Friday, April 19, 2024
Social media changes rapidly—and what worked last year might not work in 2024. (Just look at X's, or Twitter's,
dramatic revenue loss after many major platforms have stopped posting or advertising on the platform.) So what
does work on social media right now, particularly for event professionals?
“We don’t just want our audience to understand what we do—we want them to know who we are,” says
Zoe Haynes, the sales and marketing coordinator for
PlatinumXP who oversees the event planning agency's digital marketing. “Social media has evolved into a space for cultivating relationships and building trust. We utilize various platforms to tell stories—the story of an event transformation, behind the scenes with our production crew, or maybe even some fun office shenanigans with our CEO."
Haynes' focus on maintaining a consistent, authentic brand presence was a common theme among event professionals we spoke to about how they're using social media right now. It's all about "fostering an ongoing connection with our followers," agrees
Elias Contessotto, social media manager for event production company
15|40.
But remember: Not every platform is created equal. Contessotto stresses the importance of tailoring your approach with each platform—but also not being afraid to experiment a bit to ensure you're staying ahead of trends and maximizing audience engagement. “By creatively testing new tactics, we gauge audience response and efficacy, gradually integrating successful approaches into our channels," he explains. "This iterative process empowers us to refine our content strategy continuously, adapting to evolving trends and audience preferences.”
In short, “It’s all about meeting your audience where they’re at,” says
Taylor Elliot, vice president of marketing and brand strategy for
Shepard Exposition Services. “Social media is such a great tool to amplify your brand voice. I always say as marketers we need to create a system that works for our brand even when we are sleeping, and social media is one of the tools to help achieve this.”
LINKEDIN & INSTAGRAM
From our conversations, LinkedIn and Instagram quickly emerged as the two top platforms in the event industry. “Instagram is our go-to for showcasing stunning event photos—however, LinkedIn holds equal if not greater importance in our strategy,” explains Haynes. “While Instagram captures attention with its visual allure, LinkedIn allows us to dive deeper into industry conversations and build relationships with our peers.”
Contessotto likes to target a B2B audience with 15|40’s LinkedIn presence, posting content that focuses on industry insights, professional networking, and collaborations with studios. “We often share static posts similar to those on Instagram, tagging relevant studios to expand our reach,” he says, noting that LinkedIn posts are often reshared by team leaders and executives. “LinkedIn [also] serves as a prime platform for spotlighting press coverage, award nominations, and industry highlights.”On Instagram, meanwhile, Contessotto expands 15|40's content to cater to both B2B and B2C audiences. “We share visually engaging posts that highlight our expertise, industry leadership, and collaborations, appealing to a wider range of followers,” he says. “Instagram will have ‘POV’ content, which is much more personal and requires less high-quality tools to tell our story. I came to 15|40 from an influencer background, and from experience, I notice that more amateur content does better on that platform, like using an iPhone for reels rather than a DSLR camera.”
Heather Rouffe, director of sales at
Atlas Event Rental, also appreciates the more personal touch that can come with Instagram. “Through that platform, we strive to educate the industry, create brand awareness, and most importantly to us, show the personal side to our company, brand, and rentals,” she explains. “With so much of the human side of things lost in a digital age, being personable and showing the people behind the brand is very important to us. We find the clients really appreciate the behind-the-scenes content and becoming familiar with the Atlas crew.”
On the flip side, though, that doesn’t mean LinkedIn can't get a little personal.
Al Mercuro, senior account director at trade show display company
Genesis Exhibits, prioritizes LinkedIn due to the connections he’s been able to make with marketing directors and event directors at companies he’d like to do business with.
“I try to not promote my company as much as my brand by sharing information that will help them in their jobs—I find I get many referrals this way,” Mercuro notes. “I believe it is also a living resume; before I meet with someone, they will often check out my LinkedIn page to learn more about me. The more you can build up your profile and the number of connections you have adds to your value and makes it attractive to have them want to work with you.”
Jonathan Kazarian, the founder and CEO of
Accelevents, also uses LinkedIn to build up his personal thought leadership—and therefore, build awareness of his event management software company. “Ninety-nine percent of what I share on LinkedIn is professional,” he says. “I'll share something about my personal life to build connection, but that's not my focus with LinkedIn.”
FACEBOOK, TWITTER (X), TIKTOK, & MORE
In a sign of changing times, most of the event professionals we spoke with are not investing much in Facebook or Twitter (now known as X)—though many are still updating them.
“We push out all of our Instagram content to our Facebook, to ensure our followers and intended audiences on both platforms are receiving similar content,” says Contessotto. “We also maintain our Twitter, or X, channel to share some of our event photos, as well as retweet content that clients we work with post that are captured at our events."Mercuro finds that Facebook is still an effective way to reach older generations—but for younger generations, he’s found some success marketing events on TikTok. “I am a board member of a nonprofit concert venue, and we needed to attract a younger audience,” he remembers. “I suggested we work with a local university and their marketing classes to take on a project like our organization to give them real-life experience. They chose to use TikTok to reach the younger demographics in our area, and it has been extremely successful.”Contessotto agrees that TikTok is naturally very Gen Z-oriented, so content should be tailored accordingly. “We’ve noticed that we typically receive high engagement when our content is celebrity-focused,” he says. “Our team is constantly working to balance out our TikTok pages to include viral content, as well as videos that highlight our diverse portfolio of work to attract the right kind of audience.”Haynes says she’s still exploring TikTok’s potential for Platinum XP. “I've noticed its popularity as a discovery platform,” she says. “It's a great tool for driving awareness, but we should also consider whether our target audience is active on TikTok.” One tool that Haynes does invest time in? Pinterest. “It’s a powerful tool for SEO purposes. Its visual nature allows us to drive awareness to our website through captivating photos. By sparking curiosity, we encourage users to click through and explore further.”