Last November when I sat with the Temecula Valley Balloon and Wine Festival and discussed our plans for marketing the 2010 event, we considered the opportunity of expanding our social media community and utilizing that network to sell tickets.
For the last year my company (http://www.melodysadsworks.com/) had been using Facebook and E-blasts to promote events along with our traditional radio, cable and television advertising. I had seen some growth in the event attendance where I sent e-blasts. What my event clients needed was a way to grow that email list and connect with more people through social media.
During the City of Temecula's holiday promotions, Facebook, Twitter, E-blasts, and good old-fashioned flyers in schools were used to promote the Ice Rink. A Fios-buy on family oriented channels helped that new rink exceed all sales goals. Could the Temecula Valley Balloon and Wine Festival do the same thing? (http://www.tvbwf.com/)
The first step was to redesign the website, Facebook Fan page, and Twitter accounts. Over the years volunteers had created a variety of these accounts, pages, groups, you name it. We wanted all fans accessing the same page.
Mission accomplished and the event now has over 1100 fans and growing on Facebook. But Twitter, now that's the tricky one. The Festival wants fans to know when bands are booked, reserved seats near sell-outs and well - camping is available. (No, there is no camping available for you guests of the Festival.) Utilizing only the web for promoting camp site reservations, the Festival opened camping on March 9th and sold out in less than an hour with more than 650 people oline at one time for 400 camp sites. However, most found out through e-blasts, Facebook at the website.
Twitter wasn't growing.
Enter stage two of the campaign: We have now been linked on our major radio station partners in Los Angeles and San Diego markets. We have also begun our "I Want to Camp" contest where guests earn points towards one - yes only one - campsite remaining. It is a coveted grand prize and for the next five weeks we will be Tweeting clues to earn points, pick up tickets at sponsors and walk away with souvenirs.
Last week when the numbers weren't growing fast enough, I tweeted "Want a Campsite?" Facebook had 18 posts in less than an hour and the Festival's phones went crazy. So we had to reword that little tickle.
Currently we have 36 of our Fans playing the game. (That's 36 in 5 days and we have a few dozen photos, two blogs posted to our wall as part of the contest.) We've also added about 20 followers on Twitter. We hope to have much more. Afterall, the goal is interaction. I'll keep you updated with the experiment but here are some things for newbies to social media "special event" promotion. Over the next few weeks, as tickets are left around town and teased on Twitter we should see more growth. Stay tuned.
HINT: If you have entertainers as part of your event - be sure to follow them on Twitter and Facebook, create a list of those performers on Twitter, and when pertinent, respond to the tweets and posts. Best of all, watch for fan messages and tweets. I was carrying on a conversation with one of our followers who saw a band posted and checked the band's website. I had already been told the band's website had a bad date on it, so when the question came through "Is this right? It says they are somewhere else on June 4th?" I was able to respond - and quick response - sells tickets.
Showing posts with label Marketing Campaign with social media. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Marketing Campaign with social media. Show all posts
Monday, April 5, 2010
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Cool Tools for Social Media Newbies
If you are just jumping into the Social Media Revolution for your event marketing, you are probably overwhelmed by all of the lingo, applications and sites. You can Tweet on Twitter, Ping with Pingfm, post on Facebook, upload to YouTube, and blog. But who has the time? Most event promoters - large or small - were working 60-80 hour weeks before social media.
Life in the PR world has gotten tough for any traditionalist. (That's why I call those folks who try to live on press release mass mailings, pitching and whining to editors, and stagers of the meet and eats.) Magazines are going belly up. Newspapers have gotten smaller and in some cases unethical - demanding cash expenditures for news coverage of your event, and some television news teams "sell" live broadcasts of their show from your event. This means we are all working harder to get the story in print, on-air and then seen.
Enter Social Media - the New Darling of the promotion world. It's free. It's abundant. It's full of niche markets. And all it takes is time ... well time and a little bit of knowledge. So here are a few tools for you newbies to the new media wave.
RESEARCH: Discover the most common search terms used when browsers search the web for your event. It's free - go to google ad word keyword tools. Type in your event name and see what search terms come up. You'll see a list of search terms. Some that appear more frequently than others - some that are used millions of times. Make a list of the top terms and keep this within your eyesight whenever you write about your event.
BLOG: Whether you choose WordPress, blogger or live journal, start with a blog about your event. Be concise and friendly. Judiciously use words from your keyword search tool research. Dont' overload or force the use but be cognizant of the key search terms. Make sure you include a boiler plate at the end of your blog that directs readers to your event website and contact info. When relevant use links and incorporate links.
TAG: (or label) Establish tags for your blogs that pertain to your event, and preferably utilize some of your key search words.
WIDGETS: Add these to your blog connecting or providing a diary of your Facebook and Twitter accounts, or provide a link to your Twitter and Facebook pages.
FACEBOOK: Develop a PAGE for your event and an individual account in the administrator or your name. Why? You can have an unlimited amount of fans, but a limited amount of friends. And, there are some things you can do as an individual with Facebook, that you can't do as a business or organization. This goes both ways - there are some special things you can do with a fan page you can't do with an individual. Create Invites to your event and send to your "fans" and friends. This allows fans and friends to also forward the invite.
TWITTER: Develop a twitter page and immediately begin following key individuals. (Board members, other events, media representatives.)
LINK: Twitter to your Facebook page so posts are synchronized on both.
YOUTUBE: Create videos, upload commercials and b-rolls of your event. Be aware of the copyright laws for entertainers music though. Encourage fans and followers to upload event photos to Youtube through your social media.
PINGFM: Very cool free tool that you can use to post to all social media at the same time. You can blog from Ping, Tweet, or Facebook - or all at the same time. Ping has lots of cool applications and tools. Check it out.
