7 Reasons Why Social Media Improves Event Planning
Social media is everywhere! According to the latest research data, 59% of the world uses social media, spending on average almost two and a half hours on their profiles. That’s more than half of the planet and the number is growing daily, with roughly 227 million new users every 12 hours.
Now, consider these people with social media accounts that can spread information to non-users using the oldest marketing technique in the book — word-of-mouth. Basically, if you announce an event on social media, it can quickly go viral with a proper marketing strategy and even reach a significant number of offline people.
That’s not all. Here we will discuss more reasons why social media improves event planning today and the amazing opportunities it brings to the table.
1. Social media is kind to your budget
Money matters and it’s not a shame to admit it. Every company, organization, and individual is trying to save money where they can and get as much as possible in return. Social media is a perfect example of how you can invest a reasonable amount and get exposure for your event.
However, it’s not as simple as it sounds. You still need an expert or an agency to help you navigate through algorithms, target audience, and SEO content. But that is kinder to your budget than traditional marketing and much quicker to produce results.
2. It’s easier to build brand exposure
Brand exposure is letting people know who you are and what your story is about. Social media allows you not to brag about yourself, but to let others do it for you. Meaning the event attendees, influencers, sponsors, participants, and everyone else involved in it actively or passively become your voice.
For example, create one or more hashtags that people will use when sharing or posting content about your event. A hashtag is not limited to the duration of the event and everyone can use it afterward. Once it’s trending you can rest assured that your event is becoming popular and you may need a bigger venue.
3. Social media presence has a long reach
We mentioned that social media can reach people who don’t have profiles or accounts. Another aspect that is important to stress out it’s the impact it can have on communities and people who can’t attend the event. If working with event management companies can teach you something that’s how to maximize the efficiency of your technical capabilities to expand the event’s reach to those physically unable to participate.
For example, platforms like YouTube and Instagram offer live feeds to their followers and non-followers to be up-to-date with the event. The video can also be available after the event for those who missed the live stream. So, not only will you get to people who can’t be there, but also leave content for those who found out about the event late or missed it.
4. It adds value to everyone’s experience
The point of social media is sharing and bonding with other users. One of the ways to do this we already talked about — hashtags. But you need to encourage people to share content so they can use these hashtags with a noticeable effect. This is why you need to give them reasons to share more.
For example, if you are organizing an event similar to ComicCon, ask people to cosplay and come dressed as characters from movies, TV shows, books, and other pop cultural references. It’s fun and everyone will want to take a picture with everyone, share it, and let the world know how they feel.
5. You will receive and process feedback from event-goers
Even with success, you can work on improvements. Feedback from attendees can help you recognize issues and weak points so you can make sure they don’t happen again or eliminate them. It can also point out the positive aspects and the benefits of the event on the topics it covered.
Critique and praise are powerful tools on social media since they are public and give feedback not only to you but also to everyone else. Instead of seeing it as a nuisance, consider this characteristic as an advantage that will help you expand your audience, and also be bigger and better.
6. Social media can help you build a better relationship with sponsors
An event may rely on sponsors to cover certain costs or provide services that would otherwise be too much for your budget. Just like you need to attract event-goers, you need to convince companies, organizations, and institutions you are worthy of their attention. Some sponsors may have the interest to invest in your event while others may see it as beneficial to a cause or policy they believe in.
Social media saves you the time you would otherwise have to spend on a long presentation that involves statistics across various aspects of event planning. It will give your potential sponsors an insight into who you are, your goals, and your attendees’ opinion of the event.
7. Event-goers can communicate through your social media profiles
When you allow users to comment on your social media accounts, you are building a community. Event-goers can exchange impressions and opinions, giving you a loyal fanbase. Now, you may wonder what happens if your followers start to argue and leave negative or even offending comments.
Well, this is why you have built a loyal following and worked hard to impress them. They will defend you and protect your interests, as well as make sure their standpoint prevails. Just look at the fans of Taylor Swift, for example, that respectfully and fiercely defend her on social media.
The bottom line
As demonstrated by these reasons why social media improves event planning, you can deduce that it would be pointless otherwise. Considering that people get most of their information through social media, you can use that to build brand awareness and promote your event. Appreciate your followers by welcoming their feedback and providing them with the means to attend the event remotely. After all, nurturing a relationship with attendees can help you raise your event to the next level.
