The complete guide to social media for event vendors
As an event vendor, you might be the sole marketing person in your company or have a dedicated marketing team, but one fact probably remains true: in a crunch, social media marketing will be one of the first “non-essential” activities that falls to the wayside.
I’m here to advise you to not write social media off that quickly.
Here’s what we know: your potential customers are spending more and more time on their phones, and a lot of that time is spent on social media apps. We also know that event planners will choose the vendors they can find and contact most easily, which often means the vendors with active profiles in their preferred apps. So not only is social media free, but your existing and potential customers are already there, searching for you and waiting to see your updates.
But not all social media platforms are created equal. In order to choose the right platform (or platforms), you first need to ask yourself a few questions about your goals: Do you specialize in social or corporate events? Are you targeting professional planners or administrators? Where do your potential customers get their info and inspiration? Are you looking to build brand awareness and loyalty, or are you ready to generate leads? The answers to these questions will help to determine the platforms you should be using, but you should also consider the content and resources that will provide added value while nurturing your audience’s brand affinity.
In the following 5 posts, we will cover the most popular social media platforms and the types of activities they are geared toward. We’ll also explain what to post, how often you should be sharing, and the best practices for each platform.
Spotlight on: Facebook
The first social media platform we’ll cover is Facebook. You might have heard of it! Facebook is one of the most popular social media platforms, with a massive user base of 1 billion daily users (and over 2 billion active users every month). If your target customer is on any social media platform, it’s likely Facebook. Bonus: Facebook also makes it easy to build target audiences for paid ad placements based on people who engage with your organic posts.
What to post
Facebook is a fairly conversation-oriented platform. However, planners following your page are likely to be looking for news and updates: they want to know about your past and upcoming events, learn about new services, and get a heads up about current promotions.
It’s important that you connect with those who follow you and provide the right type of content for them. Try a few different kinds of posts and see what resonates well with your audience: you can track them in terms of impressions, engagements, and shares. Once you’ve determined which content and updates your audience responds to, keep sharing along those lines. Make sure you always use strong visuals and hashtag important keywords, which can help people find specific topics.
How often to post
There’s no set limit for businesses posting on Facebook, but it’s wise to avoid “spamming” your followers with too many posts — a little can go a long way! In a Socialbakers study, engagement rates per post dropped significantly for businesses posting more than twice per day and for businesses posting only once per week.
So if you post too much, you run the risk of people un-liking your page. If you post too little, you risk people forgetting who you are while your engagement plummets. Take into account how much content you have to promote, and then post accordingly. About one update each day is an optimal rate for most event vendors businesses.
Tips to boost engagement
Remember that people scrolling through Facebook will see your business posts alongside photos of their newborn niece, naughty puppies, and cake decorating videos, so… Even though you should take social media seriously, don’t take it too seriously! Stay casual while continuing to provide value to your followers.
