By: Shelly Joines
Earlier this year I was planning a wedding and wrote on how similar it can be to your next large meeting in terms of branding and marketing through social media. This blog shares those previous tips of unique and consistent ways to get started if you’re feeling under creative and overwhelmed.
But now that I have that massive event under my belt, I’m on the other side of the tunnel and looking back it doesn’t seem so hard. In fact, I’ve learned about several other ways to incorporate social media and how to keep guests connected during the event! As always, I’m sharing low cost solutions with non-profits in mind.
Currently images are consumed by the billions on sites like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat. So why aren’t you using that to your advantage? Creating content that works in tandem with what viewers are looking for on these sites will help you better connect with them during conference season or for the new member event or training. You want to show viewers, attendees and future attendees why your event is different and worth going to!
“Shake it like a Polaroid Picture”
Guests may feel awkward lining up for a group photo during a reception, but give them some sort of photo booth experience and more than likely they’re going to get excited to step in. Posing with a prop gives them something to relax with. Work with your graphic designer (to print) or purchase a premade Instagram frame online to make sharing more fun.
(Thank you to Moore Communications Group for sharing their Instagram filter with us.)
What to include:
-Your organizations Instagram name (time to create one if you didn’t already)
-A unique and inspiring caption for the photo.
-Additional hashtags you want others to use.
Snap-Happy
While Snapchat may be viewed as a younger generation’s tool, that group is your future members and board leaders. But don’t write it off for your more experienced work force- you’ll be surprised who uses it to communicate with their families. Speak their language and engage with them now!
Did you know that for free or a small fee you can create a Snapchat Geo Filter for your location? A Geofilter is a filter/border to add to your image or “snap” based on your location. Users can swipe left or right after taking a photo to reveal more designs. To learn more on the specifics of setting it up- I’d recommend you read this Snapchat Geofilter article. The idea is that your graphic designer or talented staff member can create this design (or purchase one from a site like Etsy.com) and post it within a specific geographic location. For our pending design, we used www.picmonkey.com.
There are free and paid options and as you would guess, the paid options are more target based (priced by area covered and dates). Anyone attending your event in that spot and is sending snaps to their friends can find your filter and share with their friends- using the logo you designed and approved. You could go a step farther and design one for your general event, one for your themed reception and another for an awards gala if you wanted. The opportunities are as endless as your creativity!
*As always, market these options whenever possible! Encourage your board members and top social supporters to use these tools and show others how to use it.
Surviving conference season can leave you creatively drained and fried with no inspiration to prepare for the next one. But with today’s tips and the ones from my previous blog post you are already set up with inexpensive solutions for getting and keeping your guests engaged and part of the social dialogue about your organization.
