Integration of Social Media in Event Planning

Courtesy of http://ahleventsblog.com/

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Event planning in the entertainment industry can cover anything from concerts, private galas, VIP parties, award presentations and after parties. Throughout the years, event planning in the entertainment industry has moved towards depending largely on technology.

It is now commonplace to find technology integrated in event planning through:

·      Lighting and digital lighting boards for moving lights

·      Sound (digital boards have overtaken analog)

·      Digital photography

·      Concept and design for event (created digitally)

·      Planning software

·      Online ticket sales

And these are only a few components of technology used in each and every event. Many we even discredit as being solely based on technology because they have been around much longer, such as receiving credit card payments as opposed to cash through credit card machines.

Now, with the constant change and growth in social media technology, there are so many new and exciting possibilities for event planners and public relations reps in the entertainment industry.

For a quick rundown of the reports on the two main social media sites, I turned to my favorite social marketing blog, SocialMouths:

Facebook

• 845 million active users
• 2nd most popular site on the Internet
• 2.7 billion ‘Likes’ every day
• 20 minutes spent on the site per visit

Twitter

• 140 million active users
• 340 million tweets per day
• 8th most popular site on the Internet

With these numbers, understanding how to use this powerful source of marketing for event publicity is imperative.

  

When event planners create budget and marketing plan, it is essential to now include social marketing as an expense. While many have disputed regarding the ROI of social marketing (or marketing in general for that matter), the most important thing is to get the word out…period.

As Francisco Rosales, author of SocialMouth blog, stated, “Social media offers companies other beneficial aspects that are not directly related to revenue such as a great vehicle for customer support, increased brand equity or market research.”

With that noted, the important step within executing the marketing plan is to begin the social marketing integration. Here are a few ideas that can help an event take off successfully in social media:

1.     Create a Twitter campaign for the event with lots of buzzwords

2.     Create a Facebook page specifically geared at the event. Find the right content mix on Facebook

3.     Start contests that surround the event and include the following prizes:

a.     VIP tickets

b.     Free merchandise

c.      Pick your favorite opening band (from a multiple choice list)

d.     If it’s a concert, have the fans choose their top song as the closer

4.     Blog about updates for the event and include #3 here as well

5.     Post press releases in blog

6.     Offer discounts based on how many “shares” they can get from Friends that “Like” pages

7.     Create viral ads and upload to Youtube and then post the videos on blog, Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites

The most important part of integrating social media is to stay integrated with the public. Each event should become its own identity in social media. The more creative the ads, posts, shares and videos are, the better feedback and buzz the event will get. 

While this particular video has nothing to do with event planning, it's a great example of going out with a bang and creatively:

 

In social media, go big or go home!