In the first blog post on how facebook can be used effectively for event planning we covered using facebook to market your event, creating an event on facebook, what and when to post on the wall and we started to look at promoting your event. In this post I am going to cover sharing your page, facebook ads and live check-ins.

Sharing Your Page

You should promote your facebook page in the usual way - through your email signature, blog posts, Twitter, LinkedIn etc. However there are other ways in which you can try and increase your page's reach by sharing your page. By posting a link to your event page on other facebook pages and groups you can start to promote your event to a wide audience. However it is worth nothing that it is best if you engage in these pages/groups first before promoting your event and only add your link if it is relevant and useful to the followers of that group. Try not to be over salesy when promoting your page or your post could come across as spammy. Outline what your event is and why you think people from that particular Facebook group will find it interesting and relevant.

Remember not all Facebook groups will allow you to promote your event, ensure you carefully create and craft your message before you post it. You may need to explain what the event is, why it's relevant to that group and when they can find out more about the event.

Facebook Adverts

 Promoting our event page via Facebook adverts can be effective, if you have quite detailed information into the kind of delegate you are targeting, Faebook adverts can help you access these groups of people. Their adverts will allow you to specify:

• Age range
• Typical interests
• Gender
• Geographical location
• Language
• Likes and interests
• Connection targeting (target people who are friends with your connections)
• Birthday
• Relationship status

You can use Facebook adverts to promote your Facebook event page or link it to the actual event website. However, research carried out has shown that adverts are more successful if they promote a Facebook event page - as people like to stay within the Facebook platform.

Live Check-In's

Facebook have recently launches a new live check-in facility. This works in a similar way to Foursqaure and Facebook Places, to the "Attending" guest list of the event. When someone arrives at your event, they can check-in using their smartphone. When they do check-in this update is included in the Newsfeed of their friends - again giving your event additional exposure that you might not normally get. You can actively encourage people to do this by including it in presentations and marketing material through the actual event.

Enabling event check-in's insires delegates to RSVP and check in more often. It will also draw attention to eents that are in progress and give event managersanother way to guage success. Users don't need to have RSVP'd to an event to check-in, they just need to be within close proximity whilst the event is going on. Friends can be tagged (as in the normal Places check-in feature) and anyone checked-in is automatically added to the "Attending guest list of the event.

Event managers and organisations that run events are not just using Facebook but all social networking platforms, if you would like more information on event management & social media, email our events team and request our free ebook events@evocos.com or call us and discuss your requirements on 0800 3698677.

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Once you have carried out the basics of the planning process, event managers can turn to social medial to help promote their events. Social media really comes into effect when you get your delegates/customers talking, networking and sharing information, these networking sites are all about communication and engagement. 

Using the right social media platform can be an extremely effective way to reach a wider auidence than you normally would have access to. Not only is it a popular tool for many inidividuals/delegates but because the majority of them are free, it is making it one of the most cost effective marketing mediums out there. Used carefully and appropriately , event managers can utilise the popularity of these tools to help boost the success of their events. There are many social media sites out there that can help promote your events - Facebook, Twitter & LinkedIn (to name a few). Event managers need to get onto these key networking sites and start creating profiles so that no matter what platform a particular delegate prefers, they are able to locate your event and communicate with you.

It is key to have goals and strategies when event planning and with regards to social media, your goal should be to get your event covered in the main social media platforms. Once you have the presence, encourage conversation and promotion of your event. A good idea is to link all these accounts to a focused page on your website, microsite or blog. An effective strategy would be to integrate your social media accounts into a comprehensive event management software soluton, as you will be able to update all your social media accounts without having to leave your event solution making it that much easier and that much faster. With event managers being under considerable pressures, technology such as event management software solutions can be the key to organising a successful and well executed event.

In this post we will be looking specifically at a Facebook page.

Facebook is fantastic for event management - it's accessibe and simple to use and setting up an event on Facebook takes mere minutes. This page needs to be populated with the key information regarding the details of your event.  Setting up a page couldn't  be simpler:

When setting up a page focus on either your company as whole or if your event is a large, recognised annual event (for example) you can set up a page dedicated to that event. At the very bottom of the Facebook Page is an option "Create a page", Click on this and Facebook will take you through the stages of creating your own Facebook page.

Key things when creating our Facebook page:

1. Choose an effective name: Ideally the name of your company or the name of your event
2. Select the best URL (Facebook username) for your Facebook page: Choose a username that authentically represents your business or event
3. Use the "About" text box: Place a keyword rich summary near the top of your Page
4. Use the "Info" tab effectively: Include more important keywords, text and high priority links on your page
5. Post regular updates: 2-3 times a week at different times of the day/days of the week is a good initial benchmark

If your Facebook page is basd around your business, you can add an event application so that you can promote your event(s). You'll need to search the Facebook Applications directory for "events" then install the main Events app.

