Social Media tools are great for building awareness of what you do, for reaching and connecting with new audiences, for building and maintaining your networks and for driving targeted traffic to your website. Social networks are communities of people that connect and communicate online based on something they have in common. It makes sense therefore that social media tools can help you to promote events such as seminars, networking opportunities, concerts and sales.
You can use social media to promote practically any event but doing so takes time and effort. Here are a few pointers to bear in mind that will increase the likelihood of your success in using these tools to sell out your event.
Target Your Audience
Don’t try to submit your event to each and every event site out there, instead choose sites that are targeted to attract the desired audience. For example, if your event is in Vancouver and use Vancouver events site. If your event is a social one then post it on a “social” network like Facebook but if it is aimed at professionals, then LinkedIn will be a good tool to reach your target audience. If your event is aimed at the tech community then check out Techvibes but if its music oriented then Oscillations might be a better choice. The point here is that like any other marketing or promotional effort, online events promotion should be very specifically targeted to your intended audience.
High Ranking Events Sites
Only list on events sites with a page rank of 4 or higher. The higher the ranking the better from a search engine optimization perspective and the more likely your audience will be to actually find your event. A great multi purpose events site is with a high ranking is MeetUp - with a page rank of 7. It is better to submit to a few sites that get tonnes of traffic than to submit to lots of sites that hardly get any visitors.
Submit Events Consistently
If you start using social media to promote events then you should be prepared to do so consistently. Choose 5 -10 highly targeted events sites with a high page rank and submit all of your events to these sites and do so regularly. You will begin to build a following in these forums and the last thing you want to do is to annoy them with intermittent and inconsistent listings.
Events promotion lends itself well to social media because the inherent nature of an event is social. If you follow the 3 tips above, not only will you drive more awareness of your events but you will also be able to tap into the nature of social communities. If people enjoy your events they will be more likely to suggest them to others in their online communities and so the buzz will build.
Last week I discussed “Building Trust in the Digital World” with guests and members of SMEI. Attached, incase you missed the event, is a video clip of my presentation (thanks to SMEI for that!) along with accompanying slides.
The Olympics are in town and this city is all a buzz. Following my post last week about how the Olympics use social media, I thought it would be great to follow up on that and take a look at how athletes are using these tools.
According to a Wired Magazine blog post, there is some confusion among athletes as to whether or not they are actually allowed to post during the games. Here’s an excerpt from the article:
But there is no Olympic rule that sets up a blackout period for athletes according to Bob Condron, the Director of Media Services for the United States Olympic Committee.
“Athletes are free to blog during the Games,” says Condron. “And Twitter is just a blog that’s written 140 characters at a time.”
There are some restrictions on what athletes can do online during the Olympics. According to the IOC Blogging Guidelines for the 2010 Games, athletes and other accredited people must keep their posts confined to their personal experiences.
Despite this confusion many athletes are using social media right now. Lets look at which social media tools they are using, how they are using them as well as how you can find, follow and lend your support.
Twitter
Lots of athletes are using Twitter to share their Olympic experiences. One of the best ways to find them is to follow Olympic lists like these ones.
Athletes are using Twitter in different ways. Some are simply sharing their experiences in getting to BC and settling in to their new diggs at this point. Many are posting their experiences in their final practices leading up to their events and all are building their fan base. By finding and following our athletes on Twitter we have the chance to share in their Olympic experiences first hand as well as to give them our support.
Many national teams have dedicated Twitter feeds too, to keep fans updated:
Whilst Twitter gives athletes a quick and easy way to communicate with fans, many also have fan pages on Facebook to build awareness of their endeavors, to post video content and share their Olympic aspirations. Canadian gold medal contender in figure skating, Patrick Chan’s page links to video clips, fan photos and updates about the skater.
One of the best ways to find and follow athletes on Facebook is through the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Page. Theyrecently asked the question “Hey any Olympic athletes out there? What is your Facebook page?”, here is the response. Another way is to find the national team pages and check out who they are fans of – athletes are usually listed. Here are a few – to find the rest search Facebook for “Olympic Team”.
How these athletes find time to train and blog is beyond me – I guess that is why they are Olympians and I am not! Here are links to athletes using these forums too:
Dustin Cook – Official blog of the Canadian Alpine Ski Team Member
Good luck to all athletes competing at the games – thanks for keeping us posted on social media. Welcome to BC and enjoy your time here: may it be golden!
