Social Media, Your Event Marketing, and "Insider Info" . . .
During a recent coaching call someone asked, "Can I use social media sites to broadcast Insider Information regarding my event?" The simple answer is, "Yeah, absolutely!" But, the more important question is, "Do you want to?" Consider the following . . .
Insider Info, Social Media, and Email Marketing
To me "Insider Information" is exactly as it reads "Insider" - hence it should be kept confidential. Better yet, think of "Insider Info" as a secret. As you know, most people want to know a secret. You can use that "Wanna Know a Secret?" frame to your advantage . . . especially when it comes to list building.
If you were to broadcast "Insider Info" on your Facebook, Tumblr, or Twitter accounts - is the info really privileged anymore? Personally I don't think so. Because emails are a one-on-one communication form, things are inherently confidential.
Tempting your web site visitors with the ability to become an "Insider" is a great way to drive email sign-ups and build your list. There is no doubt that social media is a very important tool for promoting and marketing your event. In my humble opinion, email marketing is one of the BEST forms of sending out insider (sensitive) information regarding your event. List marketing (done correctly) is also an amazing way of generating advance ticket sales for your event.
"Insider Info" example . . .
In the air show world - people REALLY want a schedule of acts (who's flying & when). A schedule of acts is easy to classify as, insider information. Many air show web sites publicly publish the performer schedule. Yet, if they were to withhold the information from being published publicly, it could be considered "Insider Info." Each market place is a little different. The big question to ask, as it relates to your event, is . . . "Is there a juicy piece of information that my target market is dying to know?" That's your Insider information.
One Important Note
Please remember this - If you are sending "Insider Info" to your list - there is nothing stopping a subscriber from posting that information online. A few months ago a client sent a discount coupon code out to their subscriber list of over 8000 people. One person (there's always a troublemaker) decided to post that discount code on a large coupon site. As a result, thousands of people who weren't "Insiders" were able to see and use the discount code. Awesome, right? Not really . . . People who were Insiders didn't have a fair shot at the limited number of discount tickets, which eventually SOLD OUT. Hence, some of the Insiders felt scammed by one of their own. Always consider that your Insider Info could make it to the masses.
SMS (Text) Messaging
Another technology, aside from email, you might want to consider is SMS (text) messaging. Because the information is delivered directly to the subscriber it can be considered privileged - hence "Insider." Right now, aside from the 160 character limit, the biggest limitation to SMS messaging is the cost. Event at $0.02 per message, things can get expensive if you have a large list or send out multiple messages.
When it comes to using "Insider Info" to help market your event the information above should server as a good start.
Additional Resources:
- Event Marketing: Start Building Your List Early
- Automatically Generate Leads for Your Event Year Round
- Keeping Your Event List Engaged
- Don't Neglect Your Email List
- Event Marketing: Multiple Ways to Engage Your List
- Simple Customer List Building Suggestions
- Start Building Your List Early
Patricia,
Thanks for the comment.
Yes, you can definitely use social media to build your list.
The teaser idea is an excellent one!
Posted by: Eugene Loj | 10/23/2010 at 14:11
But a person could use social media to build their email list - right?
For example, post teasers regarding the insider info - and tell them if they want the scoop, they have to get on the list.
Posted by: Patricia | 10/22/2010 at 21:12