Outdoor Events & Advance Ticket Sales

There I was, in a social media educational session at the 2016 International Council of Airshows annual convention. What started as a conversation about using social media turned into a discussion of how to use video on social media. The event organizers in the room were passionate about their marketing efforts. During this session, I counted approximately 100 people in the room (using a napkin with tally marks). A majority of the session attendees were air show organizers. It also seemed the perfect time to do an impromptu survey.

At the end of the social media education session, there was time for questions and answers.

After acknowledging the positive takeaways from the session, I asked if it would be okay to do an informal survey. The moderators and people in the room were kind enough to oblige my request.

Here are the questions and terrifying outcome:

Question #1: "How many people are using Facebook to promote their air show?" Most of the people in the room (probably about 90) raised their hands. I asked everyone to keep their hand up and proceeded to ask the next question.

Question #2: "If you are using Facebook, are you boosting every post?" Most of the people in the room lowered their hands.

Then, my last request ...

Question #3: "Keep your hands up if you post to Facebook to promote your air show, boost every post, and track your Facebook efforts to tickets sold to your air show."

Out of the approximately 90 people who raised their hands on the first question, just one was left with her hand up after the third question. It was a jaw-dropping revelation!
For all the air show organizers who were in this education session, only one in 90 tracked their efforts to an actual result.

I'm willing to bet if the three questions above were asked at any event organizer conference, regardless of niche, you'd get nearly the same response.

Here's your overly simplified Facebook marketing plan:

When you post anything to Facebook, boost EVERY post smartly, and always track your Facebook efforts to ticket sales! Anything less and you're wasting your time and money. The best part, by boosting and tracking, you'll be lightyears ahead of your competition. Because hardly anyone boosts AND tracks, advantage you!

You Must Play the Game Differently
If you want to take advantage of social media, you have to play the game differently. What follows are the most common social media marketing mistakes to avoid and simple corrections you can use. The suggestions apply to any social media platform. Click below and dive on in to the 5-Part Social Media Series:

1. Putting Your Social Media Mindset Ahead of Theirs
   
   
2. Focusing Too Much on Likes & Followers
   
   
3. Trying to Engage on Too Many Social Media Platforms
   
   
4. Avoiding Paid Social Media Advertising
   
   
5. Not Measuring the Results of Your Hard Work

Here are some additional social media resources you can use to market your event:

• Do You Make These Social Media Mistakes with Your Event?
• Measuring Your Social Media Event Promotion Efforts
• How to Leverage Facebook and Your Event Marketing
• Beware of the "Social Media" Event SMACKDOWN!
• Social Media, Your Event Marketing, and "Insider Info" . . .
• Social Media Comments and Your Event
• The Downside of Promoting Your Event with Social Media

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