3 Social Media Platforms that are AWESOME for Event Promotions

With 3.2 billion people who own a smartphone and 90% of mobile time spent on apps, social media platforms are a no-brainer when it comes to promoting your events. Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn are clearly the frontrunners, but the question then becomes, HOW can you make use of them to gain maximum results for your event?

INSTAGRAM

The most basic of event promotion on Instagram calls for gorgeously curated photos or videos and a well-thought up hashtag, but you can also invite a greater level of engagement with contests and games that involve your audience and motivate them to share your event hashtag.

Instagram Stories, as the name suggests, is all about storytelling. Humanizing your event is one thing Stories does beautifully in bite-sized nuggets (max video length is 15 seconds). Share impactful quotes from event speakers, exciting quips from the organizing team, funny setup bloopers, quick testimonials from past attendees, or candid boomerangs.

Since Stories plays off like a reel within 24 hours, your Instagram audience is treated to a display of what makes your event amazing all in one place — so make sure you add that call-to-action with a swipe up link “See More” to register for your event. You can also boost audience interactivity with polls and questions, making your audience feel like they are a part of the action. Or, you could invite an industry influencer to do an “Instagram Takeover” for a day where they capture short snippets of the event buildup.

Remember though, that Stories do disappear, so a good way to reuse some of that wonderful content is to add them to your Highlights, which will live on as part of your Instagram profile and hence your followers’ feeds.

Appealing to your audience who would like to delve deeper into your world, IGTV is akin to having your very own TV channel. People love watching videos of what they enjoy, so feed them with in-depth interviews with industry speakers, reveal exclusive behind-the-scenes footage, use this opportunity to really emote what the event can mean for them, or share tips that are but the tip of the iceberg of tips they’ll gather from your event.

Instagram is an amazing visual platform that can you help with event promotions

FACEBOOK

First and foremost, creating a Facebook Event page solidifies a place where everyone on Facebook can come to learn more about your event. This is where you can post-event updates and dynamic content to capture more interest, or engage your audience in contests and polls, or share live videos of behind-the-scenes footage or interviews with speakers.

One good thing about Facebook Events is that when an individual changes their status to “Interested” or “Going”, their friends will see your event as one that their “Friends are interested in…” which might be one foot in the door of getting them to your event.

Cross-promotion is an effective strategy when it comes to Facebook. Work with your event partners, hosts, and speakers to add your event to their pages, while you promote them as something to look forward to at the event. You might win over some of their fans.

Searching out Facebook Groups relevant to your event and promoting your event there can also boost eyeballs. People in Groups are already interested in a certain topic, so show them how your event will benefit them in those particular areas.

Best of all, you can push ticket sales or registration directly from your Facebook event page itself. White-label ticketing platforms such as Sparxo can sync up to your event page perfectly so that interested parties never even have to leave the Facebook platform to be able to sign up for your event.

Facebook is a powerful social media platform to share about your events and behind the scenes

The beauty of LinkedIn is you already have a captive audience who not only have the highest average income of any social network, but also a passion for both social and professional events.

If you already have quite a substantial network, promoting your event could be as simple as posting it on your LinkedIn feed. Because you’re talking to a community of like-minded folks, sharing professional details is welcomed here — talk about your objectives for the event, your goals, mission, values, team, struggles that your team has overcome. Think about intriguing content that will pique the interest of professionals, business owners, entrepreneurs.

You can also create your own LinkedIn Event group, adding all your speakers and partners to the group, and inviting people within your network. This is a perfect setting for attendees to connect with each other pre-event, and you can get the conversation rolling with questions and discussion topics, which will give you a clear idea of what the talking points are, and what needs to be addressed at your event.

LinkedIn is a great way to connect with your community and share your event

Just like Facebook, cross-promotion is just as effective on the LinkedIn platform. If you’re in a few LinkedIn groups related to your event, you can post your event there — if allowed. If some groups do not allow such promotion, try igniting professional curiosity through engaging topics related to your event. People can then discover your event organically when they click on your profile or feed.

And of course, with both Facebook and LinkedIn, ads are the paid way to go to reach out to audiences beyond your initial network.

Whether you choose one particular platform to focus your promotional efforts on, or plan to launch a multi-platform social media strategy, the one most important thing to keep in mind is your CTA, or call-to-action. You’ve sparked their curiosity, you’ve piqued their interest, now capture your customer. With Sparxo, your customers can sign up easily with one click without even having to leave the page / your promotional platform. Consider your event as good as sold out!

In short, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn are three very powerful platforms to promote your event. Keep in mind, though, that they are also three very different tools with different audiences, so you have to adjust your messaging for each of these platforms. If you master each of them and launch a multi-platform social media strategy, your event is as good as sold out!