Event Marketing in the Digital Age - By Amy Hughes

Like most, my first event I remember having any sort of involvement in overseeing was my own birthday party.  At the age of eight I recall selecting invitations, cake flavors, ballon colors, streamers, and yes even the pizza place that would be involved.  I remember my mother sitting and hand lettering in Caligraphic style invites using Old World salutations such as Miss and Master on creamy colored invitations.  Weeks later some of the guests would remark on those same salutations, the kids to giggle a bit, the parents to ooh and ahh.  But I remember it was drilled into me at a young age that when you are hosting an event there are certain social parameters you set with your tone in the invitiation, the colors, the schedule of events, and yes even the food served.

To this day I couldn't tell you if I ultimately selected Pizza Hut or Pizza Chef, it may have been Steve's Una Pizza come to think of it, but the photos from the party still remain in the family photo album.  Smiling kids, happy adults in the background, a picture perfect event that shows nothing of the month long effort in advance of planning every detail.  Some might say this level of detail planning for a kid's birthday party (even in the 80s when Showbiz Pizza Place ruled the party set) was a bit extreme.  But considering my Mother created and sewed an entire Ninja Turtle costume from scratch just 3 years later for my little brother's 4th birthday party, it's safe to say this is fairly middling.

Which brings me to the subject at hand, event marketing now in our digital age.  It's no less a process, no less a detail driven machine.  But ultimately instead of sitting and writing invitations until 1 a.m. you can simply create an event and invite simultaneously.  There are however a few key elements you want to make sure you have completely lined out before hitting send.

1.) What, Where, When, Why, Who, and How: No matter the size of the event, you have to be able to answer these basic 5 questions.  They are your core, your crossbeams from which everything else is built.  What is your event about, what is it celebrating, what is it's purpose?  Where is fairly self explanatory, but say you are having several satellite events?  This simple question then becomes complex.  When, again self explanatory, but if you again have a schedule of events that you are rolling with it becomes a bit more complicated.  Why? The perennial question for most anyone, why.  Why should anyone attend? Why are we gathering? Why does the event exist?  Then Who?  Who is the target demo of people interested?  If you are marketing a family event this changes not only your schedule of events, but food options, drinks served and entertainment as opposed to say a wine tasting.  How is last, but it's the action question, how can someone find out more?  How can I get tickets?  How can I be a part of this?  Once you can answer all of these 5 questions, you are good to go.

2.) Cost To Attend: This is one of the elements you really should have a lid on before you invite anyone.  Is it a free event?  Great, simple.  But if you have venue costs, food and drink, entertainment, other businesses that want to be involved you need to figure out your cost for inclusion and then from that generate your ticket cost.  As well if you are seeking to benefit a local cause or non-profit it's best to mark up by a percentage in the initial ticket cost and make those benefits from the ticket cost versus overall proceeds (more on that in a bit).  This way if you have a set ticket price your beneficiary knows that a percentage of a specific amount will be donated and there is less figuring at the end of the event.  

You also want to make sure the cost of the ticket isn't priced out of your market.  For a quick summation or experiment look at the events around you and note what they are going for, how long have the various events been in rotation, what are they offering?  You can also vary the audiences levels of participation, say a $25 admission fee and then have an ala carte menu for the other scheduled events like say a conference would.  The best way I have found personally is to keep it as simple as possible so that not only your attendees understand what they are getting for their admission, but those selling the tickets understand the packages/levels as well.  

3.) Platform for Inviting and Communication: There are a host of sites out there that can help with marketing your event.  Facebook, eVite, Email Marketing, Blogs, and of course via your established site.  You need to decide given your demographics, established presence and options available which platform is going to work best for not only launching your event but maintaining communication with those invited.  For example in Wyoming the best reach we have found for Event Marketing has been via Facebook.  However as we build email lists for various clients we will probably switch out to an e-Mail marketing campaign in conjunction with a social campaign in order to grab more attention and provide further updates and excitement for the coming event.

4.) Building on the Event Marketing Launch: Once you launch the event it's best to have as much of your marketing implements ready to go: Shareable content for Facebook, Tweets, Contests/Promotions, Print Materials where your guests can find out information physically etc. all lined out and ready to execute.  As well making sure that those posts are maintained in a general build up to the date helps build overall excitement.  Releasing details in a timely fashion not only helps with your pacing but also doesn't overwhelm your invitees.  Encourage the share of the event amongst your initial invites and yes promote the event in real time ways via print, radio and other methods but be sure to always include the platform that your guests can find that real time information and follow along with the progress.  You need to monitor and watch for any questions and answer them with just the same prowess as you would a post to page concerning the business you are representing.

