social media 101-association of connecticut fairs
DESCRIPTION
Cassie Roberts' presentation at the ACF Convention.TRANSCRIPT
SOCIAL NETWORKING 101
CASSIE ROBERTS
SIT BACK AND RELAX.
Give me your business card at the end of the presentation, and I’ll send you
my slides.
MARKETING YOUR EVENT
What do you spend the most money on? How does it work for you?
Is it getting you the best results?
Is it helping you to grow?
PRESENTER
Cassie RobertsManager, Sales & Partnership
• Received BS Public Relations, & Masters Sport Management, The University of Texas
• Born in Central City, NE
• United States Olympic Committee
• Rodeo Austin
BEFORE WE START
SOCIAL MEDIA
WHO’D RATHER STAY AT THE FARM?
DON’T WORRY!
Simple Agenda• Creating posts for social media• Where to put those posts and how
to post them• Incorporating those posts with your
website• Other specific ideas to make the
most of your social media presence
TO CLARIFY
Social media and social networking are not synonyms.Social media are the OUTLETS like Facebook, Twitter, etc.• Use social media outlets to create your
social network.
The social NETWORK is what you create to bring value to your event.
CREATING POSTS
WHAT WILL YOU SAY?
1. determine your target audiences
WHAT WILL YOU SAY?
2. get your team together -make sure to include all audiences
WHAT WILL YOU SAY?
3. brainstorm all the reasons people come to your event
WHAT WILL YOU SAY?
4. come up with topics for all these reasons
WHAT WILL YOU SAY?
Two things to tell people:1. What we want them to
hear2. What people want to hear
CONSIDER THE “RULE OF THIRDS”
1/3 about yourself and your brand
1/3 about things people might be interested in that aren’t self-promotional
1/3 interact with people
CREATE AN EDITORIAL CALENDAR
OVER 1 billion monthly active usersOne in every seven humans on earth is an active Facebook userThe most important way to spend your social networking energyFacebook trends to know• People use it on mobile• People use it for photo sharing
FACEBOOK COVER PHOTO
Be creative! Use this space to make big announcements, i.e. event dates and upcoming performers.
Change it daily during your event to highlight the day’s activities.
You can’t put links on your cover photo.
FACEBOOK PROFILE PICTURE
Don’t forget the profile picture! It will appear “solo” throughout Facebook;
it needs to be able to stand alone and represent your brand.
COOL FACEBOOK COVERS/PROFILES
COOL FACEBOOK COVERS/PROFILES
COOL FACEBOOK COVER PHOTOS
POLL
How many of you have a Twitter account for your event?
How many of you have a personal Twitter account?
Your 2nd priority for social media530 million accounts340 million tweets a day1 million accounts added to Twitter every day
WHY TWEET?
Twitter is current on up-to-the minute important news and cultural happenings.
Ramp up your publishing frequency, and make timely content the focus of your Twitter activities in order to satisfy information-hungry users.
STEP 1: SET UP TWITTER
No more than 15 characters in UsernameExample: Amador County Fair
• Too many characters: @AmadorCountyFair• Use: @AmadorFair• Use your real business name so search engines &
customers can find you
SAFFIRE RECOMMENDATIONInclude your state in your username if you need to
differentiate yourself!
SET UP PERSONAL ACCOUNT TOO
It’s a good place to “practice”But be careful!• KitchenAid debate disaster
Follow different people on personal vs. business, so it’s obvious what account
WHO TO FOLLOW IN SET UP
When you set up your account, just follow the minimum - Industry associations & businesses• IAFE @IAFE• IFEA @IFEAworld• State/regional organization• Saffire Events @SaffireEvents
STEP 2: CUSTOMIZE YOUR PAGE
Edit Profile• Add a photo (logo)
o Get 10x more followers
• Add a bio (mission – make it fun)o Get 8x more followers
Customize your design• Use your website background
NEW! ADD A HEADER
Make a file that is1200 x 600It will be a background behind:• Twitter name• Bio• Location• URLJust another way to convey your brandUpload it to Profile/Design
Amador header
STEP 3: DO A FEW RETWEETS
Retweet people you follow• Look through your timeline• At first, this is just to get your feet wet• Give people a taste of what’s to come
STEP 4: FOLLOW SOME PEOPLE
Events similar to yoursBig eventsPeople involved in your eventLocal businessesJust for fun
SAFFIRE RECOMMENDATIONDon’t follow too many until you have tweeted
and have a branded page!
