The Secret To Filling Events? A Solid Social Media Strategy

When it comes to events, no one signing up comes pretty high up on the ‘worst case scenario’ list. On the other hand, filling seats with the wrong people will mean you run the risk of getting bad reviews on your services.

With a solid social media strategy, you can leverage highly specific targeting options to sign up right-fit clients and fill those seats.

And that means higher satisfaction and returning clients.

B2B brands that build consumer relevance reap significant business benefits. Compared to the least (socially) connected brands, the 10 most connected brands showed 31% greater revenue growth. (Source: Webbiquity)

When asked to name brands that are nailing it on social media, B2B firms don’t immediately spring to mind. This often deters these companies from utilizing the channels, casting them aside as ‘not worth the time’.

But the idea that social media won’t work for you because your B2B clients aren’t interacting online is a MYTH!

87% of B2Bs use social media to promote events…It ranks as the second most effective channel for event promotion, tying with websites at 68% of respondents.(Source: Event Farm)

With the right focus, a social media strategy will not only widen the reach of your marketing campaigns, it will also allow you the unique ability to hone in on the people that will truly benefit from what you have to offer.

Which means the right people will know about your events.

So we recommend you get a social media strategy in place, stat!

How to create a social media strategy for filling events:

1. Ensure everything you do is targeted at your ideal audience.

While this is the first point (to stress its importance), it really should be integrated into every aspect of your social media strategy…

Before firing off ad-hoc tweets, start by asking yourself these 3 questions:

• Why should our ideal client attend this event?
• What’s the benefit to them?
• How can we address their challenges/pain-points in our posts?

Couple this with well-researched channel choices (there’s no point posting on Snapchat if your target audience are all Facebookers) and you’ll consistently resonate with a high-calibre audience and ensure your efforts are anything but pointless.

2. Don’t be dull.

A social media strategy shouldn’t be boring! Just because glittery music videos, Nat Geo-esque photos and cat memes don’t fit with your brand essence doesn’t mean you have an excuse to post boring content.

Show some personality, have a sense of humor–live a little! We’re far more likely to engage with something online when we get the sense that there is a human behind the computer.

It’s all about putting yourself in the mind of your ideal reader. Would post after text-heavy post really entice YOU to sign up for an event?

Think outside of the box; third party/influencer contributions, infographics, short videos. You need to GRAB attention.

Visual content is 40X more likely to get shared on social media than other types of content. (Source: Hubspot)

Building rapport with your target audience will take a little more effort, but the benefits are definitely worth it.

3. Pay to play

Year-on-year, paid social media has increased in usage by 100%, reflecting the need to ‘pay to play’ in order to break through the organic noise on all major social media channels. (Source: Eventbrite)

Utilizing paid social media will have innumerable (but quantifiable) benefits for your event:

• It allows you to strategically target a specific group of people (your target clients)
• It will give you a clear picture of how prospects are moving through your funnel, and,
• It will enable you to track the cost and ROI of each click

This means you’ll have more power in the client attraction process, proof of where your funnel is (or isn’t) working, and a quantified value for social media.

4. Sharing is caring

A social media strategy is not a national treasure that other departments in your firm should have to travel to the deepest, darkest corner of the marketing department to find.

Part of a successful strategy is the communication of it throughout your company, so that all departments are aware of the goals and can align their efforts with it.

Or better yet, involve other departments in the brainstorm so that you are aware of, and can align your strategy with, the processes that they already have in place.

5. Put the right people in charge

Good social media takes time. It’s not something someone could do (well) in their spare time. And considering the value it can add to your business, it’s important it is done well.

At JTN, we understand the pressures faced when trying to use social media to gain traction for events.

To help you put your best foot forward, our results-driven team will craft and implement a custom social media marketing strategy for your brand that is guaranteed to fill your event with the clients you want.

Want to get your firm noticed? Get in touch, we’d love to have a no strings attached chat about how we can help!