Article Sponsored by Eventbrite.
If you have been following our series with Eventbrite, you will have learned about overcoming the trials and tribulations of DIY and organising shows for free and otherwise and even festivals. Next up, we’ll be taking a look at social media and how we can all utilise it to ensure that our events are as successful as they can be.
The Multiplying Effect
Social media allows even those from the humblest of beginnings to capitalise on the multiplying effect brought about by the right hype. This writer included. Take Vantastival which in its 7th year expanded to Beaulieu House in Drogheda following increased demand. Founder/director, Louise Tangney talks about this at length. “I think when people see their friends going to an event on their Facebook feed, it arouses more interest than anything else would.”
Indeed, a study by global information and measurement company, Nielsen found that 84% of respondents cited family and friends’ word-of-mouth recommendations as the most trustworthy form of advertising. For a country which according to Connector Ireland spends on average just under six hours on the social networking service a week, this provides event organisers with the chance to acquire a higher reach than they would from merely adopting traditional means of advertising such as displaying posters.
Further still, for the most part it’s free! See, people don’t generally like being told what to do. It’s in our nature. In the age of consumerism, we don’t like being bombarded with advertising. But we also don’t like missing out. Most of all though, we love to broadcast to people exactly what they’re missing out on. And be involved with trends. To sum it up, we like being noticed and being part of what’s relevant.
Louise alludes to how this has helped her to promote Vantastival. “Having punters share their photos of themselves at the festival is better than any marketing you can buy.” Rising Irish agrosoulers, BARQ echo this, highlighting the freedom it grants them. “It provides every band with independence and autonomy. Every time you release a song/video/event into the world it has the potential of reaching millions. There is an idealism and potential equality in that that is very refreshing.”
Innovation
Social media gives those wishing to promote their event a blank canvas to do so in their own unique way. “Every band has a different way of promotion and a fresh way to present themselves to the world. It’s an exciting time to be hustling your music,” continue BARQ. In addition it enables organisers to involve their customers and create the sense that they can help to dictate the experience.
This was the case when Discotekken organised the Spice Bag Social. They bought into an already established Facebook community, namely the Spice Bag Appreciation Society which itself, they were able to spot from keeping a close eye on their newsfeed. They got invitees to vote on which location it was to take place in by posting their nominations on the event timeline and then e-mailed those with tickets the coordinates. This increased the event’s reach furthermore from people posting onto the timeline over and over again. That would reach their friends and family which in turn would reach their friends and family and so on and so on. This was an innovative alternative to the traditional “Like, comment tagging X friends and share” formula that’s adopted by so many promoters.
Marketing moguls, Paddy Power, in their marketing strategy highlight the importance of conveying their operations in real time to their customers. This, they claim makes the consumer more engaged with what they are selling by being able to place a process with the result. Bands and promoters act similarly.
Explore Snapchat and you’ll find numerous clips of bands in the studio or venues hyping up their setup for the night ahead. Facebook now has followed suit with the introduction of their Live feature which similarly to Snapchat allows users to transmit videos of them doing their thing to their fans/customers in real time. BARQ commented on this. “It [social media] gives a band a permanent log of their evolution and now it can provide live coverage of the event in real time.” District Magazine and Boiler Room have begun to use the new live feature very effectively.
Practicalities
Ahead of all of this, social media is incredibly practical in promoting your event. To start with it enables organisers to more easily identify just who their target market is and which way to best engage with them. This can be done with the help of social network’s algorithms and in Facebook’s case, their new surveys. Advertisements for events can slot seamlessly into user’s newfeeds in amongst related news pieces and features.
Suddenly advertising doesn’t seem so adversarial. As well as this it also allows them to monitor how many new followers their page is getting from one week to the next making them remain urgent about maintaining popularity. It also, in conjunction with event management platforms such as Eventbrite allows users to purchase their tickets online and the promoters to more accurately gauge the rate at which the tickets are selling out.
Facebook will also automatically send out reminders to invitees at the start of the week of the event and on the day of the event to supplement the posts you should have created both on your organisation’s page and the event page itself. Facebook will work with the weather forecasters to display what the weather will be like on the day of the event and Google Maps to display to invitees just how to get to the destination of the event.
Further still, as Louise explains, it can also help you in actually organising the event crew themselves. “We also use Facebook groups organising our crew and car pooling to the festival.”
In essence, social media can be viewed as a sort of hub for event organisers to operate in. Or anyone who uses social media for that matter. And that’s what makes it so useful and versatile. Now, get on Facebook and create an event!
Article Sponsored by Eventbrite.