| EVENT INTELLIGENCE 05.01.09 9:30 AM |
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| How Two Recent Events Used Social Networking Sites to Woo Attendees |
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These days event pros are using social media sites like Facebook and Twitter for a lot more than posting status updates about their weekend plans. More and more planners are utilizing social media sites to promote their events and reach new audiences. (Speaking of Twitter—and aren't we all lately?—BizBash's news tweet is here.) Here are two examples.
“We created a character called Buybarella, designed by our fashion illustrator Danielle Meder, to promote Buy Design this year,” said Kelly Carmichael, event manager for Windfall Clothing Service, which hosted a space-themed fund-raiser at the Fermenting Cellar in mid-April. “Twitter was something new to Windfall and Buy Design and it was really beneficial.” The character, inspired by the Jane Fonda movie Barbarella, tweeted about ticket giveaways and details about the event, including hints about the menu and ideas about where to shop for an outfit to wear to the benefit.
“By the end of it we had 500 people following Buybarella, and 200 of them clicked through to the Buy Design Web site,” Carmichael said. “Those people are learning about the charity and the event…it was great for us to see it was working. The people who follow you, follow you for a reason—because there’s an underlying interest.” The nonprofit organization also created a Facebook page for the event and sent invites out to more than 1,500 people through the site. “It’s so easy and cost effective,” she said. Of those invited, 188 people planned to attend the event. “A great deal of those people came out,” Carmichael said. “Overall it was a definite success. We’re already thinking about next year.”
Karen Kang, an account manager and member of the team that promoted the Interior Design Show, held at the Direct Energy Centre in February, helped to create a three-pronged approach for the IDS09 social media campaign this year. “By adding social media [to your marketing plan] you have a wider spread of who you’re connecting with,” she said, noting that sites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube all serve different purposes, and attract different audiences.
“Twitter is evolving. It is a medium that a lot of people are underestimating right now,” she said, citing the importance of hashtags, terms that allow Tweeters to track conversations on topics of interest (#swineflu is a popular example this week) as a key tool to gain feedback about your event. “You’re able to track who’s saying what about the event,” she said. Just prior to the show, the IDS09 team created an account on Twitter and posted comments about exhibitors and news from the design world. There are now more than 1,200 people following the tweet.
The team also created a Facebook fan page, which attracted an international audience, and a YouTube channel. “We would try to link all of our different social media together. We created a video [of footage from the setup and tear down at the venue] and posted it on our YouTube channel, then we created a link to that on Twitter,” she said. “People like to see what’s happening behind the scenes. For us it was great to be able to share that.”
—Susan O'Neill
RELATED TOPICS
Social Networking, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Interior Design Show, Windfall Clothing Service
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