Social Media is everywhere. According to Statista the number of social media users in Ireland stands at 4.28 million in 2022, up by over 0.7 million since 2018 and set to continue upwards. That’s a huge audience for event planners and coordinators to generate interest and sell tickets to their events, no matter what the topic. Social media allows potential attendees to interact in a live environment to ask questions, give & gain feedback, and engage with other attendees. But where do you start? Here are some of our best tips for using social media to promote your event.
If you’re looking for an events venue in Dublin, DCU Campus has the perfect space for you. We can host conferences and events in Dublin of all shapes and sizes and can provide a top-tier catering experience to match. Contact one of our friendly team to learn more about our Dublin events venue.
Start Early
The earlier you start promoting your event, the higher your chances of success. Promoting your event online helps to build momentum and excitement among potential attendees and helps you to reach a larger audience. Start promoting your event 6-8 weeks in advance to ensure there is enough time for the word to spread. This is also a good timeframe for attendees to clear their schedules and make travel arrangements in good time. Create an event countdown on social media so potential attendees can see how long before tickets go on sale, until the big day etc.
Find Your Audience
What kind of people are you expecting at your event? You wouldn’t expect business professionals at Comic-Con or students at an economic conference, would you? Figure out what you want your target market to be and use social media to direct your message to the right eyes – otherwise, you might as well shout into a void. You can narrow your audience down pretty far, from age and sex to race and personal preference. This is especially important if you’re using PPC (pay-per-click) or paid advertisements. Picking your platform well will also help. For example, a professional business conference would likely see better results on Twitter and LinkedIn whereas a music festival will do better on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
Be Ready
Once your event goes live on social media, be prepared for questions and bookings to start immediately. Make sure your website is ready to go and able to manage additional traffic. Your event landing page should serve as a one-stop shop for your visitors to learn more about your event. All of your social media promotion should be directed here unless you plan on spending 6-8 weeks answering the same questions over and over via email! A good landing page should be easy to navigate, have a good design and have a clear message. Most importantly, make it easy for visitors to buy tickets or register for your event. That’s the whole point!
Tracking and Analytics
Analytics are as useful during the promotion of an event as they are afterwards. Many social media platforms have built-in analytics that are free to view by users. You can analyse post views, likes and reactions, figure out who and where your viewers are and target others in the same pools for better results. This information is invaluable and something traditional advertising could never compete with. Another form of tracking could also be creating and using an event hashtag so you can see what your attendees are saying about you before, during and after the event After an event, you can learn from your shortfalls, improving your chances for bigger success for future events.
You don’t have to blow your budget advertising your event. In fact, social media promotion can be entirely free depending how experienced and flexible you are. Don’t miss the added value that social media advertising and promotion brings to events of all shapes and sizes.
Contact one of our meeting and event planners in our Dublin events venue, DCU. DCU is the ideal venue for corporate meetings, conferences, seminars and events in Dublin. DCU is perfect for all sizes from 5 to 1200 attendees. We can also customise our space to suit your needs.
