Increase Engagement through Social Media
Sara KerrIrish Fair of Minnesota Volunteer
St. Catherine University Marketing Professor
What are Your Goals?• Capture Attention• Entertain & Enlighten • Increase Attendance• Sell More …
Beer, Food, Merch
Three Methods:
Paid Media
Traditional Advertising:
Print, TV, Radio, Direct
Mail, Web Display
Owned Media
Website, Blog,
E-NewsletterSocial Media
Posts
Earned Media
Media Stories, Citizen
Journalism: (Blogs),
Social Media mentions &
shares
September 17-20, 2015
Muskegon, Michiganmichiganirish.org
Social Channels
• Facebook: MichiganIrish• Twitter: @Michigan_Irish & Meerkat• YouTube mentions• Pinterest: MichIrishFest• Instagram: michigan_irish
What can we learn from theMuskegon Irish Music Festival?
• How do you manage your social media?• Which social media…–works best for you (or engages the most
fans)?– is a lot more work than it’s worth?
• What would you like to try but just haven’t got around to it yet?
• Do you have advice you’d like to share?
Social Channels
• Facebook: Kansas City Irish Fest• Twitter: @KCIrishFest• YouTube channel: Kansas City Irish Fest• Pinterest: KCIrishFest• Instagram: KCIrishFest• Tir Na Blog (on website):
kcirishfest.blogspot.com• An app vs. a paper program
What can we learn from theKansas City Irish Fest?
• How do you manage your social media?• Why focus on YouTube?• Do you ever run out of things to say on
your blog?• What do attendees think of your app vs.
paper programs?• What do you want to try next?
Social Channels
• Facebook: irishfest.milwaukee• Twitter: @MKEIrishFest• YouTube channel: MilwaukeeIrishFest• Pinterest: MKIrishFest• Instagram: mkeirishfest• BlogSpot: milwaukee-irish-fest.blogspot.com
What can we learn from theMilwaukee Irish Fest?
• How do you manage your social media?• Which social channel is the most
effective for you?• How do you use your blog posts in other
social media channels?• How do you plan your blog posts?• What do you want to try next?
Social Channels
• Facebook: IrishFairMN• Twitter: @IrishFairMN• YouTube channel: IrishFairMN• Pinterest: IrishFairMN• Instagram: IrishFairMN• Foursquare: Irish Fair of Minnesota
Facebook: Need to Know
Recognize that Facebook is Paid Advertising– Boost posts and/or buy ads– Your fans won’t see your posts in their regular
feed because of howFacebook presents them
Facebook: Best Practices
• Prioritize Photos over Links– They perform better
• Be concise: 40 Characters is the best post length – Up to 80 is still very engaging
• Use the Event feature – Invite people to your events– Use awesome photos on the event page
• Post & Schedule via the native (vs. Hootsuite) scheduling function
• Occasionally “Pin to Top” popular posts
Facebook: Posts
• Irish Quotes with a photo• Engage with contests– Limericks (we’ve had limited success with that)– Photo caption contest– Music and band trivia
• Ongoing Series– Tea, Pub of the Day, Band of the Day, This Day in Irish
History, TBT with your old photos, Sponsor feature, Odd Holidays
• Good Questions– Fill in the blank: “The best beer I ever drank______”
Facebook: Knowledge
• Get to know the Insights Page– When your fans are online– Which of your posts are performing best– Watch other pages that you follow– Who are your fans
Facebook: Who Are Your Fans?
The Irish Fair of Minnesota Facebook page engages primarily Gen X and Baby Boomer women.
Instagram: Need to Know
• Very popular: 200 Million Users• Authentic and uncluttered by
advertising• Must post from a mobile device– Create/edit photos on a desktop and
load them to a mobile device• Permits Linked Accounts– Post to Instagram and then
automatically to Facebook and Twitter
Instagram: Best Practices
• Gorgeous, square photos• Relevant Hashtags (5 Max)– Event specific
• #IFM2015
– Popular ones in your area: • #Instagood• #Picoftheday• #Minstagrammers
• Repost your fans’ photos– Use the Repost App
What to Post
• What’s happening• Behind the scenes• Quotes• Video• Throwback Thursday #TBT• 30-Day challenges (#30DaysofBeer)• Contests• Tell a story over a series of daily posts:
#BookingABand #FestivalSetup
Instagram: Contests
• Identify a goal– Attend an event
• Create a campaign hashtag– Example: #DanceWithUs
• Have a clear call to action– Example: Share your favorite Irish dance photo
• Make participation worthwhile– Examples: Win tickets / Free dance lesson
Instagram: Complementary Apps
• Instaquote: Formats a quote over a generic background or one of your photos
• Over: Overlays text on a photo• Flippagram: Creates movies with music using
a collection of photos• Collage apps: There are many to choose from
to create photo collages• Hyperlapse: A time-lapse companion app
from Instagram
Twitter: Need to Know
• Twitter requires a lot of effort (time and frequent Tweets) to be heard amongst the clutter
• Explore analytics.twitter.com to learn how your Tweets perform
• Lifespan of a Tweet:– 20 seconds to 20 minutes 20
Twitter: Best Practices
• Keep it short:– The ideal Tweet is 70-100 characters to facilitate
retweeting with comments• Use Hootsuite to schedule your Tweets• Use 1 or 2 hashtags – never more• Frequency: – At least twice daily and up to 8 times
• Use lists to organize who you follow
Twitter: What to Post
• Share interesting, share-worthy information– Not just about your event
• News about your attractions– Bands that perform at your festival and in your
neighborhood• Retweet from other Irish/Celtic accounts• Tweets with links are shared more often• Tweet photos (525 x 262 pixels)
Pinterest: Need to Know
• Visuals inspire people far more than text• It’s designed to be shared on other social media• It’s a visual search engine• Share photos from your website– This will drive web traffic back to your site
• Promoted pins are coming in 2015• Learn about your followers with
Pinterest Analytics
Pinterest Best Practices
• Pin 10 times per day• Describe your pin in 200-300 words• Pin great photos and YouTube videos
Pinterest: Board Suggestions• Dogs• Recipes• Baked goods• Music• Games• Instruments• Dancing• Sports teams• Fashion• Weddings• Quotes• Jewelry
• Travel destinations• Tea• Whisky• Beer• Cocktails• Heritage• Authors• Language• Castles• Red Heads• Names• Fonts
• Holidays• Knots• Lace• Limericks• Blessings• Humor• Luck• Branded apparel (link
to your web store)