Blogging: There are a variety of options in this area, including WordPress and Blogger. There are enough articles debating the merit of using each one, but from what I have read & understand, WordPress is suggested for corporate blogs. (I originally signed onto the Blogger and have not had issue to switch.) There is, of course, also the option of a proprietary blog, pending your internal resources.

Presentation sharing: the SlideShare portal affords the opportunity to upload and share a variety of documents – PowerPoint, OpenOffice and Apple Keynote presentations, Microsoft Office Word docs, Excel spreadsheets, iWork pages and PDFs. While you of course do not want to give away an entire presentation’s worth of content prior to an event, much like a pre-event Webinar (see below) this is an avenue by which to show off the great content you are providing attendees through summarized presentations. You can also set up SlideShare to share documents with a proprietary set of individuals, for example to be used for onsite or post-event sharing. This is also a great opportunity to share presentations for sponsorship marketing initiatives.

Photo and Videos: Flickr and YouTube have exploded in popularity for photo and video sharing (Flickr handles both). Onsite pictures and videos of networking, keynotes/presentations, etc. certainly fall into the “a picture is worth a thousand words” category in communicating the feel and value of an event. As video is dynamic, it can (and has) been used in a couple of ways – both as a produced video creating buzz about an event, as seen for in TED event clip, and providing content, as the Gartner video demonstrates. In either scenario, brevity is important, keeping the viewer engaged and showing the depth and breadth of the event with either tactic is the goal. And of course … do wind up with a call to action!

The real key to success to all of this is planning and execution: integrating the above, plus the previously discussed channels, into an overall Event Marketing communications strategy and stream. Specifically, you need to ensure there are plans and people in place to link and integrate video, blogs and pictures from your event Facebook and LinkedIn pages, that team members are tweeting about these, and that these links are prominent on the Event Web site. As well, links and call-outs should be included in your traditional direct marketing channels when utilized (email and direct mail), encouraging prospects to engage and follow wherever possible. This also provides the benefit of these communications shifting form a straight push for event attendance to promoting the Social Media option as this becomes part of the marketing mix.

And as previously discussed, a secondary element will be leveraging the communities built post-event – scheduling and executing regular discussions, blogs, notes, etc. – to ensure the attendee (and prospects) are, in fact, part of an ongoing and thriving network, not individuals on a promotional cycle spoken to in the context of a campaign. In short, work to utilize Social Media as the unique tool set leverage your Event Marketing prowess.

Good luck!

Comment now and share your thoughts.

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There are a slew of Social Media options available, and new ones appear almost daily. But  Event Marketing strategies, tactics and campaigns don’t have the luxury of waiting for the next big platform: once an event – either live or virtual – is set, marketing commences with the tools in hand. Which begs the question: in which basket should Event Marketing leaders place today’s eggs?

The over-arching answer, of course, is to explore and test a variety of social media platforms to determine what works. My take is that social media in the communications space: blogs and micro-blogs (i.e. Twitter), professional and social networking sites (LinkedIn, Facebook), and content-sharing platforms (YouTube, Flickr, SlideShare, etc.) are the keys for Event Marketing. Between them, an Event Marketing campaign team should develop a strong social media mix to support an event or event portfolio.

HOWEVER, I also think these all are only pieces of the ultimate goal: engagement. Continued, ongoing engagement. Social media has quickly brought many changes to Event Marketing, including the altering traditional communication strategies for both attendees and prospects. Event Marketing communication should no longer be on an “as needed” basis, tactically starting at X weeks out with a Save the Date email and ending with a post-event Thank You email, then re-ramping when the next promotional cycle ensues. Instead, B2B audiences will increasingly come to anticipate and expect social media-driven communities, networks and forums in which interaction – and engagement – is ongoing. Event marketing leaders who invest their increased Social Media spend in this arena will, in short, have the most to gain.

At a minimum, utilizing LinkedIn and Facebook both for their Event listing capability and Group feature (and, with Facebook, for its Fan Page) should be a starting point. Ning is another platform which, while mirroring LinkedIn, is set up for individual networks and communities. (If you are not familiar with Ning, do check out Eventpeeps.com, a site is built in Ning.) And of course, there are software options available as well. Pathable is one example of such software, this one happens to be event-specific and acts as an aggregator of various SM platforms. (I am not affailiated with or endorsing any of the above, but noting them as the types of options available. Please use due diligence if you explore them.)

