Social media and events, at their core, bring people together. When used properly, they should go hand-in-hand. Social media providers have recognized this and are increasingly becoming more event-centric in their product offerings. Here are a few new ways that this is happening:
Facebook:
Facebook, is the largest social media channel with 1.67 billion users (1 in 5 on this planet).
- It has long had an Events Page option for their Business Pages.
- Last year, for Facebook Business Pages, “Call to Action” buttons were added including a “Sign Up” button. Every event planner using an online registration form should consider including this “Sign Up” button on their FB Event page linking to their event registration page.
- In April 2016, Facebook partnered with Ticketmaster and Eventbrite allowing attendees to register directly on their Facebook pages. With an API (Application Program Interface), this should become more common with other online registration providers.
- In April 2016, Facebook added a video tab to their mobile apps bringing live steaming, Facebook Live, to events and groups in direct competition to Periscope (see below). It is possible to go live in Facebook Groups and Facebook Events. Interactivity is built in with Live Reactions for viewers to express their feelings. Reportedly 10 times more comments have been received on Facebook Live videos than on regular videos. Also, check out the Facebook Live Map on your desktop where people in more than 60 countries share real-time video.
Instagram:
Instagram, with 400 million users, is owned by Facebook. The inherently visual and mobile nature of this app has proven to be helpful and is increasingly used at events and exhibitions.
- Instagram has become a common component of social walls, event photo booths such as ChirpE and selfie mirrors. These tools can boost brands and greatly amply social media activity at events and tradeshows to a larger audience.
- Instagram uses Twitter hashtags and should be incorporated in all event-related postings.
- Both photos and videos (up to 15 seconds) can be posted about the events.
- In January 2016, Instagram started curating videos about live events. Although these have centered around large sporting events, it is an indication of the recognition of the importance of events.
Snapchat:
Snapchat, with 100 million daily active users, is much more than an app for teenagers to send disappearing chat messages. They have made a number of moves to make their app more event-centric.
- The Snapchat “Story” feature displays content for 24 hours and could be a natural for many events.
- Snapchat Experts can help plan a Snapchat event marketing campaign.
- Last year, the “Our Story” feature become available with direct applications for events. It allows multiple users to contribute to a public collection of photos and videos based around a specific geo-fenced area (the event location). These custom “Our Story” geofilters have been a significant success with users snapping events.
- Targeting the “ultimate event,” Snapchat will dedicate a live story channel for the 2016 Olympic Games.
Twitter/Periscope:
Twitter, with more than 332 million active users, provided the original social media back channel for events. Making its major debut at the 2007 SXSW conference, the twitter hashtag is now a central social media search phrase at many events, and is used across multiple social channels. As of May 2016, Twitter is No. 1 in the iTunes App Store emphasizing the importance of their mobile strategy (more than 88% of all tweets are mobile).
- Twitter acquired Periscope in January 2015. This live video streaming app was the Apple “App of the Year” for 2015 with over 10 million active users.
- Periscope is increasingly used at events for event marketing and for attendees to share their experiences (for up to 24 hours) with each other and to a larger audience.
- As Periscope is owned by Twitter, it is easy to promote these “scopes” using a Twitter profile and event hashtag. When you go live in Periscope, the Twitter bird can be selected so that your steam can be broadcast live into Twitter (in addition to the Periscope app).
- Also, although the Periscope streams are only viewable for 24 hours, there is an option to save a recording to your camera roll which then can be uploaded to Facebook or YouTube for longer lasting post-event promotion. Periscope is currently (May 2016) in beta testing to allow for saving the videos permanently within the Periscope app cloud.
These are some of the recent developments pointing to the significance of events in the social media realm. Many more are expected in the next few years as the power of social media at face-to-face events increasingly is recognized.
Corbin Ball, CMP, CSP, is a speaker and independent third-party consultant focusing on meetings technology. With 20 years of experience running international citywide technology meetings, he now helps clients worldwide use technology to save time and improve productivity He can be contacted at his extensive web site: Corbin Ball Associates – Meetings Technology Headquarters; and followed at: www.twitter.com/corbinball.