You need to be sure that you add your event to the "Event" tab, also allowing fans of your page to take part in online discussions within the page. Make sure that when you create an event that you complete as much information about the event such as:

• When - date & time
• What are you planning
• Where
• More info
• Who's invited

In order to make the event as visible as possible, make sure it is public and promote the page throughout all your other marketing communication (i.e. in email signatures, via Twitter etc). Once your events is live on your Facebook page, you can post details on the wall and send out sporadic reminders to your delegates.

What & When to Post on the Wall

Too many posts and it becomes intrusive, not enough and it becomes lost in your delegates newsfeed. The number of posts needs to correlate to the closeness of your event. If your event is still a few months away we recommend only posting two or three times a week. When your event is closer, you can post up to once a day. And in the immediate run up to the event, post updates as and when required.

So....how do you then promote your Facebook event? It's important to promote your Facebook page actively. The more people who "like" your page or who have RSVP'd attending to your event, the wider your overall network will be. When someone engages on your page (through commenting or liking a post/picture/video etc), this activity will be posted in the newsfeeds of their friends - giving you exposure that you would not normally get.

The people engaging in your event page are likely to have friends, peers or colleagues in their Facebook list that may be interested in your event, so increasing your overall network in this way gives you greater access to these people. You should promote your page in the usual way - through your email signature, blogs posts, Twitter, LinkedIn etc. However, there are more specific ways you can try and increase your pages reach...We will cover these in our second part of Event Planning with Facebook, the post will include Sharing Your Page, Facebook Adverts & Live Check-In's.

In the meantime if you would like more information on our event management solution and how it can integrate with social media event strategy or you would like to download our free ebook "Event Management & Social Media" then please email us events@evocos.com or call us 0800 369 8677.

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 A recent survey showed that event maangers are using social media as a way to plan and promote their events more often that not. Event management can be a complicated, time consuming and difficult activity, and any tools that aid this process are a welcome relief to a typical event manager.

Social media is described as a category of websites that are based on user participation and user generated contant. Examples of social media sites are Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, as well as blogs and forums that have user generated content such as Amazon customer reviews.

Many event management software solutions come with the ability to integrate with your existing social media channels. Being able to update your Facebook page without having to leave your event management software package is a great timesaver. But why are Facebook, Twiter and other social media channels becoming such a popular tool for event managers?

Event Planning - Skype & Google Docs

Before your prospective delegates are even aware of your event, event organisers can se social media as part of the planning process.

Skype - is a piece of software that allows individuals and business to make free video and voice calls, send instant messages and share files with other Skype users. Using Skype can be a great way to keep in touch with event partners and those aiding in the management of the event. Using video conferencing to hold meetings is not only more cost effective than face to face meetings, ut has also shown to be a faster way of conducting brainstorming sessions and meetings compared to plain telephone conferencing.

Google Docs - All those involved in the planning of the event can also be given access to a set of Google Docs. Google Docs are known as "collaborative documents" and are hosted on "the cloud" meaning that the original document is stored online. Anyone with login details can access and amend the original document - meaning that organisers will always be able to access the most up to date and current plan or calendar.

Come back next week and read our second extract taken from our Social Media & Event Management  which will cover Event Planning - LinkedIn, Twitter & Facebook

If you would like to download our free ebook then please email us and request the ebook, providing your name, company name and whether you are currently lookin for an event software solution; events@evocos.com

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In the final part of our blog series on using Twitter as an effective platform for event communication we will be looking at Managing your twitter account and how to respond to negative tweets.

Managing Your Twitter Account

Like any social networking platform Twitter never shuts down, your followers are able to contact you via your Twitter account 24/7, this is why it is vital to have someone who has total ownership of the account and manages it on a daily basis or a team of people monitoring and updating the account. The frequency of the updates can be determined on time frame of the event so depending whether it is the immediate lead up to the event, during and post event the level of monitoring needs to be adjusted and increased accordingly.

Twitter is all about engagement, if you are using it as a way to communicate with your delegates, you need to ensure you respond to any questions, tweets or Direct messages as soon as possible. One of the benefits of using Twitter as a communication platform is its level of immediacy, many of the largest news stories in recent times have been broken on Twitter, and people affected by world events often use Twitter as a method of communication. It’s updated constantly and as such anyone serious about using it must be able to commit to it as a platform which requires constant monitoring.

Responding to Negative Tweets

 A lot of businesses are worried about using Twitter as it is a high public level of communication and anyone can start using Twitter and write a negative tweet about a business or individual. It is important to remember that even if you decide not sign up for Twitter those negative tweets will still be out there and you can only deal with negative feedback/tweets if you know about it.

Monitoring Twitter for certain keywords such as your company name or event name means that you’ll be aware of any tweets that are relevant to you. If anyone posts anything negative, it’s vital that you respond to it as quickly as possible. If it’s a complaint, try to explain what happened, apologise or request their contact details so you can contact them off of Twitter.

Dealing with negative tweets and complaints in a public forum gives you the opportunity to show how good your customer service levels are. Companies are humanistic and as such will always make mistakes; people are aware of that. It’s how you respond to that complaint that differentiates you from your competitors. If a customer’s complaint gets ignored, this can sometimes cause them more irritation than the original complaint itself.