Planning and executing Event Marketing using Social Media is a topic and discussion for another post: the take-away here is, if you have not already, begin to take a serious look at how you can start building continued, vital communities as a continued engagement strategy surrounding your events.

Good luck!

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[Update] – Part 1 of the series (LinkedIn) can be found here. Part 2 of the series (Facebook) can be found here.

I envision using Twitter for Event Marketing in three phases: Pre-Event, Onsite, and Post-Event – each with a different strategy to support the event overall.

The first thing to be done (if you haven’t) is to set up a Twitter profile. The suggestion here is to make it event-specific (not an overall organizational Twitter identity): @JavaOneConf, @heath2con and @etech are a few examples worth checking out (and following). Make sure the profile is complete and descriptive, the URL to your site is included, and that event logo, graphics, etc.

Pre-Event – Set up and gain followers:

• Establish a team of Tweeters (!) – Ensure there are individuals in your organization who have signed on and who agree to provide regular content-based tweets (this can include related articles, etc – not content specifically related to the organization. Twitter is, after all, about sharing good information.)
• Establish a hash marks for your tweets and use them.
• Using the search function for keywords of titles, content, etc. keyed to your event and see who is talking about them – and follow them.
• Join … or form … a Twibe . A Twibe, simply, is a site of Twitter groups.
• Ask attendees, during the registration process, for their Twitter IDs and encourage them to follow yours for updates, information, etc.
• Include your Twitter identity in all communications – emails, the Web, collateral.
• Most of all – Tweet. Putting out consistent, quality tweets will build up quality followers.
• As you build followers, include event-specific information – both content and promotional – in the flow of Tweets. Twitter isn’t a promotional channel, but including a tweet about hotel blocks closing in the mix of a link to a podcast, keynote interview, etc. is certainly acceptable.
• Ask questions – and solicit responses – from followers as a way to engage.

The overall aim is to build and maintain follower engagement and provide you with a voice to both demonstrate your value and communicate about the event as an integrated stream.

Onsite – It’s a party and you’re the host:

• Make sure your “Follow us on Twitter” message is well publicized: signage, collateral, screens, agendas, and session slides.
• Encourage attendees to Tweet their experience/thoughts in real time (and that they reference your @name!) This is a key way to gauge thoughts, address challenges, and proactively ensure the experience is top-notch. [There is software available that provides feeds of people Tweeting about your company, making the tracking of this easy – see note below]
• Keep attendees informed by Tweeting information on sponsor receptions, keynotes, networking opportunities – in short, use to quickly communicate with, and add value to, every attendee in real time.

Onsite, the goal is the conversation – a real-time conversation between you, attendees, sponsors and speakers. I’ve heard (more than once) Twitter described as “a conversation at a party” – which I don’t particularly subscribe to; this is one arena, however, in which such a utilization would – and should – apply. Do keep in mind – you’re the host of the party, so use ultimately ensure Twitter is used to make sure the guests go home happy.

Post-Event – keep the engagement going.

• In short, Twitter should be a continued communication tool – continue the pre-event content Tweets on a regular basis as a continued dialogue with your followers.
• The event itself has provided you a ton of new content which can be packaged into video and audio clips, PowerPoint downloads, and white papers – which can be small content plays to Tweet.
• And of course, as planning for the ensuing event commences, Tweet about it, solicit questions re: content, surveys – in short, use it to help build content and momentum from the outset of the event planning.

One thing to remember about Twitter is that is not something that can be up and running overnight…in other words, it is not a tool to incorporate four weeks prior to an event to combat lagging attendee numbers. You need a Twitter presence, and you need perseverance to gain good qualitative and quantitative followers. \

The Wall Street Journal recently posted an article detailing key software that enables you to fully leverage Twitter through tracking links & Tweets, as well as scheduling posts and managing tweets. A good summary of what’s out there to augment your Twitter efforts.

Good luck!

John

P.S. And please do follow me on Twitter!

NEW INFO (6/19) – B2B Media Business just wrote an article on companies incorporating Social Media into Events – check it out here. Includes a quote from my friend and colleague  Mark Fissell from Gartner.

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