**Tip: Throughout the marketing of the event and in the days leading up to the date we have found that posting updates on the schedule of events, last minute news, trivia, tips or ideas often helps the audience in their anticipation.  We as well usually will run a promotion/contest in the week leading up to the event for free tickets a prize pack or something that the audience really wants that correlates overall with the theme of the event.

5.) During The Event: It's not like your social engagement ends just as soon as the curtain rises on your event.  Keep the online/digital portion of the party going by live posting from the event.  We post live photos, group shots, schedule of event reminders, contest winners, and so on throughout the event.  This builds the social impact of the event and as well alerts contacts who were unable to make it to what is happening so they can follow along virtually.  It also has the added bonus of building a ready made audience for the next event that particular client decides to host when you have those real time shots of people enjoying themselves.  This makes the next time easier to sell overall and builds that innate anticipation.

6.) Post Event: Have a meeting with all decision makers involved who helped make the event happen.  What did they like, what did they think should be changed, and ultimately where do they want to go next?  Also be sure to keep that event hanging around on the platform of your choice for reference.  As well dependent on that platform you have made an audience to whom you can make your initial launch for your next event to and who is going to be a bit more interested in what you have going on.  

Pay No Attention To The Man Behind The Curtain!

Yesterday we were given a brief, but exciting, glance at prototypes that Facebook will be rolling out. Of course, this was accidental on Facebook's part, and the entire site was shut down and rebooted yesterday once they realized their error. But, this glimpse shows us what is in store for Pages on Facebook and I have broken down what I noted yesterday and what it could mean for Page Admins and Brands.

1: Ability to Login As The Page- For ages it seems that Admins have begged for the ability to have an on & off switch so that they can comment either as themselves or as the page. This feature also allowed me yesterday to see all Notifications as if I were the page, not my profile self. In other words, when we get Notifications on our Profiles, they are usually alerting us to when someone Writes on OUR wall, Comments on a post, Likes a Post, Accepts a Friend Request, Tags us, etc. This is ALL from the Page perspective once you Log In as the Page. So in a brief glimpse you can see if there are any additional comments, Likes, new Connections, Wall posts you need to address and so on. This aids Admins in that before we have to kind of comb through pages, especially if we admin more than one, to be sure all comments, likes, wall posts etc. are commented on or answered on behalf of the page.

2. Ability To Communicate With Other Pages as The Page- Technically this should go under the ability to Login as the Page. However this brings with it an assortment of changes. Before, once you navigated away from the page you admin you were well, you, again. :) Now however by logging in as the page you can go to other pages and directly communicate as that brand. This aids in answering questions as the page on other business or forum pages, networking with other businesses on Facebook, and branding for businesses.

3. Login Drop Down- For multi page marketers like myself you see plenty of areas where one of your clients could insert themselves to ask questions. There was a log in drop down box under the Account button at the top of the page that allowed me briefly to toggle between different pages. So if I saw someone had a question about a Realtor I could become on my profile, The Reeder Team, and answer them. Question about Catering, switch to Wok N Roll, post about bugs, Swat Pest. And so on.

4. Removal of Comment Button- Most of us who have been on the internet for over a decade remember the AOL feature that once you completed typing you simply hit enter, instead of Submit or Comment. It seems that based on the Prototype yesterday, Facebook is headed in this direction. Many users reported wondering where their Submit buttons, and Comment buttons, went to and discovered instead they could comment simply by hitting enter.

5. Removal of Customized Landing Tab- This will be the mother of all disappointments if Facebook decides to keep it. But when you first design a page, one of the cool features for converting visitors into connections is the customized landing tab. This allows you to create a Welcome tab where you can give visitors a brief glimpse of what your page and your business have to offer the social world. As of the brief interlude yesterday it looks as though the overall page design is similar to the streamlined appearance of the Business Places pages you see every now and then when businesses merge their pages. So the tabs we have come to know at the top of pages are moved to the side under the profile banner, and are in a gray box versus the Facebook Blue. Time will tell if this will indeed impact conversion rates, or if based on what is provided on your Wall alone will be sufficient to drive connections to your brand.

