SOCIAL NETWORKING 101

CASSIE ROBERTS

SIT BACK AND RELAX.

Give me your business card at the end of the presentation, and I’ll send you

my slides.

MARKETING YOUR EVENT

What do you spend the most money on? How does it work for you?

Is it getting you the best results?

Is it helping you to grow?

PRESENTER

Cassie RobertsManager, Sales & Partnership

• Received BS Public Relations, & Masters Sport Management, The University of Texas

• Born in Central City, NE

• United States Olympic Committee

• Rodeo Austin

BEFORE WE START

SOCIAL MEDIA

WHO’D RATHER STAY AT THE FARM?

DON’T WORRY!

Simple Agenda• Creating posts for social media• Where to put those posts and how

to post them• Incorporating those posts with your

website• Other specific ideas to make the

most of your social media presence

TO CLARIFY

Social media and social networking are not synonyms.Social media are the OUTLETS like Facebook, Twitter, etc.• Use social media outlets to create your

social network.

The social NETWORK is what you create to bring value to your event.

CREATING POSTS

WHAT WILL YOU SAY?

1. determine your target audiences

WHAT WILL YOU SAY?

2. get your team together -make sure to include all audiences

WHAT WILL YOU SAY?

3. brainstorm all the reasons people come to your event

WHAT WILL YOU SAY?

4. come up with topics for all these reasons

WHAT WILL YOU SAY?

Two things to tell people:1. What we want them to

hear2. What people want to hear

CONSIDER THE “RULE OF THIRDS”

1/3 about yourself and your brand

1/3 about things people might be interested in that aren’t self-promotional

1/3 interact with people

CREATE AN EDITORIAL CALENDAR

FACEBOOK

FACEBOOK

OVER 1 billion monthly active usersOne in every seven humans on earth is an active Facebook userThe most important way to spend your social networking energyFacebook trends to know• People use it on mobile• People use it for photo sharing

FACEBOOK COVER PHOTO

Be creative! Use this space to make big announcements, i.e. event dates and upcoming performers.

Change it daily during your event to highlight the day’s activities.

You can’t put links on your cover photo.

FACEBOOK PROFILE PICTURE

Don’t forget the profile picture! It will appear “solo” throughout Facebook;

it needs to be able to stand alone and represent your brand.

COOL FACEBOOK COVERS/PROFILES

COOL FACEBOOK COVERS/PROFILES

COOL FACEBOOK COVER PHOTOS

TWITTER

POLL

How many of you have a Twitter account for your event?

How many of you have a personal Twitter account?

TWITTER

Your 2nd priority for social media530 million accounts340 million tweets a day1 million accounts added to Twitter every day

WHY TWEET?

Twitter is current on up-to-the minute important news and cultural happenings.

Ramp up your publishing frequency, and make timely content the focus of your Twitter activities in order to satisfy information-hungry users.

STEP 1: SET UP TWITTER

No more than 15 characters in UsernameExample: Amador County Fair

• Too many characters: @AmadorCountyFair• Use: @AmadorFair• Use your real business name so search engines &

customers can find you

SAFFIRE RECOMMENDATIONInclude your state in your username if you need to

differentiate yourself!

SET UP PERSONAL ACCOUNT TOO

It’s a good place to “practice”But be careful!• KitchenAid debate disaster

Follow different people on personal vs. business, so it’s obvious what account

WHO TO FOLLOW IN SET UP

When you set up your account, just follow the minimum - Industry associations & businesses• IAFE @IAFE• IFEA @IFEAworld• State/regional organization• Saffire Events @SaffireEvents

STEP 2: CUSTOMIZE YOUR PAGE

Edit Profile• Add a photo (logo)

o Get 10x more followers

• Add a bio (mission – make it fun)o Get 8x more followers

Customize your design• Use your website background

NEW! ADD A HEADER

Make a file that is1200 x 600It will be a background behind:• Twitter name• Bio• Location• URLJust another way to convey your brandUpload it to Profile/Design

Amador header

STEP 3: DO A FEW RETWEETS

Retweet people you follow• Look through your timeline• At first, this is just to get your feet wet• Give people a taste of what’s to come

STEP 4: FOLLOW SOME PEOPLE

Events similar to yoursBig eventsPeople involved in your eventLocal businessesJust for fun

SAFFIRE RECOMMENDATIONDon’t follow too many until you have tweeted

and have a branded page!

