When did you last "Google" your event?
When is the last time you "Googled" your own event? It seems like a silly question - until you do it!
About three weeks ago, I "Googled" a good friend's local event. The event is a debutante ball for the Ukrainian-American community. My friend is one of the volunteer organizers. Unfortunately, their Google search results were less than ideal. The top search result listing in Google wasn't for my friend's 2019 event, it was for 2017. When you clicked on the top search result link, you were taken to outdated information. If you’re an event organizer, that’s not good. Bad search listing costs events a ton of potential ticket sales!
Ironically enough Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is barely discussed these days. If you’re unaware ... SEO ensures your event website is correctly listed in top search engines. Unfortunately, discussions on SEO have been replaced by cool topics like "Social Media Marketing." (Whatever that means.) For most events, social media is a colossal waste of time! If that offends you, please go check your Google Analytics. Take a look where your web site traffic and ticket sales are coming from.
Allow me to drive home the point with data. Here are the results for two Platinum clients for 2018 ...
Total combined online ticket revenue of almost 2 million USD. Percentage of ticket sales from social media for both clients ~3.6%. Both client social media campaigns were sophisticated. Their campaigns involved tens of thousands of USD in direct ad spend on Facebook. Plus, almost 40 hours of campaign management.
In contrast, 29.4% of ticket sales for one Platinum client was from searches in Google. Total time invested for a 29% share of gross online ticket revenue, less than 2 hours. The total amount of client advertising dollars spent ZERO!
Based on the above data, you might think I’m down on social media. That isn't the case. I wrote a book on Facebook marketing (yes, shameless self-promotion)! Focus your efforts on what sells tickets and stop following the lemmings off the cliff! Instead of focusing on social media, go spend a half hour and make sure your Google search results are accurate.
Here’s what you can do, right now. Go do a Google search and ask yourself the following questions:
Do you own at least the top 5 search results listing in a search engine (especially Google)?
Is your search engine listing accurate?
Does your search engine listing give people a compelling reason to click right now?
Please let me know what you discover. If you find inconsistencies in your search listing, you need to act as quickly as possible. Even if you correct any issues on your end, it might take Google days or weeks to update their listings. My friend in the opening story was too late to make any adjustments.
Please don’t get caught in the same predicament.
To Your Success,
Eugene
Want to get more event promotion info? Check out the articles below:
- Why Create High Quality Content?
- Using Relevant Linking Throughout Your Web Site
- The SERP That Really Counts
- Are You Targeting The Correct Search Keywords?
- Why Invest In Search Engine Optimization?
- Getting Listed In Search Engines
- The Importance of Organic Search