Event Marketing on Social Media 101

Events, workshops, conventions, and webinars: what do they all have in common? They’re social gatherings of like-minded leads. What better way to promote a social gathering than by harnessing the power of social media marketing in your approach – from hashtags to event pages to sneak peeks and exclusive content? At Little Egg Solutions, we understand how integral social media marketing is to a successful event marketing campaign in the modern world. Here are our top three tips for leveraging your social presence to bring more people to your event door.

Via Techndu | Flickr

Twitter

Hashtags are the most direct benefit of promoting an event on Twitter. The hashtag allows for instant unification of your event-related posts, and it gives you a way to track the success of your marketing strategy so far – you can tell who is talking about your event and what they’re saying with a simple search. Start here, and start early; you want to have an idea for your hashtag before your promotion kicks off.

Short, simple tags are best. The fewer characters you need for the tag, the more you can use to promote your event with superb content. If your event is annual, like a convention, include the year in your tag to avoid confusion. Check to make sure the tag is unique (it should produce no results in search) and use it in everything related to your event – even your mailing list content and printed promotion materials. This hashtag can be used on other social media sites to tie the campaign together, and – unless you’re running a contest or promotion for extra engagement – there should only be one tag for your event to avoid confusion.

Facebook

Promoting an event on Facebook is even easier with the native Event feature. Create an event, complete with helpful information, guides for registration (lead-capture, anyone?), and stunning photos. Then invite everyone and their brother to attend. As your followers’ friends notice they’re attending, they’ll be more inclined to take a look for themselves, and your list will grow organically.

Alternately, you can create a separate page dedicated to your event. This approach is more in-depth – with more detailed information and the opportunity to use the built-in lead-capture tab, but the expanded capabilities will allow for more discussion, engagement, and promotion than simply creating an event on your main page. Regular posting to the event page with relevant, engaging content will help build anticipation and get people talking about your workshop, seminar, or convention. Be sure to use your Twitter hashtags on posts to tie everything together, and don’t forget to link back to your business page from the event page.

Instagram

People love sneak peeks and behind-the-scenes exclusives, so use your Instagram to give those attending your event – or even those who are just interested – a look behind the curtain. Use your already-established hashtags to tie all of your photos and videos together, and invite people to share their own. Engage your followers (and call for more) by prompting them to respond, or to follow for more exclusive content.

You can also create a separate hashtag just for follower engagement. For example, encourage followers who are interested in your event to participate with a photo contest or collection. Having a workshop on marketing success? Ask for photos that represent success for your followers and unite them with a hashtag (#mysuccessstory, for example).

Via Flickr

As important as each individual strategy is, they work best when integrated into a comprehensive social media marketing campaign that goes beyond the event and connects with your target audience. If you already have hundreds of followers, word-of-mouth spreads that much faster when an event rolls around that people can get excited about. That’s where content marketing and a strong social media presence becomes your biggest online asset – but it’s tough. Little Egg Solutions is here to help, and our team of expert content creators, marketing specialists, and consultants can put together the right plan for growing and promoting your small or medium business. Contact us today to find out how!

Mega-Media Marketing: Five Tips for Harnessing the Power of Instagram

                                                                  Via flickr.com

When you think of social media marketing, or the social media landscape in general, what are the brands that come to mind? Facebook, certainly. Twitter, too. But what about the media-sharing mogul, Instagram? If Instagram isn’t already a part of your content marketing strategy, it may be time to reconsider your approach. Instagram delivers per-follower engagement at levels that are 58 times that of Facebook and a whopping 120 times that of Twitter to brands who have mastered the ins and outs of the platform.

How can you leverage this powerhouse of a platform to boost brand recognition, engagement, and bring clients to your doors? Our social media marketing experts here at Little Egg Solutions have put together this list of five tips to harness this remarkable engagement for your business and to put Instagram to work for you.

1. #HashtagsAreMarketingMagic

Just like on Twitter, hashtags are a simple way to categorize your Instagram posts and to hop on the hype-wagon when there’s a trendy topic that lines up with your industry, your company values, or your online image. They link your post to other similar posts, and that lends your content a certain level of relatability (which, in social media marketing, translates to like-ability and share-ability) and even authority within your industry.

Just Remember: Use them, don’t abuse them. Too many hashtags can be worse than none at all, and they should always work with your brand.

                                                     Via flickr.com

2. Mix It Up

Instagram is one platform that stresses quality over quantity. There’s no need to post multiple times per day, or even every single day. It’s also a place where you can liven up your presence with a little variety. Use different filters to show off the creativity of your team, use no filter to get down to the nitty-gritty. Add fun posts and serious posts alike for a balance that appeals to your entire audience in a way that you can’t on other platforms.

Just Remember: Variety is the spice of Instagram, but you’ll still want to maintain some level of consistency in language and voice to build recognition.