Overall, there are of course pluses and minuses to any given situation. We are playing in Facebook's sandbox however and we have to go with their rules, changes, & platform shifts. We are here at no charge after all. But, if these changes are to become permanent, I foresee some great changes for brands on Facebook's platform and the ability to communicate in new and exciting ways. Brands on Facebook will shift over time, sure, but one thing remains constant. The ever evolving Conversation. And as long as we don't lose sight of that, we are good.

All for now.

Amy

5 Things You Should Know About Social Media

1. It Isn't A Fad

Do remember asking: "Do you have email?" versus asking "What's your email?" Small shift, but the assumption being not do you, but what is it. So goes with Social Media. We are still in the "What's your poison?" end of development, meaning most people if they are on social media have gotten on at least one platform and stayed there. But a time is coming where cross platform usage will be the norm. And as with any new technology there will be early adapters and then folks who come in later, but it wasn't so long ago that not everyone had a phone on their hip 24/7, or houses didn't have computers with internet. Now it is happening with social media everyday. People are finding the platform that suits them and making a home and connecting with those they find there.

2. It Is Ever Evolving,
But Major Players Stick Around and Grow. Think about how this whole thing started: AOL IM, Chat Rooms, Forum Boards, MySpace, Blogs, YouTube, Wikipedia, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Digg, Del.i.cious, Friend Feed, FourSquare and so on and so on. One platform usually feeds off another, but the major players, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Wikipedia are constantly growing and gaining new ground. They evolve sometimes at the frustration of their users, but mainly because of them. In our area alone the estimated daily reach is over 189,000 people within a 50 mile radius. Last year it was a little over 50,000.

3. Your Customers Are Probably Already Here
Something I usually talk about with business owners or managers is the fact that people they may not even suspect use social media every week or even every day. Just because you don't have the time to invest doesn't mean your average consumer doesn't. And yes, people are devoting more time to social media than most other activities on the web. One factoid from Facebook that always fascinates me is the 55-65 Female Growth. Grandma's sharing pictures of their Grandkids, getting involved all of a sudden with Farmville, checking on their grown children, and posting vacation pictures. Heck, it's changed how we watch T.V. or the news. Trending topics for major television events are always created on Twitter, and Fan Pages pop up it seems over night on Facebook. Which brings me to No. 4.

4. Social Media Has Changed How People and Businesses Communicate
Think about the last time you had a bad experience with a company... did you call customer service? Fill out a survey? Then what happened? Did you receive a response, maybe a letter if you were lucky and the event was truly bad enough to warrant it. Social Media has changed this, everyone has a voice. They did before but it didn't reach as many people quite as fast. But, this thought shouldn't scare the average business owner. When I get this question from prospective clients I usually tell them that most people know you are human, and people will comment about how you fixed the problem not created it.
It can also be used to shift corporate policy and ideas. Think about what it took to get Betty White on SNL, but that all started because one person thought it was a good idea and made a Facebook page.

5. Businesses Can Experience Real Growth Using Social Media
Now that sounds tricky and almost too good to be true doesn't it? One of the many features and benefits social media provides is the ability to track and look at the impact your involvement is making. You can see in the Insights page what demographics are commenting most on your page, what your media consumption is like, and if you run promotions via applications in Facebook and Twitter you can track those as well through register sales and offer code redemption. There is that possibility for growth there, and most Facebook and Twitter users liked to be appreciated for supporting you in social media. But, if you use social media wisely you will see impact.

So what do you think about social media? Do you see it as a fad or as the new horizon?

The FB Volley & Folly

So Facebook decided yesterday to take away a feature for it's Pages. Before you could set your default landing for those who had not "Liked" your page yet to be a Welcome custom tab to entice them to Like your page. This was effective mainly for companies who used this technology to show their graphics skills, and even those who used video on this Tab to lay the ground work for possible clients. Facebook changed this last night in an abrupt, and discreet statement, that spread like wild fire through the community of Social Media Fan Page businesses. No more would this be a feature unless you were an "Authenticated" page. Namely, you had to have a great deal of Likes (over 10,000), or spend beaucoup bucks on advertising.