PEOPLE INVOLVED IN YOUR EVENT
SponsorsVendorsEntertainersVolunteersExhibitorsBoard members
SAFFIRE RECOMMENDATIONFollow people on a Tuesday morning; there may be
better chance they’ll follow you back.
LOCAL BUSINESSES
Local businesses• Amador (county)• Plymouth (city)
Local press
SAFFIRE RECOMMENDATIONPilfer from those we are following & our followers!
STEP 5: WRITE SOME TWEETS
It’s a chicken and the egg: people don’t follow people without tweets, but you’ll get better bang for buck once you have more followers
Tweet what you think will be helpful to your target audience• Don’t be too self-serving
WHAT TO POST
Website changes/blog posts/email articlesTestimonialsPhotos/Videos“Insider info”News of weird/human interest storiesContestsQuestions
TRICKS & TIPS FOR TWEETS
For the highest click-through rates:
Tweet between 120-130 characters.
Write tweets containing “via,” “RT,” “please” and “check.”
Post weird/human interest stories.
Tweet on the weekends.
SAFFIRE RECOMMENDATIONUse: www.bufferapp.com or www.hootsuite.com to
schedule social media in advance.
EVEN WHEN YOU’RE MOBILE
MANAGING YOUR ACCOUNTS
BUFFER APP
TAKE IT A STEP FURTHER
what is the fastest growing website of all time?
Pinterest was the first site to get 10 million unique visitors in a month.
Pin event photos (and more) and invite your customers to follow your boards!
Not your highest priority, but do it! It’s fun!
50% of all web content is…
YOUTUBE
Customers exposed to videos are 437% more likely to engage in your brand.
• Engagement = Purchases
SAFFIRE RECOMMENDATIONMake your videos raw and not too produced to
help customers identify with your brand.
YOUTUBE
3rd in your social media priorities4 billion videos/day viewed800 million unique users visit YouTube each month44% of YouTube’s users are aged between 12 and 34
Mainly for mobileKnown for image “doctoring”Trends younger
MAXIMIZING SOCIAL MEDIA ON YOUR WEBSITE
MAXIMIZE SOCIAL MEDIA
Facebook or Tweet your ENTIRE EVENT
MAXIMIZE SOCIAL MEDIA
Facebook or Tweet an EVENT FEATURE
MAXIMIZE SOCIAL MEDIA
Facebook or Tweet a PHOTO of an event feature
SPECIFIC SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING IDEAS
DEEP THOUGHT…
Ask questions that get people to talk about themselves in relation to
your event
GRAB THEIR ATTENTION
• Consider funny – tweets from mascot, etc.
• Personal/human interest stories get a lot of hits
• Posts with photos get more views!
Think about what YOUR AUDIENCE
would want to click!
MAKE PEOPLE FEEL LIKE INSIDERS
• Be the first to know about X via social media!
• See behind-the-scenes looks at our event!
Your customers feel special, and they are more likely to be long-
term followers.
MULTIMEDIA
• Photo contests on website and Facebook
• Caption that photo
• Funny video upload
Photos and video are naturally VIRAL and give you more event
photos!
GET PEOPLE TALKING
Show live tweets on concert side screens
Have a vote or quiz• Answer on text, app, QR code, etc.
CONTESTS WITH PUBLICITY BONUS
Have a contest for front row concert seats• Text, tweet or post on FB page NOW =
publicity
Do giveaways with charitable tie-in
Allow groups to get $ for their orgs for advance sales; host trip for winners
Take pictures of the crowd at concerts, post them and encourage them to tag themselves
Your photo appears in their Facebook feed!
TAGGING IN FACEBOOK
• Create an editorial calendar• Get your website up to snuff• In this order, focus on this social media
• Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest/Instagram
TO REVIEW
BULLS EYE
Leave us your business card, and we’ll send:
• These slides
• The Editorial Calendar template
• A free subscription to The Dirt
• Follow us on Facebook (SaffireEvent) and Twitter (@saffireevents)
• Ongoing webinars