Anyone who doesn’t see social media as the future of marketing needs to wake up and jump on the social media bandwagon before it speeds off. Many laugh at the phrase “Facebook official,” but in reality we’re all becoming more and more engaged in popular social media sites, whether we admit it or not. From a marketer’s perspective, sites such as Facebook or Twitter are now an essential key to finding success for one’s clients. Back in the olden days - like 10 years ago - if someone were trying to market an event, they would solely rely on using direct mail flyers, posters, cold-calling and many other classic promotion techniques in hopes of generating a successful turnout. According to a recent SocialMedia Examiner report, 90% of marketers identify social media as an important part of their business, while 58% of them use social media six or more hours each week. In my opinion and the opinion of many others, Generation Y is spearheading the advancement of futuristic marketing with social media platforms as their weapon of choice.
From my experience working in the nightlife and event marketing industry, I could easily say social media promotion is the most essential and effective way of getting people to events. The rationale of this is simple - EVERYONE is on Facebook! The rapid advancement in wireless technology has made it easy for people to access their favorite social media sites at anytime from anywhere. In my three years of working in this industry, every event or company announcement was always sent through Facebook or Twitter. The results speak for themselves; the nightlife companies with the most social media followers were always the ones who had the most successful turnouts. As Cameron Fulks, the CEO of Edge Entertainment, Event and Nightlife Marketing would always say, “Promoting an event without the use of Facebook would be as effective as fishing without bait.”
My first internship made me realize social media was the true future of event, product and business marketing. Before that, I only appreciated it as a way to connect with my friends and family, and to create nightlife events. For many of the clients I worked with while interning, I was required to assist in developing their social media presence. One of the most successful was for Rider’s by Lee Jean Company. The thing that made their brand presence effective was our ability to develop interactive messages that appealed to the specific demographic they were targeting. Our posts would usually include a link, picture, or a piece of advice along with the message. We would respond to group followers, which was an effective way of personalizing and reinforcing our relationship with them.
Social media platforms can be a glorious marketing tool, however there is always a word that should be kept in mind – overkill. Like anything in this world, too much of one thing can be harmful. Constantly flooding people’s inboxes with messages and unimportant announcements will inevitably turn them away. The one concept I always kept in mind while developing social media strategies is this – keep it simple, make it appealing and get right to the point without being too pushy. It’s the same concept as spam mail and the last thing a company wants is to be considered a pest.
My closing remarks and advice to any marketers out there is simple. If you haven’t already familiarized yourself with all of the trendy social media sites, do it immediately. Failure to grasp this advice may very well result in ineffective marketing and the potential loss of an important client!