Some accused Facebook of monetizing or attempting to bleed smaller businesses out of the game of Social Media by passing inane rules. They were quite adamant that this would forever shift their business strategy and how dare Facebook do such a thing.

My response, Facebook owns well Facebook does it not? We are allowed through their good graces & investment to use their platform to make a business for ourselves. They want to make this change, fine, ADAPT PEOPLE. Also shouldn't your content matter more than your Splashy graphics? This is Social Media after all. It's about the real life conversations and "getting to know you" factor that makes it so unique. If I want to see pretty graphics I'll visit your website. And truth be told, I may land on your exquisitely designed Welcome Tab, but the first thing I look at is your Wall. To see what kind of content you post, will it be welcome in my life, is it something I want to interact with on a daily basis?

Once someone lands on the Welcome Tab, and they Like You, how often do they come back? Probably not very often. Facebook didn't say, "You can't have Customized Tabs at all", they just briefly took away the ability to select a tab for landing. Use these tabs frequently in your posts and they will still get play. Use them in promotions, or to share information. Change them out frequently to showcase things your company is PASSIONATE about. The call to action shouldn't be a cool embedded video, but what you have said each and every day, and how you handle your wall.

Okay, rant over. And apparently in a very weird turn of events Facebook listened to the outcry this time and shifted this policy out the door. The welcome tab landing option is now platform wide again. There we can all breathe a collective sigh of relief that our baby isn't thrown out with the bath water.

But seriously folks, base your Social Media on good consistent content and people will love that ten times more than pretty graphics.

Be Careful With Your Brand...

unmarketing: To whomever was driving the Espresso.com car on Bloor today in Toronto, you drive like an asshole. Less caffeine.

Having a wrapped or logo on your vehicle is a great idea. Unless you cannot trust your drivers. When I was still in the Oil & Gas Industry I used to drive 200-300 miles a day. No mean feat but still, quite impressive when I would look at my odometer at the end of the week. Driving that much you see every kind of driver.

After getting pegged with two back to back speeding tickets I decided 5 miles (possibly ten if I wanted to push it), was plenty speed for me and my bank account. Then along came the Red Cross Van Driver. This guy was weaving in and out of traffic like a lunatic. Getting up on my bumper then when I would politely tap, he would slow down then come back for more. So I decided best course of action was to get over let him go around and get this guys van number.

He passes me gesturing wildly, flipping the finger of choice, and passing like a demon on a mission. I follow. Matching speeds of 95 mph in a 60. Two lane highway, as well. Not the best driving conditions for a road rage. So i get the number of "How's My Driving" off the rear bumper and I call. I also slow by the way in case any one was concerned for my safety. A very polite volunteer at our local Red Cross Chapter answers. To which I tell her about their speed demon van driver. I am placed on hold, and then the head of the local chapter gets on the phone. I tell my story, stating that now I cannot even see his driver, and was he on a blood run or something?

Turns out, nope. He was just simply supposed to go to a different hospital on a routine run, nothing emergency about it. I hang up, hoping that was the last of it. WRONG!

Two weeks later I am heading in a totally different direction, different county, and there is another Red Cross Van. Cuts me off, flings the finger, everything. I look, it's the same guy. Now once I can understand letting this guy behind the wheel. Twice, that's your fault. Unfortunately for me, we're going the EXACT same way. Saw in the course of driving "near misses" three times. So I get out the old cell phone, call the number I still had stored in there from last time. Call, and no response.

I am willing to give a pass every once and awhile, particularly if the organization is in an emergency field. But, if you are going to go to the trouble of wrapping your brand image on your vehicle, better be darn sure that who is driving it is someone you want associated therein as well. Check their license history, if there are complaints have them drive their own vehicle, or better yet take them out of that capacity pronto. As for the above Tweet, that's replaced those pesky cell phone calls now, and it reaches far more people, faster. Think about it.

1800 uhoh

I was recently intrigued to discover that 1800 Flowers has a Facebook. I liked it yesterday, mainly just because I like to follow companies who are starting to invest time and effort into developing a Social Media campaign. Boy was I in for a surprise. Apparently 1800 Flowers is having a bit of a customer service meltdown on both their Facebook Wall and Twitter Feeds. There were issues with Mom's receiving orders in a timely fashion, orders being cancelled due to high volume and not being communicated to the purchaser, volume problems with local dealers not supplying each different type of arrangement offered on their site. It's a mess. The phone Customer Service from various reports seems to be either unhelpful, or just downright inept. But, I will say this, whomever they have answering their Twitter Followers and Wall posts is doing an excellent job of turning a sows ear into a silk purse.

