This will be the final installment regarding our customer celebration. We hope you have been following all the behind-the-scenes posts about our creative invitations or custom event signage.
It is safe to say that everyone on this planet has some kind of relationship with social media. Whether your understanding of social media is “complicated” or you are “your engaged” in Snapchat or Vine. Our marketing team can help you understand any social media concern you might have. For those of you who are “dating” or “married” to social media, this blog will act more as a checklist than something truly groundbreaking.
Step 1: Create a Hashtag
The sooner you decide on a hashtag the better. People will be tweeting and posting about your event a lot so before you create a Facebook, LinkedIn or other event page, brainstorm a proper hashtag.
Tip: When creating a hashtag, choose something short and memorable. Use something that is preferably not already in use. This can be difficult but we are confident in your creative abilities.
Whether it is leading up to the event, during the event or a classic post-event tweet make sure you are getting the hashtag out there. No matter what they’re saying, it’s important for you to engage with those who post your hashtag and respond to their questions and comments. This will also help you keep track of the conversations people are having about your event.
Step 2: Inform and Engage
Now that your hashtag is created, let EVERYONE know what the hashtag is. If you can engage co-workers to post about the hashtag so that their followers (and potentially clients) see the hashtag…GREAT! Put it on the invitations, the website and especially signage at your event.
We created a few hashtags for our event because of the nature of our contest. This can be a great strategy if you want your customers to receive more than one message.
Step 3: Giveaways and Contests
Knowing what demographic your attendees find themselves in is crucial for this next part. (1) Some demographics and parties will not need a contest incentive for them to post a picture or a tweet. (2) What kind of prize or giveaway will intrigue your guests the quickest. At our customer celebration, we gave away 2 beach cruisers because of our California beach theme.
Our contest was clearly explained at the sign in table. For our guests to enter, they were invited to take a picture next to one our hashtag signs and post that picture to Twitter, Instagram and/or Facebook. We had four different hashtag signs scattered throughout the facility, almost like a scavenger hunt. If our guests posted all four hashtags to all three social media platforms, their name was entered a total of 12 times!
Step 4: Follow Up
Tweet, comment and/or favorite posts that used your hashtag. If you ran a contest, be sure to announce a winner between 24-48 hours after the event.
It’s always a good idea to follow up any event with a social media post. Show how grateful your company is for the guests who participated and for those who helped behind-the-scenes. Posting on your blog (like we do) is also a great way to recap all the fun things that happened.
Take the content and spread it as widely as possible. Your goal is to get the doubters that didn’t come this year to view that content and decide to go the next year.
If you need assistance at your next event or if you have any social media concerns, please feel free to contact us at (801) 224-8666.