Following up the complaint via Twitter shows to the aggrieved Twitter user and to your whole network that you are actively engaged in ensuring you provide high value and high quality customer service.

If you have enjoyed ou three part blog series on Twitter and Event Management industry then why not download our free whitepaper:
The Benefits of Twitter to The Event Management Industry:
Improve Communication Before, During & After Events with Twitter

evocos is a fully web based event management software, if you would like to discuss your event software requirements then please call and one of our team would be happy to talk to you 0800 369 8677 or email us events@evocos.com or complete our contact form and one of our team will call you right back.

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In the first of our Twitter and events blog posts we introduced how event managers can start to use

In part 2 we are going to look at #Hashtags in Twitter, how to generate a quality network and what you should be tweeting about.

#Hashtags

Hashtags are used to mark keywords or topics in a tweet. Hashtags were originally created by users of Twitter as a way to categorise messages. When you create a hashtag for an event you should create one that matches the event in question. A good tip is to try and keep the hasthtag to a minimum number of characters as possible so as not to take up valuable space in the 140 character limit of tweets. You now need to let your delegates know about the hashtag and promote it to all stakeholders involved in the event, encourage them to use the hashtag when anyone is tweeting about the event and to monitor any updates on the event. This way both thte event organisers and delegates can monitor what is being said and answer any questions and respond to any comments.

Generating a High Quality Network

Ensure you add your Twitter username to all relevant marketing communications. Include it in the event collateral, emails and direct mail. It is key to start building your followers and the owner of the account should then start to follow the relevant Twitter users such as:

• Delegates
• Suppliers
• Speakrs
• Prospect Delegates
• Those in the local community
• Those from relevant industries

It is important that the account generates a high quality network, the quality of your followers is more important than the quantity of your followers. Ensure that you continue to update your Twitter account with interesting and relevant information on the event and try not to leave the acount inactive. You should work towards ensuring your network consists of relevant, high quality users; those in your industry and those who can help promote your event further.

What should you tweet about?

This is a toughie, planning your tweets can be a pretty daunting task. It is vital tht you come across as useful, engaging, helpful and interesting. If you are constantly promoting your own agenda this does not tend to do well on Twitter. Therefore the goal is to share information, provide advice and help to others and to become a trusted platform for those in your industry. But this still doesn't answer what you should be tweeting about, my suggestion would be things like:

• Event announcements - new speakers, new key delegates, sponsors etc
• Updates - Changes to agenda, location, registration process etc
• Answer Questions - people might ask questions about the event - the speakers, presentation items, logistics
• Ask Questions - Ask your network of follower's questions that can help improve the event, engage with your followers, what do they hope to achieve from the event, what presentations are they looking forward to, what do they think can be improved?
• Retweet (RT) - This is where you RT another users tweet, such as positive feedback regarding the event that you'd like to share, tweets from suppliers or sponsors talking about the event, industry news, anything you deem as worth sharing to your followers
• Links to useful content - If you come across an article online that is relevant to your event or industry you can tweet a link to the relevant web page.

In part 3 of our Twitter and events blog post we wil be covering Managing your Twitter account and responding to negative tweets. If you would like more information on Improving your events using Twitter then please download our Whitepaper, "The Benefits of Twitter to the Event Management Industry" or if you would like to talk to one of our team about your event software requirements then please contact us

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As an event manager communication is key - you need to communicate prior the event, during the event and after the event. Maintaining that high level of communication is tough for event managers and trying to update your delegates via different mediums such as; website, email, post and telephone takes time and some of the less important updates are not communicated because of the difficulty in managing and updating these mediums. It is imperative that all delegates and those involved with events want to know accurate information and any updates on the event as soon as they happen no matter what communication medium they prefer.

A big concern for an event manager is that a delegate has missed something important due to lack of communication updates and in this day and age delegates are expecting more and more from their events. People and businesses want to be more actively engaged and network with peers and this is the same for the events world, it is no longer enough to come and listen to speakers, delegates want to have the ability to ask questions and comment on presentations as they are being presented.  So how do you, as an event manager, manage, control and encourage the active engagement between delegates in the run up to, during and post the event? Twitter!

BUT how can you use Twitter as an effective communication platform? The first step is to decide what kind of Twitter account to open, if you are organising a large event that runs regularly then it would be best to open an account dedicated to this event. If you are an event company that hosts lots of smaller events, a general corporate account might be better. You would need to brand inline with the event or the event company – a logo or icon should be used as a profile image and a succinct bio should be added. Make sure that the person managing the account understands the medium as if it is neglected or deployed badly, you could come under some negative criticism.

 To ensure effective communication with your delegates, your Twitter campaign needs to commence simultaneously with the initial marketing. If there is a dedicated micro site for the event or page on your website, you need to include the Twitter username and a link to the account.

Over this series of blog posts I will be covering #hashtags, generating a high quality network and what to tweet about. Or if you would like to learn more about events and twitter please download our whitepaper: “Improving communication before, during and after events with Twitter”  or if you would like a demonstration of our event management solution, evocos, then please contact us and request your free demo.