3. Humanize Your Brand

The purpose of social media marketing is to connect with consumers and clients on a personal level, and Instagram is an ideal platform for doing so. Behind-the-scenes photos and videos give your audience a glimpse into the inner-workings of your company, sneak peeks and celebrity sightings make them feel special, and team or employee photos give your brand an actual human face for your audience to relate to.

Just Remember: The purpose of humanizing posts is for your followers to feel connected on a human level. Don’t drown them in hype-y copy or it can ruin the effect.

4. Followers Love Feeling Special

In addition to sharing exclusive behind-the-scenes content and sneak previews or tours, there are tons of ways to make your followers feel like they’ve got an in with your business on Instagram. Hosting contests is a great way to boost engagement, and sharing exclusive coupons or deals for your followers keeps the digital word-of-mouth spreading like wildfire.    

Just Remember: One-on-one interaction is guaranteed to make your followers feel special. Respond to comments and always remember to thank the faithful with a follow-back.

5. Integrate Your Approach

The key to a successful social media marketing strategy is integration. Instagram alone can’t bring your brand to the forefront, but an active Instagram presence, coupled with integrated Facebook and Twitter posts, will go a long way to meeting your goals. Embed your Instagram videos and photos on other platforms, on your website, and in your blog for maximum impact and exposure.

Just Remember: Instagram is partnered with dozens of apps that can make your marketing much, much easier. Explore these options and integrate them into your overall strategy.

                   Via flickr.com

Instagram may not be the first name you think of when defining your content marketing strategy, but it definitely has the potential to boost your reach and your engagement if you follow the simple tips above. For more help navigating the (sometimes murky, always complicated) waters of social media marketing, talk to our experts at Little Egg Solutions today. Together, we can bring your business to the eyes and ears of those you want to reach.

#Insta-Classic: The History of Instagram

                     Via flickr.com

A while ago, we took a look at the annuls of #Twistory, the evolution of the social media giant, Twitter. Now it’s time to turn back the clock again and examine how the prolific photo sharing app, Instagram, became the juggernaut it is today. A company that got its start in 2010 as a small startup has managed to revolutionize the social media landscape in less than a decade; but how? Below, the social media marketing experts here at Little Egg Solutions take a deeper look into the combination of skill, innovation, cooperation, and integration (with a dash of luck and good timing) that helped to make Instagram into an #Insta-Classic!

Just a couple of friends, changing the world, one square photo at a time.

While he was still working for Nextstop, Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom created an HTML5 application called Burbn that combined elements from FourSquare and Mafia Wars: check-ins, event planning, socialization rewards, and photo-sharing, among many other features. After tweaking and polishing the Burbn prototype until it shone, Systrom left Nextstop to strike out on his own to find a team and make Burbn a reality.

When his friend and business partner, Mike Kriegel, joined the team, they decided to focus the app on mobile photography, and they cut it down to the bare minimum: photo posting, commenting, liking. They changed the name to Instagram as a reference to instant cameras (from which the signature square photo aesthetic arose) and the long-distance communications progenitor, the telegram. Eight weeks after the shift, it was ready to launch in the Apple App Store. What came next was a perfect storm of luck, timing, and old-fashioned networking that turned the pet-project of two engineers-turned-entrepreneurs with stars in their eyes into an #Insta-Classic.

(It was literally instant, too.)

As Systrom noted in his description of the company’s start, Instagram was immediately, and incredibly, popular; it soared to the #1 Free Photography App spot only hours after its launch. The unexpected and overwhelming response actually crashed their servers, and former Facebook CTO Adam D’Angelo walked the co-founders through getting back online in the middle of the night. Both the instant success and the friend-to-the-rescue were the result of face-to-face networking and the power of word-of-mouth.

The friends and investors that made it possible for Systrom and Kriegel to build and launch Instagram were the first beta testers, and they spread the word. The prototype for Burbn, and later Instagram, was first released privately, and those who used it wanted more. It was this demand and the endorsements that followed, along with some savvy business sense, that helped put Instagram on the social media map (and keep it there).

Fast-forward seven years: Instagram is everywhere.

Instagram has come a long way in the time since its 2010 Apple-only launch. Instagram is available on all major mobile and desktop operating systems, and, after a $1 billion cash-and-stock buyout in 2012, the app has been integrated into its now-parent platform, Facebook. Unofficial third-party services, as with many successful apps, abound.

Much like Twitter, the native features of Instagram, like hashtags and geolocation, and its huge user-base (a whopping 700 million monthly active users as of April 26, 2017) make it a marketer’s dream. Integrated business tools make it easier than ever to monetize posts and track engagement. Instagram has become an industry leader in its own right, spawning new occupations and propelling careers with the tap of a screen or the touch of a button.

With such a prolific reach, and such phenomenal success right out of the gate, the history of Instagram is a parable for small business owners to learn from. Flexibility, innovation, and networking are the key to building a billion-dollar company out of two friends, a little app, and a big dream. It pays to have an expert in your corner to help expect the unexpected, manage the workload, and get you back on track. That’s exactly why management firms like Little Egg Solutions exist; we help you become an #Insta-Classic, too!