Spending too much time promoting on one of those sites, particularly if the people who you’re trying to reach aren’t active there, can waste precious time.
The only way to know which sites they like most is to ask them. Or, you can do some quick research.
Better yet, do both.
This morning, Roberta Chopp, one of my Facebook fans, posted the question below on my wall. I’ve decided to answer it here, and link to this post from the comments section, because it will help you understand how to spend your promotion time wisely:
Roberta is assuming that because she has found breast surgeon groups on Facebook, she’ll get a decent response.
If her client is already active in those groups and knows for sure that breast surgeons are too, and that they would want to know about the event, then go ahead and start a discussion in that group about your event. She should also check to see whether her client is connect to surgeons in that group, either as friends or as fans.
Another option is to create an Event on Facebook and invite friends with whom the client is already connected.
But I think there’s a better way.
Most Facebook Groups Ineffective
The truth is, with a few exceptions, the shine has worn off most Facebook groups. As I’ll explain on Tuesday, March 15, when I host the webinar 12 More Ways to Avoid Missed Opportunities on the New and Improved Facebook, Groups have fallen out of favor for two major reasons:
1. Too many people are using them as places to spam group members.
2. Facebook Pages offer so many more opportunities to attract a huge following, promote a brand and encourage interaction with fans.
Besides, I wouldn’t expect breast surgeons to be active on Facebook. I’d expect to find them on LinkedIn.
Find Your Target Audience on LinkedIn
I went to LinkedIn just now and used the Advanced Search function to look for contacts who have the word “physician” in their job title and the word “breast” anywhere in their profile. I found 232 people.
Then I searched for contacts who used the word “surgeon” in their job title and the word “breast” anywhere in their profile. I found 411 people.
But how many groups are devoted to those topics? I found 50 groups that include the word “surgeon” and 422 that include the word “surgery.”
He explained that if you’re a member of a LinkedIn group, you can communicate with fellow group members even if you aren’t connected to them. So I’d advise Roberta to tell her client to check out the LinkedIn groups that are attracting breast surgeons, and join those groups. Her client can also use LinkedIn’s Event function and share information about the event to all members of the client’s group, as well as the client’s connections.
Those are only two of 12 ways that Wayne explained during the webinar on how to promote events on LinkedIn.
How to Promote on Twitter
Denise Quashie, who is @DQtweets on Twitter, is an event planner in Atlanta who wrote a fabulous list of five tips on how to use Twitter to promote an event. I particularly love her idea about creating a public list on Twitter and adding to it the names of people who have registered for the event.
“No one really knows what to do with the list feature on Twitter. However, with events it’s simple. Add every attendee to your event on a list titled “GoingTo[YOUREVENTNAMEHERE]” and publicize the list on your blog/web site. Let’s face it, people want to go places when other people they know are going. By showcasing and updating the list you’re giving prospective attendees and sponsors the ability to weigh the odds of attending your event.” (See How to Use Twitter Lists & Directories to Generate Business & Build Your Brand).
You’ll also find a similar list of Twitter tips for event planners and promoters on the SocialBrite blog.
Use Your Blog, Too
Writing about your event at your blog and offering a Q&A session with a speaker, or posting a video welcome by the keynoter, can be very effective when combined with the Big Three sites above because you can provide so much more information at a blog than you can on the social media sites. Write enticing tweets and status updates on Facebook and LinkedIn, and link those to your blog where people can find more information.
You can publish a series of posts in the weeks leading up to the event and use the social media sites to create a buzz.
All the ideas you see here can keep you busy for months promoting your event. How else do you use Twitter, Facebook and Linked to build anticipation for your events and fill seats?
Joan ~ publicizing in the Twitter List is an excellent TIP: “GoingTo[YOUREVENTNAMEHERE]” and publicize the list on your blog/web site.
Thanks,
~ Sharlet Liebel
There’s only one thing I’m concerned about with this. Would you be violating the privacy of somebody who might not want it advertised to the world that they’re attending an event that will train them how to (fill in the blank)? Or would you simply ask their permission first before putting them on the list?
Privacy is of the utmost concern… I would ask permission if it were of a personal nature… good point!
Actually, unfamiliar with this feature at Twitter. Had thought it referred to an author’s book signing event at Barnes & Noble, for instance, and/or major Convention ~ a public announcement. It should be used to benefit the person/group.
Thanks for calling this to my attention.
Joan,
Thanks for another great blog and for the links. I found tips on how to promote an event via Twitter particularly interesting.
Heike
Thanks for the info about LinkdIn groups!
Joan, As usual, thanks for a packed response. This gives us plenty to do! And things I never would have thought of. Can’t wait for your Facebook webinar and it seems like the LinkedIn one is required listening as well. Thanks again. Roberta
I just discovered a few new resources that people can use for their photo ribbons. I’ll be sharing these in the handouts during Tuesday’s webinar.