FOLLOW AND FRIEND: Other social media and public relations experts. They are posting great info daily. The media scene changes daily and the only way to stay updated is to stay linked to the hottest gurus.
Vocus and PR Newswire have free webinars teaching everything from SEO of your public relations campaign to social media etitquette.
YES! Virginia. There is Social Media Etiquette and if you violate it you will lose followers, fans and credibility. Twitter is not the place to post endless tweets about your latest book, your online ticket office, or your sponsorship packages. It is the place to tell followers about your entertainment lineup, when and where tickets are available, how to save money on tickets, tips for the best way to enjoy your event. Do not sell. Teach, share, inform.
Once you have "blogged" you can notice your blog on Facebook, Twitter and Myspace. Some applications allow you to "tweet" pieces of your blog throughout the day.
GOOGLE ALERT: If you haven't signed up for Google Alert - do so immediately. This cool app lets you know whenever there is a story about your event, you and board members. It all depends upon what terms you post when signing up for the alerts. This will also help you keep track of the effectiveness of your social media, as well as traditional media mentions and coverage.
CAMPAIGN STRATEGY: Develop a campaign strategy that also ties to your traditional media and public relations. Be sure to provide blogs, Facebook, Twitter widgets on your website linking back to your event pages. Include social media info on flyers, postcards, brochures. Be sure to have an online press room with all of our press releases ... make them easy to download and "copy and paste."
READ: There are tons of great books... actually being published daily, on social media and PR/Marketing 2.0. Some of my favorite
“Twitter Power,” by Joel Comm
“Putting the Public Back in Public Relations. How Social Media is Reinventing the Aging Business of PR” by Brian Solis and Deirdre Breakenridge.
Life in the PR world has gotten tough for any traditionalist. (That's why I call those folks who try to live on press release mass mailings, pitching and whining to editors, and stagers of the meet and eats.) Magazines are going belly up. Newspapers have gotten smaller and in some cases unethical - demanding cash expenditures for news coverage of your event, and some television news teams "sell" live broadcasts of their show from your event. This means we are all working harder to get the story in print, on-air and then seen.
Enter Social Media - the New Darling of the promotion world. It's free. It's abundant. It's full of niche markets. And all it takes is time ... well time and a little bit of knowledge. So here are a few tools for you newbies to the new media wave.
RESEARCH: Discover the most common search terms used when browsers search the web for your event. It's free - go to google ad word keyword tools. Type in your event name and see what search terms come up. You'll see a list of search terms. Some that appear more frequently than others - some that are used millions of times. Make a list of the top terms and keep this within your eyesight whenever you write about your event.
BLOG: Whether you choose WordPress, blogger or live journal, start with a blog about your event. Be concise and friendly. Judiciously use words from your keyword search tool research. Dont' overload or force the use but be cognizant of the key search terms. Make sure you include a boiler plate at the end of your blog that directs readers to your event website and contact info. When relevant use links and incorporate links.
TAG: (or label) Establish tags for your blogs that pertain to your event, and preferably utilize some of your key search words.
WIDGETS: Add these to your blog connecting or providing a diary of your Facebook and Twitter accounts, or provide a link to your Twitter and Facebook pages.
FACEBOOK: Develop a PAGE for your event and an individual account in the administrator or your name. Why? You can have an unlimited amount of fans, but a limited amount of friends. And, there are some things you can do as an individual with Facebook, that you can't do as a business or organization. This goes both ways - there are some special things you can do with a fan page you can't do with an individual. Create Invites to your event and send to your "fans" and friends. This allows fans and friends to also forward the invite.
TWITTER: Develop a twitter page and immediately begin following key individuals. (Board members, other events, media representatives.)
LINK: Twitter to your Facebook page so posts are synchronized on both.
YOUTUBE: Create videos, upload commercials and b-rolls of your event. Be aware of the copyright laws for entertainers music though. Encourage fans and followers to upload event photos to Youtube through your social media.
PINGFM: Very cool free tool that you can use to post to all social media at the same time. You can blog from Ping, Tweet, or Facebook - or all at the same time. Ping has lots of cool applications and tools. Check it out.
FOLLOW AND FRIEND: Other social media and public relations experts. They are posting great info daily. The media scene changes daily and the only way to stay updated is to stay linked to the hottest gurus.
Vocus and PR Newswire have free webinars teaching everything from SEO of your public relations campaign to social media etitquette.
YES! Virginia. There is Social Media Etiquette and if you violate it you will lose followers, fans and credibility. Twitter is not the place to post endless tweets about your latest book, your online ticket office, or your sponsorship packages. It is the place to tell followers about your entertainment lineup, when and where tickets are available, how to save money on tickets, tips for the best way to enjoy your event. Do not sell. Teach, share, inform.
Once you have "blogged" you can notice your blog on Facebook, Twitter and Myspace. Some applications allow you to "tweet" pieces of your blog throughout the day.
GOOGLE ALERT: If you haven't signed up for Google Alert - do so immediately. This cool app lets you know whenever there is a story about your event, you and board members. It all depends upon what terms you post when signing up for the alerts. This will also help you keep track of the effectiveness of your social media, as well as traditional media mentions and coverage.
CAMPAIGN STRATEGY: Develop a campaign strategy that also ties to your traditional media and public relations. Be sure to provide blogs, Facebook, Twitter widgets on your website linking back to your event pages. Include social media info on flyers, postcards, brochures. Be sure to have an online press room with all of our press releases ... make them easy to download and "copy and paste."
READ: There are tons of great books... actually being published daily, on social media and PR/Marketing 2.0. Some of my favorite
“Twitter Power,” by Joel Comm
“Putting the Public Back in Public Relations. How Social Media is Reinventing the Aging Business of PR” by Brian Solis and Deirdre Breakenridge.
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