Schmoozing with Megan: Promoting Events on Social Media

by: Megan Olynik

Hello Schmoozers,

Some of you may know me on social media as @ONutmeg but my true (unmasked!) identity is Megan Olynik. I work as the Social Media and Digital Marketing Coordinator at the Art Gallery of Hamilton. When I started at the AGH, one of my responsibilities was to help promote gallery events using social media. This was a daunting task in the beginning because I wasn’t really sure where to start. Perhaps you are feeling the same way? Well, after many trials and errors I have learned some do’s and don’ts when it comes to preparing for and covering an event on social media, and I thought I would share them with you here in hopes that it will help you plan your upcoming event.

1. Create an event hashtag

Do this before you begin promoting your event to help tie all of your social media posts across all platforms together, making them easy for people to find. Guests will also feel more involved in the event if they are able to use the hashtag in their own social media posts. During the event, hang signs to let people know what the hashtag is.

2. Create an event on Facebook and invite people

You will want to create the event using your business’ Facebook Page. One of the downsides to the Facebook Page is that it does not allow you to invite your Facebook Fans to the event - they have to have subscribed to your event notifications in order to receive a notice about your event. The only thing you can do is use your personal Facebook account to invite your Facebook Friends to the event, and then encourage others to do the same or Share the Invitation on your Company’s newsfeed. (Note: Don’t rely on Facebook to give you a guest count - it is a proven fact that a large percent of people who say they are coming on Facebook don’t show)

3. Sell tickets using Eventbrite

Is there a price tag on your event tickets? Want to have a more reliable guest count? I recommend you use Eventbrite and sell tickets to your event that way. Eventbrite is free to use as long as your tickets are free - otherwise it has a 2.5% fee plus $0.99 for each ticket. Getting guests to RSVP through Eventbrite by “buying” a free ticket is a great way to get a better count on how many people are seriously considering coming to your event.

4. On the day of the event make a “prep photo” post to all your accounts

The Facebook event, your Facebook page (share the event’s post to your page for added kickback), Instagram and Twitter should all receive a post telling people not to forget about your event. A photo of things being set up is always a great way to garner interest and excitement.

5. Live-tweet from the event to Twitter only

Twitter is the best tool for sending out tons of posts from your event. Too many posts to Facebook and Instagram in a short period of time tend to really annoy people, and you will lose followers. Some ideas of things you can share from the event include:

• Photos and videos of happenings
• Photos of people having fun
• Small anecdotes from speeches
• Quotes from guests (feel free to specifically ask people for a quote and tag them using their twitter handle - they’ll love the attention!)
• DON’T FORGET YOUR HASHTAG

Even though Twitter is more freeing than other platforms for live-tweeting, you still don’t want to overdo it. Your followers probably don’t want to see 5 different photos of the same crowd of people (even though you might be excited by how many people showed up!). Once you have made a post about one aspect of the event, consider it covered and move on - it will keep people interested and make your event look more dynamic!

6. Only post 1 or 2 photos to Instagram

While you shouldn’t spam Instagram, as mentioned above, it is always tasteful to post one or two photos from your event. That way your Instagram followers get a taste of what they are missing out on. And if they want to see more they will likely seek you out on Twitter anyway.

So there you have it, the things I have learned from covering events on social media. If you have experience doing this yourself and know of something I missed, feel free to add it in the comments - maybe I will learn something new from you! Thanks for letting me visit and feel free to follow me on Twitter!

Over and out,

Megan