Does it matter which social media platform you choose to promote your event on?
Yes, absolutely yes. Not all social media platforms are made equal in event marketing.
If your event’s target audience are more engaged or active on Snapchat as opposed to Facebook, then you’re pretty much wasting your time and money if you spend effort building a community and marketing your event on Facebook. The general popularity of a social media platform does not mean you’ll need to jump on the bandwagon too.
For most of us, resources are scarce, both in having a small marketing team and budget. To kickstart an effective social media marketing strategy for your event, it is important that you discern where and how your event’s target audience consumes information in the digital world before getting on board any one platform.
To break it down, you need to consider the following four things to decide which social media platform to use to promote your event.
- What is your target audience’s demographic? This should immediately tell you which platforms to dismiss.
- Who are the influencers (i.e. people with a significant social clout, chances are you’ve heard of them too) amongst the community you wish to build for your event? Which social media platform are they active on? It’s most probable that your target audience are also active on those platforms. Furthermore, identifying and involving them in your social media campaigns would give you amplified reach to your event’s target audience.
- How does your event’s target audience consume information? What content format do they love best? Would it be a listicle, podcast, blog post, video, or an infographic? Would they appreciate references to pop-culture or prefer a more formal approach? Each community is unique with its own preferences for content, and social media platforms are typically best suited to one type of content over another (see infographic).
- What is your desired action taken by your target audience? Would it be to participate in a contest, share your content, purchase a ticket, or post pictures during your event? For the success of your campaigns, it’ll be necessary to consider which platform your audience will most likely perform the action you want them to take.
Depending on your answers to the four considerations above, you’ll find that your platform of choice will naturally be narrowed down for you. Pick one, at most two, social media platforms that has the highest concentration of people in your target audience to focus marketing efforts on. Honing in by carefully considering the four pointers above will place your event in a better position to reach the right people with the right content at the right time.
In any event, dive deep into understanding who your event’s target audience is. Knowing their primary demographic, roles, motivations, challenges, and so on will not only inform you about social media platforms you should focus on, but also a myriad of other event organizing decisions. Download our free attendee persona template to know your attendees and craft events they’ll love and recommend.
