time to 24 hours, and you can
get creative with combining images,
text, video and filters.
Twitter, with its feature called
Moments, offers another way of con-
veying a story. A moment is a roundup
of tweets that mention your event or
Going
account. You might consider promoting
the top tweets of each week to show-
case your upcoming event. This will pro-
vide fans with more information—and
more photos to entice them.
Social ads attract
Have you seen the cool new ads on
Facebook that immerse you in photos
and videos? What an amazing way to
show people the fun and excitement of
your next event or group tour.
Canvas ads and posts let you blend
still images, text, call-to-action but-
tons and videos into a fully immersive,
mobile-only experience that’s bound to
attract and engage.
Carousel ads are a bit easier to create as
they only feature still images and video.
Imagine the advertising possibilities
for your next group tour, festival or event.
When creating your Canvas or Carousel
ads, try to generate a number of versions
featuring different images and text. Then
test each version to see which one brings
you the best results. As with any type of
ad, having a highly targeted audience is
key to your success. Learn more about
target audiences here: bit.ly/2qINuaq.
Creating buzz begins with simple tac-
tics like these that will help you stand
out in our noisy world of social mar-
keting. Sometimes these underutilized
tools can get your messages noticed and
generate the most success because of
their simplicity.
Which of these tactics will you use in
your next marketing campaign?
Catherine Heeg, international speaker
and trainer, focuses on social media
marketing strategies for the tourism and
hospitality industry. An NTA presenter
since 2009, she understands members
and their businesses. Connect with her
socially and at cmsspeaking.com.