This goes to you Susan Pinson. Yes you. You rock. Offering to help, calling people's Moms in an effort to apologize on behalf of an entire company, taking hurtful comments and just rolling through until you can find an opening to aid. That's what we like to see! And you my friend deserve a drink for your last 48 hours of real time customer service.

While I do not know what happened as far as breakdown with 1800 Flowers, I know they are represented by a great Social Media firm whom I think does a awesome job of organically growing and promoting their business online. I also know that companies can indeed underestimate the power of Social Media. And that is what I think happened here.

This promotion would have been successful if the company had ironed out the issues with local florists before launching a social media campaign that apparently worked. Don't blame the technology, no this comes down to the basic strategy of having your ducks lined up and Good Ol' Murphy's Law. Something went very very wrong this MOther's Day weekend, and chances are it's costing 1800 Flowers more to fix the problems their customer service created than it would have to simply hire more competent people and also engage more local florists.

I don't pretend to know a great deal about the national florists industry but from what I gather reading the Tweets and Wall posts, there was a communication breakdown between 1800 Flowers and their local suppliers who were swamped with orders. You can never be busier as when you are going out of business. The service to support your social media efforts has to be there, if it isn't you will experience the EPIC FAIL that was encountered this Mother's Day.

I make no issue with hiring outside firms to handle your social media, in fact for medium to large companies I am in support of it, to an extent. But within the company there has to be equal if not greater support and understanding, training on these platforms so they can be tracked, utilized, & understood. Something tells me if the supervisors at the customer service call centers had been trained on what the SocMed firm was doing there would have been a lot less budget loss and a greater customer service impact. These things have to work together.

Rant over, but please give Susan some cred people. She's doing an awesome job taking the heat. Go easy on her.

Social Media... This Time It's Personal

When thinking about what Social Media means, it's difficult to put a definition on it that truly fits every facet. For the average person it's a step above forums or chat rooms. Real time ability to connect with the people around them: friends, family, coworkers. But, also it's a voice for those same people to shape the way a company works, the way a product is marketed, and also who is elected to public office.

For businesses and enterprise think just briefly on how this new media has changed the game for them. Anyone in their ladder of command slips and it can be Tweeted, Posted, or Blogged about from anywhere in real time. I don't know about you, but I post directly from my phone every day, and I also am in charge of most things within my home. So, what happens when someone has lousy customer service, can I go anywhere and say Hey Thanks for being rude (insert name of major corporation here). Yep. But, also isn't this feedback they should not only expect, but need?

I once had a business owner tell me the following quote: "I love when I get complaints. A complaining customer is still a customer, and they are giving you a fantastic opportunity. They are alerting you to problem areas in your company. But, most people don't complain, they just leave." Think about the last time you filled out a comment card, or took a survey, or called to let someone know "How's My Driving?" Now in 140 Characters or less more than 400 MILLION can let you know how you are doing. It's a frighteningly real proposition that takes out the middle man and engages the business directly with the customer, the consumer with the heads of major corporations.

Most companies are pretty scared of this idea. Because like any large corporation who can be in charge of every cog in every wheel 24 hours a day, I mean we are all HUMAN, are we not? There are bound to be mistakes. And as Lincoln said, "You can please some of the people most of the time, most of the people some of the time. But you can't please all the people all of the time." It's an impossible situation for us humans for which our errors and mistakes define us, do they not.

This is where we realize it's not about being the perfect company, it's about being a human company. A company with warmth and the ability to talk and more importantly listen. A conversation is NEVER one sided, it's a two way or more street. With ideas and comments interchanged between people. So too is Social Media. This is a chance for us as a species to truly learn once and for all how to communicate together. Person to Person. And once we realize that a business isn't some stoic concrete and brick building, but is built of people. We the consumers realize what our expectations should be and also why we should invest our time and funds there.

Social Media is about people, and the connections we make every day. So this is where I invite you whether you are a dabbling consumer or a company weighing the pros and cons of jumping in to simply join the conversation. Create a page, start blogging about what's important to you, create a Twitter Feed. But, the token rule is, be human, be approachable, be true to yourself.