Tom PickUsing social media to maximize the impact of live events (like trade shows, forums and conferences) is where shiny new tools meet old school marketing.
As noted here previously, trade shows and other live events remain one of the top three lead generation channels for B2B companies, despite the fact they’ve been around for a while (the first trade conferences were in the 1700s).
But social media marketing, which emerged as a distinct discipline just eight years ago this month, has proven a powerful tool for maximizing the results from and investment in live event marketing.
Growth in searches for “social media marketing” per Google Trends
A new infographic from the Lakeshore Convention Centre in Ontario provides a number of interesting facts and helpful tips for using social media to market events. Among the key points:
- • Social media marketing budgets are projected to double over the next five years.
- • Yet—less than half of businesses use social media for event marketing, and just 11% use blogging to market events.
- • A Facebook event listing can serve as an information hub for attendees. Companies can use this to promote the event, post updates, and respond to inquiries.
- • Two of the best ways to use Twitter for event marketing are to create an events-specific hashtag, and provide a pre-crafted tweet for attendees to send out upon registering.
- • Keep the buzz going after events by posting photos of the conference or trade show to Facebook and Instagram.
Check out the complete infographic for more ideas.
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