I am excited about Entrepreneurial Woman an online magazine for and about women entrepreneurs in Canada. It launched this week and already contains a wealth of information aimed squarely at aiding and inspiring women entrepreneurs.
Cathy Waters, co-owner of Entrepreneurial Woman, explains that the goal of the magazine is to help women at all stages of their entrepreneurial journey, whether they thinking about starting a business or are already running one, or are retiring from a career job and are ready to transition into self-employment.
“The magazine provides thought-provoking articles on branding and marketing, customer retention, how-to basics, style tips for todays business woman, creating life/work balance, and more.”
Each month, they will feature successful entrepreneurs with inspirational stories. This month Catherine M Ann is featured in From Homeless to Millionnaire: a really heart warming article about how, against all odds, she built her company, Consumer Connection Inc., starting out with, literally, nothing.
Our motto is “inspiring successâ€, says Waters and this article certainly attains to that.
Today is blog action day and all around the world bloggers are coming together to raise awareness about an important issue. This year’s issue is climate change and we are taking part.
There’s no escaping the fact that we take our world for granted. You just have to look around you to see examples of our complacency when it comes to the world we live in. We drive every where, we leave lights on, we love the convenience of plastic and we do these things without giving a thought to their impact on the environment. Worse, many of us think that as individuals or organizations any small changes we do make will have little or no impact. What a cop out. We should be ashamed of ourselves.
There’s a saying that a little something is worth more than a lot of nothing. Lets stop making excuses and start doing something to make a difference. The sooner we do this the better.
Purchase energy-saving models of office appliances and equipment, such as EnergyStar-approved computers, LCD monitors, printers and photocopiers. Not only will this help save energy, but it will save money too.
Design for lighting intensity of 1.0 watts per square foot or less. Over-lighting wastes energy and produces glare.
Install lighting controls to turn lights on only when needed and to provide the required amount of light.
Encourage staff to commit to taking alternative modes of transportation for their daily commute at least once a month. This can include options such as car-pooling, cycling, taking public transit or walking where possible. Visit Go Green to help your company reduce vehicle trips to the workplace.
Reduce your staff’s environmental impacts from air travel by using video-conferences for meetings.
Create a recycling program and decrease paper use.
If you have a fleet of vehicles, try to use the most energy-efficient models possible.
Energy-efficiency upgrades and retrofits to office buildings can have long-term paybacks.
Blog Action Day is an annual event that unites the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day on their own blogs with the aim of sparking discussion around an issue of global importance. Blog Action Day 2009 will be the largest-ever social change event on the web. One day. One issue. Thousands of voices. Will you blog for climate change on October 15th?
In the last post I talked about how to stay safe on Twitter in the face of the wave of spammy, scammy users out there who are looking to sell, or worse, to harm you online and whilst there does seem to be more people using these technologies for malicious reasons, there is also a growing trend in the opposite direction. In fact I think more people online want to do good that otherwise.
Today I want to talk about the groundswell of philanthropic people using social media. Social media, by its very nature facilitates social action because it allows people in distinct communities all over the world to connect, to join forces to do good and to have an impact.
Here are some great examples of new media being used to make the world a better place:
Kiva – this online systems connects people who want to donate with entreprenuers in the developing world who need a leg up.
Social media is quickly becoming the go to communication channel in the face of adversity. Witness the wildfires raging in BC this week and the use of Twitter to communicate updates.
Another example of Twitter being put to good use was the Twestival earlier this year which used Twitter to bring people from all over the world together to raise money for Charity:Water and to spread awareness of the world water crisis. Twestival is organising another event on Sept 12th.
Blogathons – a bloggathon is a fundrasing event where bloggers post regularly (usually every half hour over a 24 hour period) with the goal of raising awareness and donations for a specified cause. This weekend local blogger Miss604 will be hosting Blogathon Vancouver the local Blogathon contingent along with other prominent local bloggers like Hummingbird604.
Join a campaign. This summer Mashable is organising the Summer of Social Good aimed at using Facebook, Twitter, MySpace etc to raise money for charity.
Looking to volunteer in your community – then try searching a local sites like Volunteer Canada or All for Good that connect volunteers with opportunities.
Got too much stuff already? Get the gift you want and contribute to a good cause simultaneously. Dreambank lets you do this.
Technology is making it easier for people to connect with those interested in similar causes and together they can have more impact than they would individually. Thanks to social media doing your good deed a day just got easier. What good have you done today? Share your stories here please.