PEOPLE INVOLVED IN YOUR EVENT

SponsorsVendorsEntertainersVolunteersExhibitorsBoard members

SAFFIRE RECOMMENDATIONFollow people on a Tuesday morning; there may be

better chance they’ll follow you back.

LOCAL BUSINESSES

Local businesses• Amador (county)• Plymouth (city)

Local press

SAFFIRE RECOMMENDATIONPilfer from those we are following & our followers!

STEP 5: WRITE SOME TWEETS

It’s a chicken and the egg: people don’t follow people without tweets, but you’ll get better bang for buck once you have more followers

Tweet what you think will be helpful to your target audience• Don’t be too self-serving

WHAT TO POST

Website changes/blog posts/email articlesTestimonialsPhotos/Videos“Insider info”News of weird/human interest storiesContestsQuestions

TRICKS & TIPS FOR TWEETS

For the highest click-through rates:

Tweet between 120-130 characters.

Write tweets containing “via,” “RT,” “please” and “check.”

Post weird/human interest stories.

Tweet on the weekends.

SAFFIRE RECOMMENDATIONUse: www.bufferapp.com or www.hootsuite.com to

schedule social media in advance.

EVEN WHEN YOU’RE MOBILE

MANAGING YOUR ACCOUNTS

BUFFER APP

TAKE IT A STEP FURTHER

what is the fastest growing website of all time?

PINTEREST

Pinterest was the first site to get 10 million unique visitors in a month.

Pin event photos (and more) and invite your customers to follow your boards!

Not your highest priority, but do it! It’s fun!

PINTEREST

PINTEREST

50% of all web content is…

YOUTUBE

Customers exposed to videos are 437% more likely to engage in your brand.

• Engagement = Purchases

SAFFIRE RECOMMENDATIONMake your videos raw and not too produced to

help customers identify with your brand.

YOUTUBE

3rd in your social media priorities4 billion videos/day viewed800 million unique users visit YouTube each month44% of YouTube’s users are aged between 12 and 34

INSTAGRAM

Mainly for mobileKnown for image “doctoring”Trends younger

MAXIMIZING SOCIAL MEDIA ON YOUR WEBSITE

MAXIMIZE SOCIAL MEDIA

Facebook or Tweet your ENTIRE EVENT

MAXIMIZE SOCIAL MEDIA

Facebook or Tweet an EVENT FEATURE

MAXIMIZE SOCIAL MEDIA

Facebook or Tweet a PHOTO of an event feature

SPECIFIC SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING IDEAS

DEEP THOUGHT…

Ask questions that get people to talk about themselves in relation to

your event

GRAB THEIR ATTENTION

• Consider funny – tweets from mascot, etc.

• Personal/human interest stories get a lot of hits

• Posts with photos get more views!

Think about what YOUR AUDIENCE

would want to click!

MAKE PEOPLE FEEL LIKE INSIDERS

• Be the first to know about X via social media!

• See behind-the-scenes looks at our event!

Your customers feel special, and they are more likely to be long-

term followers.

MULTIMEDIA

• Photo contests on website and Facebook

• Caption that photo

• Funny video upload

Photos and video are naturally VIRAL and give you more event

photos!

GET PEOPLE TALKING

Show live tweets on concert side screens

Have a vote or quiz• Answer on text, app, QR code, etc.

CONTESTS WITH PUBLICITY BONUS

Have a contest for front row concert seats• Text, tweet or post on FB page NOW =

publicity

Do giveaways with charitable tie-in

Allow groups to get $ for their orgs for advance sales; host trip for winners

Take pictures of the crowd at concerts, post them and encourage them to tag themselves

Your photo appears in their Facebook feed!

TAGGING IN FACEBOOK

• Create an editorial calendar• Get your website up to snuff• In this order, focus on this social media

• Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest/Instagram

TO REVIEW

BULLS EYE

Leave us your business card, and we’ll send:

• These slides

• The Editorial Calendar template

• A free subscription to The Dirt

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• Ongoing webinars