Although social marketing is great for driving traffic to your events and building pre-event hype; it still needs to be handled with tact. So, when you jump on this bandwagon, it is important to come with the right mindset and expectations.
Often when planning events, I’d think of myself as an attendee and plan everything from that perspective. Having a mindset which is consistent with the audience is very important in social marketing. Having the wrong expectations can result in damages to your reputation as an organizer or event manager.
Social marketing requires strategic planning. Just like a chess game can be mastered, this too can be used in a way that can make your events a huge success every time. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll have to do things differently; you’ll just have to approach them differently – that’s all.
Always remember that the people you are marketing to are your “community”. They are a community of people supporting your services, attending your events and communicating directly with you. If you want more people to contact you for services, or manage their events, or attend the events you are managing, then it is important to build “initial trust” and “credibility” first.
Secondly, you need to be an active part of the community itself. Participate with the audience, ask them questions, discuss ideas, share thoughts, request feedback. This communication helps people in opening themselves up to you and become more inclined to use your services or attend your parties later on. Also, it is the best way to get a feel for audience expectations and early feedbacks of your events. Credibility comes from sharing insight, discussing thoughts and adding value to conversations. When people start to respect your opinion as a good one, they are more inclined to becoming your permanent customers.