Next week I have the honor of being part of the Red Bench Teleseminar where I will be talking on Thursday about the importance of blogging for business. I thought therefore that this would be a great opportunity to highlight why blogging is, in my opinion, still the best tool in your social mediua marketing arsenal.
Blogging is the top social media marketing tool when it comes to reaching your audience online. Granted, Twitter is a close second but blogging remains top for many reasons. Here are just some of them:
1. Blogging can kill several birds with one stone. For example you can build your brand, establish your expertise but it has the added benefit of making it easy to update your website regularly and keep those search engines happy.
2. You can say much more with a blog than you can for example with Twitter or on Facebook. You aren’t limited in anyway and you can use the forum to get really creative (if you so wish) and showcase your brand more effectively.
3. Blogs are really versatile, they can be used internally (for HR purposes, to communicate corporate messages and to build rapport), and they can be used to reach an external audience (new customers, partner relations and investors).
4. Blogs give you more control. Many companies are wary of using social media because of the perceived risk of negativity. With a blog you have more control over that. You can choose to block certain comments or even better address them directly for all to see.
5. You can make money by blogging. Look at recent Third Tuesday presenter John Chow as an example. If you so chose you can easily monetize your blog by adding sponsor ads but remember to consider your brand and visitor loyalty before you do.
I am not saying that your shouldn’t use other social media or online tools, just that blogging tends to give you the bext bang for your buck.
The Red Bench Telesummit takes place next week on Wednesday and Thursday and covers everything you need to know to hit the ground running with your on-line marketing. Guest speakers include Dan McComb – co-founder of Biznik, Nancy Marmolejo – social networker extraordinaire, Dan Hollings – super strategist, LinkedIn expert Chip Lambert, Gillian Muessig - SEO Expert from SEO Moz, Rich Brooks web design and Internet strategist and Shama Hyder Facebook evangelist.
Have you ever had a marketing, branding or web strategy question but were afraid to ask? Well be hosting our next “Ask the Experts†panel on June 3rd at the YWCA on Beatty Street, where you can come along and ask anything you want – yes absolutely anything!
* Liz Gaige from Market Navigators will address marketing inquiries
* Christine Rondeau from Bluelime Media will be discussing web design and development
* Ryan Thompson from Twin Fish Creative will provide answers about branding
* Ill be on-hand to speak about social networking and social media marketing.
These panels are casual and informal. Simply register, show up and join the conversation. Organized as round-tables, we like to keep these small, so that you have the chance to ask your questions and hear what others have to say. These are ideal for budding entrepreneurs, individuals wanting to launch themselves in a new venture or existing companies who may be stuck and not sure where to go next.
We are currently holding a 2-for-1 promo, so bring a friend or colleague along. Hope to see you there.
Its been another trying day for Google users with slow gmail connections, problems with searches, analytics and lots of #googlefail posts on Twitter.
For the second time this year the Internet dominater has frustrated its users. In February Google was panned because Gmail failed for several hours leaving users stranded with no way to access email. At the time the company said it was because of an error at one of its European server centres.
Out-Smarts is a virtual company, we rely on online tools and services like Google to run our business. When Gmail goes down our productivity is effected and we are just one example. How many other companies worldwide are affected in this way and how much does this down time costs? Lots of dosh I would sat.
This time, Google says it was a traffic routing error. Here is the response taken directly from their blog:
Imagine if you were trying to fly from New York to San Francisco, but your plane was routed through an airport in Asia. And a bunch of other planes were sent that way too, so your flight was backed up and your journey took much longer than expected. That’s basically what happened to some of our users today for about an hour, starting at 7:48 am Pacific time.
An error in one of our systems caused us to direct some of our web traffic through Asia, which created a traffic jam. As a result, about 14% of our users experienced slow services or even interruptions. We’ve been working hard to make our services ultrafast and “always on,” so it’s especially embarrassing when a glitch like this one happens. We’re very sorry that it happened, and you can be sure that we’ll be working even harder to make sure that a similar problem won’t happen again. All planes are back on schedule now.
Posted by Urs Hoelzle, SVP, Operations
I can only say that if I was flying from New York to San Fran and the flight I was on ended up routing through Hong Kong, I would wonder what kind of crazy, screwed up airline I was flying with and I would choose never to fly with them again. With Google I don’t really have that choice. What’s more, at least when my airline makes a mistake they usually (not always but usually) offer some kind of compensation. Google only offers a rather pathetic analogy. Thanks Google.
Apparently all is hunky dory again and its business as usual with Google search now. Which is just as well because the Google cam is in the area and I want to check out the new view.
