One of the biggest shifts in the event marketing industry is the growing use of social media. According to Statista, there are 4.76 billion social media users worldwide. 

Today event attendees expect to receive updates on social media and rely on digital platforms for information. It allows them to interact, communicate and engage with the organizers.

According to a global survey, 68% of marketing professionals stated that they would increase their video activities on social media to generate engagement. 

Another survey of marketers in the United States says that 30% of marketers stated that social media helped attract new attendees to the event.

Social media and event marketing allow you to connect, giving you exposure to the event. Moreover, it doesn’t just include social media ads, posts, visuals, and videos but a comprehensive social media event strategy that involves market and customer insight.

And to assist you, we’ve designed a complete guide for social media event marketing to boost and promote your event online.

Why is social media integral to event success?

Engaging your attendees on social media is one of the most effective ways to promote your event virtually. As an event marketer, you can leverage various channels to communicate with your target audience instantly.

Social media amplifies and energize followers through live interaction and streaming. This level of engagement enables marketers to build excitement around an event and make real-time improvements to enhance the experience for attendees.

Event pages, posts, videos, and live sessions around an event foster a deeper connection with the potential attendees and allow them to share their views.

Event Promotion Tactics on Social Media

When it comes to event marketing tactics, social media has an undeniable and powerful thread for event marketing. A great event social media plan does more than generate buzz about your event – it leaves a lasting legacy.

Use social media to create excitement, boost sentiments, cultivate loyalty, and foster relationships with the attendees that pay off for years. From anticipation to FOMO (fear of missing out), there are tons of talk you can start to promote your event on social media and get your audience fired up.

6 Pre-social Media Strategies for Events

Social media provides an excellent opportunity to communicate with the stakeholders who drive event success. It helps potential attendees understand your values, relate to what you are offering, and experience the motion of attending the event.

In this section, you’ll explore the pre-social media event strategy for creating awareness, engagement, and buzz.

Leverage Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is a big industry that has reached $16.4 billion in 2022. Today it is an integral part of social media campaigns for events.

Influencers are industry experts, leaders, and personalities who enjoy influence in their niche. They have a community of followers who look up to them as leaders.

Influencers that match your brand and event activities can help you generate buzz among the audience with similar behaviors to your targeted segment. Partnering with influencers increase visibility and develops credibility with their followers, and their endorsements can help you reach out to your audience.

For example, Ad World 2023, the largest event for visionary advertising ideas, to be held online on May 2, will feature Huffington, Founder of the Huffington Post, Kipp Bodnar, CMO of Hubspot, Brandon Smitwrick, Senior Content Strategist at Squarespace, and Tatiana Holifield, Head of Brand Social at Disney Streaming. It’s a networking event of the year that helps attendees connect with leading marketers and brands.

Run Paid Social Media Promotions

Driving deeper connections with the audience is the holy grail of event marketing on social media. Social media ads allow you to reach your target audience through specific demographics, interests, and preferences for ads.

Event marketers use paid social media ads to deliver the right message to the right audience that resonates with their preferences.

Remarketing and retargeting ads on social media drives conversion by targeting potential attendees for your event and encouraging them to take action to register for the event or purchase the ticket.

For example, data and insights can help you identify that a segment of potential attendees visited your event page but never registered. Retargeting ads can entice them to take specific actions so they are no longer cold traffic.

Create urgency by posting about event registration deadlines

We’ve all seen FOMO in action on social media.

Building a sense of urgency about the event is a proven way to drive ticket sales. You can post save the date, introduce speakers, event registration deadlines, sneak peek into activities, and share the event schedule.

For example, the American Council of Engineering Companies of New York posted on their Facebook page to register for the event now, as it is an event not to miss.

SOURCE: ACEC New York

Incorporating giveaways into your social media Strategy

Who doesn’t love winning giveaways? 

Even if the reward is small, the sense of being a winner on social media always get the audience charged up and talking about your event.

During a giveaway, you can encourage the audience to complete a specific task or action, such as like, comment and share. Giveaways have the power to boost engagement, drive user-generated content, and achieve event goal.

For example, Dell posted a giveaway on the second day of the roadshow, enticing attendees to reserve a Dell notebook and win giveaways.

Share sneak-peeks about the event days before your digital media event

Event marketers can keep the attendees glued by releasing small tidbits before the events. A sneak peek is an effective way to create hype for an event and stand out on social media timelines.

Behind the scenes, content is always a hit! It builds excitement about the event and also helps attendees resonate with the upcoming event. Sneak-peek videos also give attendees an idea about what goes behind from your end.

You can also upload teasers about your event to share the experience attendees can expect and create a bit of FOMO. Build suspense, and hype up the event, as they can’t miss this opportunity.

Announcements, reminders, and deadlines on social media

You can structure your event promotion on social media around deadlines, announcements, and reminders.

Buzz away with social media countdown to your event with a catchy post and visual. Once you’ve made the announcement post, you can create a run-up to your event reminders and entice potential attendees to take action. Share the deadline for event registration.

Moreover, you can also share house-full event information with the audience once the registration is closed.

For example, Geekwire announced the keynote speakers for the National Nordic Museum’s Nordic Innovation Summit 2023

SOURCE: Geekwire

How to optimize your social media strategy during your event?

As the event date gets closer, you’ll continue to focus on registration and tickets. To do that, your social media event marketing strategy need to center your efforts on mid-event tactics.

Share behind-the-scenes pictures and footage of your event

Share a glimpse into the preparation and execution of your event through photos and videos. It allows your attendees to gain a deeper understanding and a peek behind the curtain before the event.

