When do you think most event attendees might tweet, snap, or post to Facebook?
Probably during the event, right?
Well, they certainly do that. But almost equal numbers of attendees and wishful attendees talk about the event in the days and weeks prior.
According to our data,there were nearly as many posts leading up to an event as there were during the event itself (40% and 42% of total posts, respectively).This makes the buildup to an event a prime time to engage both potential attendees and those who’ve registered.
To engage well, here are some tips from the ways that top brands have handled this pre-event social media marketing and and how you can apply the findings to your event’s social media strategy:
1. Reveal speaker lineups or special guests in a creative way
Anticipation and excitement accounted for 14 percent of the total posts shared on social media about events. This was the largest single percentage among any type of pre-event tweet or post.
Event-goers posted countdowns until the big day, or posted on weekdays anxiously looking forward to the event as part of their weekend plans.
T – 3 days until Bay Area Brew Fest!
How to build the buzz: Share creative reveals of lineups or special guests, or use teaser videos and images to increase excitement. For instance, you can post your own countdowns to the event — bonus points if you use beautiful images to motivate sharing.
2. Post often about early bird deadlines and registration windows
Nearly one out of 10 social media posts about an event has to do with ticket sales: Once they’ve committed, event-goers want to convince their friends to join them at the event and a popular way to do this is by sharing their tickets across social media.
Here’s an example of a ticket tweet, shared by a future event attendee:
How to build the buzz:You can help motivate these potential attendees by using urgency to drive ticket purchases, posting whenever early bird ticket sales or registrations are about to end.
3. Perform giveaways for those with FOMO
Fans who aren’t sure if they can attend the event in person have serious FOMO (fear of missing out).
Living through your tweets tonight about the show!!! Take pics and videos so I feel like I’m there!
How to build the buzz: Calm their fear by creating new opportunities for them to attend the event. Offer discount codes to followers on social media, or create social contests for tickets or travel stipends. You could go above and beyond with a VIP access giveaway. Make sharing your post a qualification for these giveaways to really expand your reach.
4. Share behind-the-scenes pics away before the event starts
Behind-the-scenes pics are great to see what happens behind the stage. They’re also key for seeing what happens before the stage is even built!
Share these behind-the-scenes pics and stories well before the event begins is a great way to boost conversation and engagement. From our study, we saw brands and attendees doing some cool things: marathon runners sharing their training schedule, music festival fans posting their outfit choices, and travelers sharing their trip itinerary for destination events.
How to build the buzz: While they’re sharing their preparation, you can do the same. Make fans feel like insiders with behind-the-scenes glances at the event production. These brief glimpses can help make a personal connection with possible attendees.
By producing the type of content that event enthusiasts are already posting, you can join and help shape the online conversation. Be sure to retweet posts from excited attendees as well— their posts are free marketing to potential attendees.