How to Promote Virtual Events on Social Media
You are probably aware that in today's digital landscape, adapting to the latest marketing strategies is important. With most businesses shifting from in-person events to those that happen online, how can you make your event stand out?
Your social media channels are the best way to promote, build excitement and gain participants for your next virtual event. This allows you to reach a wide range of people and advertise your business on the go. Here are some of the ways you can promote your virtual events on social media.
1. Partner with an influencer
Using influencer marketing to promote an event on different platforms is the more organic way that can help you grow your audiences and reach new communities. Give yourself the best shot at making it to prospects' newsfeeds and inboxes - get your event partnered with an influencer where they can share and write about it with their own voice. This will help you generate more interest and increase your chances of getting people to sign up for your event.
Social media apps like Instagram aren't for everyone, but sometimes it only takes 1 influencer to create the perfect product or content. Always keep in mind to have the right platform and influencer.
2. Run ad campaigns
When you want to reach out to a lot of people and increase your visibility, it never hurts to run some paid ad campaigns. You can use them in order to boost engagement and even get more people in the door.
Facebook & Instagram Ads are top social media options for advertising, but you still have plenty of other great choices too. Twitter's platform has recently undergone improvements such as the ability to better tailor your campaign, and LinkedIn ads are always a good choice for B2B and professional conferences
Your ad visuals ought to look good too - if they don't, your potential audience might think twice about attending. Visuals are important because there is lots of other content on social media that will distract them. If you want to hook an audience, it's a great idea to make a great first impression.
3. Attract with video content
So, you want to create a virtual event? Have you considered promoting with video content?
Videos are huge these days and can be an amazing way to show people what you’re all about. Show potential attendees a highlight reel from a past event by creating a video and uploading it to your YouTube & Facebook pages. That way, current followers can see how your events are typically run, and if they're interested in purchasing tickets, they can sign up for updates on upcoming events.
4. Share behind the scenes
Instagram is a popular social media platform that’s known for its behind-the-scenes photos. Offering followers a sneak peek into what goes on before, during, and after an event can help get them more excited for it. Your followers love it when you make them feel special by involving them in your process. After all, who doesn’t love getting an exclusive sneak peek at a much-awaited event?
Are you ready to share your event preparations with your followers? Just snap a photo and upload it!
5. Create event hashtags
Hashtags are a convenient way of following an event or series of events without having to hunt for them on social media. Plus, they make the event much easier to search for across social media - Facebook, Instagram, Twitter.
Share a picture with the event's hashtag so that attendees can see what's happening. Make sure to choose an original and catchy tag and to share it with your followers before the event starts. Encourage them to add images on social media with the same hashtag, so you can get a feel for what people are looking for ahead of time.
Make sure you reply to people who are using your event hashtag with something like "It'll be great to see you !" Some people really like the personal touch and enjoy receiving attention from businesses they follow.
6. Host a giveaway to increase word of mouth
There will always be people who want something for nothing and this holds especially true when the thing they get is of incredible value. If it’s free most likely people will sign up for it hence the reason why there are a lot of people who join giveaways.
People love contests, so why not host one on Facebook or Instagram? If you choose to do so, you can choose the person with the most likes or shares to win or you could randomly select a winner who shares your picture and tags a friend.
Promotions like these can lead to a lot of people wanting to come and see what's going on at your event. Hopefully, this will mean that many eyes will take a look.
7. Create consistent content
You always want to make sure you're promoting your events, and this includes putting them on social media.
In order to get people interested in it, you should create the event at least a month in advance so that your marketing team has time to catch people's attention.
You should be posting about the event and sharing it on multiple platforms, but don't overdo it. The main goal is to create a quality social media presence instead of a platform for spamming everyone you know with a link to your company’s newest event.
If you’re posting on social media about your event, don’t just mention the registration link once. Use that opportunity to post interest-driving content.
You can share pictures of the event and talk about what attendees should know by including details on what they get in return - event program and special guests. Or you can also invite your past attendees to chat about their experience and why they're looking forward to the next one. Don’t forget to put a link to buy tickets or reserve a spot right under the post so people who are interested can book them.
Sophia Young recently quit a non-writing job to finally be able to tell stories and paint the world through her words. She loves talking about fashion and weddings and travel, but she can also easily kick ass with a thousand-word article about the latest marketing and business trends, finance-related topics, and can probably even whip up a nice heart-warming article about family life. She can totally go from fashion guru to your friendly neighborhood cat lady with mean budgeting skills and home tips real quick.