Create a highlight reel, capture moments, and share happenings earlier in the week before the event. Even live streaming to build excitement and boost interest pre-event gives a sense of belonging and helps your audience get engaged.

For example, Adobe shares the happenings and insights from behind the scenes at the Abobe Summit 2023, to build anticipation and enthusiasm among the attendees.

SOURCE: Facebook

Using Facebook’s event marketing features, you can also create a sense of exclusivity around your event by limiting the number of tickets available or offering special VIP packages. By creating a sense of scarcity, you can motivate potential attendees to act quickly to secure their spot at your event.

Ask questions and run polls to interact with your audience

Ultimately event social media marketing is all about engaging with your audience. Create content that breaks the ice and adds levity, developing a sense of belonging for the event attendees.

Polls provide a streamlined audience interaction and provide you with real-time results, allowing the audience to get involved in a topic that interests them. While live Q&A sparks engagement, you can share unfiltered thoughts and perspectives.

For example, BZ advisory held a live Q&A session to share information with the audience about wealth management, followed by an event, Business Girl Magic Accelerator.

SOURCE: Instagram

Utilize relevant hashtags

Your event hashtag should relate to your event, purpose, and theme. Hashtags are simple but often missed. They allow you to connect your social media content across the channels, depending on how often people use the hashtags.

For example, the image below from Instagram showcases relevant hashtags for the 16th Dhaka Moto Show 2023 promotion. These hashtags are relevant, unique, short and clear, and easily recognizable for the attendees.

SOURCE: Instagram

Showcase your product’s demonstrations and captivating videos

If your event is related to a new product launch, you can share short product demos and introductory videos to generate interest among potential attendees. 

Make sure you link product videos, CTAs, and hashtags to develop consistency in your message while avoiding overly promotional content.

For example, Samsung shared a captivating video of the new Galaxy S23, featuring cutting-edge technology with the most advanced camera yet. The post below highlights the product feature yet invites the attendees to register for Samsung Unpacked event.

SOURCE: Facebook

Live event with stunning videos and images

In addition to other event promotion tactics, live streaming during the event to increase popularity. Give your future potential attendees an insight into what they can catch up on at the next event, even if they miss this one.

Besides, keep your audience updated about the program schedule and announcements through live videos, as attendees stay connected with their social media.

For example, WordCamp Europe shared a live video from the event when they announced the next host city for WCEU. 

SOURCE: Instagram

3 Post-event promotion strategies

After successfully hosting your event, it’s time to work on post-event marketing tactics.

Remember, post-event marketing goes beyond a simple thank you. It is your chance to strengthen the relationship with the attendees, so your next event can be even bigger.

Post-event promotion begins with following up with the attendees. It could include a post-event highlight email, a thank you message, and a feedback questionnaire related to the event.

Look for all the mentions your event gathered

Without a doubt, post-event mentions are a great way to gather data to improve the experience at your next event.

Post-event mentions build brand awareness and generate positive word-of-mouth marketing. These mentions also help in attracting new attendees for upcoming events.

Below are some great post event social media post examples for you to get some ideas.

For example, Circulocrm added a post-event mention about their participation at the Salesforce Partner Kickoff event in 2023.

SOURCE: Instagram

Here’s another great example of event mentions by Gitex Global. 

Solicit valuable feedback to enhance your future social media event promotion strategies

Feedback from attendees post-event is essential to improve the future experience and social media promotion campaigns. It allows you to understand what worked and what didn’t and what tactics you can implement in the future.

For example, you can ask specific questions from attendees through posts, surveys, polls, and direct messages on social media platforms. This feedback will help you refine your social media event marketing plan.

Don’t forget to thank critics for their thoughts, and take their feedback into account to plan your next event.

Elevate participation and foster a sense of community amongst attendees

Just because your event is over, you don’t need to end engagement and promotion. Develop a sense of community and continue interaction post-event to generate leads and keep the attendees connected.

A tight-knit community post-event allows you to maintain communication year-round and share exclusive content for topic-based discussion to continue engagement.

For example, Digital Summit has developed an online community page on Facebook to maintain interaction and keep communication with professionals from all over the world. Also, through this community page, they promote their upcoming events.

SOURCE: Facebook

FAQs

How can social media be used for event marketing?

Social media can be used for event marketing in various ways, such as:

• Create event page
• Share event updates
• Run event marketing campaign
• Share partnerships
• Influencer marketing for events
• Create and share event posts
• Create relevant hashtags for event buzz
• Post-event mentions & feedback

How do you get people to attend your event?

• create compelling event promotion content
• Promote through social media
• Run event email marketing campaigns
• Partner with influencers
• Offer discounts and exciting giveaways
• Create engaging experiences

What is the importance of social media in promoting an event?

Social media is critical for the success of an event, as it is an effective way to reach a wider audience, promote the event, create buzz, and generate interest. Also, social media allows targeting marketing, and real-time updates, encourages user-generated content, and helps the brand build awareness and engagement for the event.

Final Words

Now that you have gone through our comprehensive guide on social media event marketing, you must have a clear idea of how to use social media for event marketing.

We have covered how you can use social media pre-event, during the event, and post-event to build momentum, increase engagement, and improve future events. A well-planned and executed social media marketing plan improves the chances of success and the experience for attendees.

An event promotion agency can help you develop a comprehensive social media marketing plan that takes into account your specific event goals and target audience.

Remember, social media is meant to enhance the overall experience for the attendees, while you can leverage it to gain deeper insight into event success.