Social media platforms are a marketing must – they’re THE way to promote events, generate buzz, interact with industry leaders and rally audiences. But they can be even more. 2023 heralds interesting developments on platforms we all know, and brand new practices we can take onboard to make it a year to remember. Follow these 5 easy trends to increase the impact of your posts.
Think “edutainment”
As the people at Sprout put it, “edutainment isn’t just for kids anymore.” An increasing number of brands will be communicating their message through the creation of thoughtful content that strikes a balance between lighthearted humour and seriously helpful tips for their industry. With the rise of short-form video, the stage is set for fun facts, tutorials and explainers to thrive on all social platforms.
Move away from crossposts
People scroll through different platforms for different reasons, and according to the pros at Hootsuite, audiences tend to overlap more than we think. “More than 84% of TikTok users are also on Facebook and almost 88% of Twitter users are also on Instagram,” they report. Repeating the exact same message from one platform to the other could do your event a disservice. The key is to tailor it slightly: short, newsy format on Twitter, longer white papers and speaker profiles on LinkedIn, humour on TikTok and aspirational imagery on Instagram.
Be real, but don’t BeReal
There’s always a next big platform in the ether, and 2022’s most notable one was BeReal – a platform that acts as a closed circuit and sidesteps engagement anxiety. That said, it’s not taking over yet, and has no relevance to events marketing. Despite the upheavals of Twitter and critiques of TikTok, the main platforms we all know and use remain the most effective. If a lesson can be learned, it’s that “what really matters is figuring out what authenticity looks like for your brand and leaning in,” say the analysts at Sprout.
Rethink familiar platforms
According to Adweek, views on YouTube Shorts have generated an average of 30B views per day, which shows how old platforms can still do new tricks. Similarly, the professionals at Later predict that LinkedIn personalities will become increasingly important, generating enviable organic engagement through the infusion of charisma and entertainment alongside their expertise in their respective fields. There’s even been an increase in LinkedIn “power users” hiring ghostwriters to keep the quality content coming. It’s worth considering when selecting spokespeople and conferenciers: how deep is their network?
Consider social commerce (again)
Social commerce seemed like the holy grail of online purchasing in late 2020, but then mounting economic worries and a few glitchy functions pushed it into a bit of a backseat. And yet, as reported by Sprout, people kept shopping: the end of 2022 saw a record-breaking Black Friday/Cyber Monday. People are not only still spending, more than ever they’re doing their purchasing research on social media as well. It’s worth exploring commercial features and activating them for your purposes. Event tickets, merch and subscriptions are all great candidates for social purchases.
Read this next: #EventProfs worth a follow on Twitter