But to promote a live event (say, a theater show) would Linked In be effective? Announcing the show’s opening all around the planet does seem counter-productive, since only those within the local area will first be close enough to attend, and second, considering scheduling, transportation, and other issues that one thinks of when debating going out for the evening.
It would appear that suggestions about using social media for advertising and networking directly point to virtual/international events, and not your local kids’ store’s new sale.
Thoughts?
Lee
Use LinkedIn to promote business events, not entertainment-type events like theater shows, rock concerts, etc.
If the event is local, there are many uber-local social media sites where this event should be posted, such as Yelp, Meetup and Patch.com. Many people are searching those sites when looking for things to do.
Patch, in particular, is PERFECT for an item about the kids’ store. I wrote more about Patch here: https://publicityhound.com/blog/?p=7584
Lee, one thing I’d like to add to my comment above.
There might be a group on LinkedIn devoted to, say, the arts in Milwaukee. (I live near Milwaukee.) It would certainly be appropriate to create an event for the theater show and promote it to that group. But it’s usually best to reserve promotion on LinkedIn for business-related events.
[…] When it’s time to promote your next live or virtual event, don’t assume that you’ll find your target audience on all of the Big Three social media sites: Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Read More>>How to promote events on Twitter, Facebook & LinkedIn. […]
Great points, Joan — and isn’t that so true of how quickly the ‘shine’ is taken off previously-effective Social Media tools? (Like that reference!) I believe a mix of media is always best, but as you say — not spending too much time on any one — is advisable. The refinements allowed to better target on LinkedIn make it a true winner in this regard!
All three sites are very powerful. But you need to have a strategy, and you need to know where most of your audience hangs out. Many business people just don’t like Facebook and prefer to do most of their networking on LinkedIn.
Absolutely, Joan — plan-in-hand required. Know the audience, and presenting the event according to the desired reach…
I’ve had great success in using Twitter list for events. Both public lists as well as private lists. It’s become one of the must haves for planning and sustaining the social communities for events.
Thank you for including me in your post!
[…] How to promote events on Twitter, Facebook & LinkedIn by Joan Stewart of the Publicity Hound Blog […]
lol Twitter ought to be killing other social sites
Thanks for the tips – I hadn’t realised that Facebook was so ineffective. The organisation I work for has a Facebook page and use it a few times a week to promote.
I feel that Twitter and Blogging are the two best ways of promoting through social media though. I’ve been using Twitter daily and Tweeting about 3/4 times a day at different times which tends to work. I can promote my blogs through this too which helps and helps my followers to stay interested and be updated with the business.
I feel that LinkedIn can be good too – especially LinkedIn answers and joining groups that are relevant to your business.
The organisation I work for are quite knowledgeable on social media marketing and have a couple of blog articles on it, i could be helpful for people reading this http://www.lucidica.com/blog/category/online-marketing/social-media/
Emily, thanks for your comments.
I find that Twitter is a really helpful tool when others who follow me are inclined to retweet. That spreads the message to thousands more people. And if they are well-regarded in their field, their followers may be tempted to click.
Your comments about the composition of the audience is a problem I have been struggling with.
I have just authored a novel which seems to violently attract or turn off readers. That is fine with me. I stumbled across a nest of lovers of the novel and have been trying to analyse them. By and large they all seem to have a little bit of rebel in them, AND they are very intelligent, literate and independant thinkers. They seem to NOT get off on the twitter/facebook type of social media. Strangely almost all of this group and a few other positive random hits I have had were writers, editors and the like although the novel is anything but theoretical.
Pre-publication I was randomly testing the manuscript. I tried it on some rural blue collar workers. One successful network started with a genuine rebel who is very opinionated but intelligent. Another was a guy who worked for 30 years and out. Intelligent but not much of a rebel.
Failures included some very intelligent people. One example was a cop who had climbed very far up the ladder and retired. He gave a reason for not continuing to read that I had expected from very many ordinary people. In order to make the novel tense and plausible I had to educate the reader on something that makes many peoples eyes glaze over. Banking and finance. I think I did a good job of sneaking the education in unobtrusively. But he turned off about finance. Fine because I was searching for my target audience and he was another statistic. (BTW, the novel is not about finance but more about todays world and social disruption.)
My concern is that there will be few rebels on particularly twitter with its inability to complete a coherent thought in 140 characters or less. Would you spend a lot of time farming the social media for audience?
I note that you are among the literary group I was so happy to stumble across. Do you spend your time in the social media for personal interest or as a necessary business reason?
I might note that circumstances leave me woefully short of finances AND time to promote.
Allen Currie
acurrie77@yahoo.ca
If you dismiss Twitter and Facebook, you are missing a huge segment of people, many of whom probably don’t read newspapers and many of whom don’t read magazines. Both of those sites include people of every stripe, even rebels.
You must be able to explain what the book is about in 10 seconds or less. And you should have a good feel for the target audience.
No, I do not use Twitter or Facebook for personal use. Business use only.
If you’re short on time and money, you still need to come up with a solid marketing plan for your book. I suggest you get John Kremer’s 1001 Ways to Market Your Book.