Facebook, Twitter or Instagram – Where should I promote my event?
By Team EtchRock in EtchRock,Paid Advertisement,Social Media
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Where should I promote my event?
So you want to have a strong presence online, but where do I promote my event I hear you ask? Everyone has a Facebook page, right? But what about Twitter? Do I even need an Instagram page? These are all valid questions and one that you will ultimately have to answer based on what’s best for your event, but how do you choose where to devote your time and resources?
Check out the pro’s and con’s below of each of the social networks that may help you decide where to market your business
Monthly users: 1.65 billion
Pros
The biggest social network
Facebook is of course the biggest and most popular network. Everyone has a Facebook account; so naturally, it would be advisable to have a presence there.
Targeted Advertising
Facebook are pros at collecting data on its users which it makes available to advertisers such as yourself. If your target market is 35-45 year old males, that have an interest in running and live in London, Facebook’s functionality can allow you to target that group specifically. Or any for that matter.
Additional Features
Facebook not only offers advertising solutions for event managers, they have a host of extra functionality that could be beneficial to you too. They offer analytics, merchandising and support options to help supplement your activity
Cons
Cost
Having the best advertising platform comes with a cost, big money. You can easily swallow up a budget if you aren’t clued up on what you are doing. Make sure you do your research before you start a big campaign.
Always changing
The fine people at Facebook are always improving their product, which can sometimes be detrimental to old campaigns. An old campaign that worked very well may suddenly not be so successful when the algorithms are changed.
Cool Factor
Statistics show that the younger generations are moving away from Facebook and onto other social networks. If your target market is young millennials, then you may want to rethink your strategy.
Monthly users: 310 million
Pros
Live action
The very nature of Twitter gives you the advantage of being in the here and now. You have the capability to join the conversation of millions instantly with a single tweet.
Easy to automate
There are plenty of providers out there that allow you to schedule your tweets for the future. Examples include Hootsuite & Postcron. Schedule your posts in advance and during peak hours for the best results.
It’s free
You can do paid advertisement on Twitter but it is not essential to reach your target audience. Unlike Facebook, you can talk directly to your target demographic or community with having to pay to have that privilege.
Cons
User concerns
You may have seen in the media recently that Twitter is struggling to achieve growth. This could be something to keep an eye on as they recently shut down the popular video app Vine due to business reasons.
Message can be lost
In a sea of tweets, yours could be easily lost amongst the thousands that people read everyday. It is important to make your posts stand out and cater them towards your target audience.
More exposure means more potential negativity
Simple, the more content that you put out, the more chance you have of a potential ‘backlash’. How many stories have you heard of brands having to apologise over tweets they may have put out that are taken the wrong way? Before you post a tweet, just re-read it and double check that it is suitable for the purpose that you want.
Monthly users: 400 million
Pros
Great for visuals
If you have amazing pictures or video to share, Instagram is the place to do it.
Give your brand a story
The saying goes, ‘A picture tells a thousand words’ and it couldn’t be truer. Instagram gives event organisers the opportunity to make their brands more transparent. Give your followers an inside look at the brand they love so much.
It’s easy
Instagram has to be the easiest to use of all the social networks and this even applies paid advertising. The simplicity contributes greatly to the popularity of the app and the owners know it.
Cons
Mobile only
Instagram is a mobile app and has very limited use on desktop. An important thing to consider.
No linking
The only way you can link to an external webpage is through the link in your bio, you only get one of these. So if you are trying to promote a specific webpage, just make sure that you update your bio link and direct people towards that.
Few advertising options
Outside of promoting posts, there isn’t too much else to Instagram advertising. Make sure you will be getting a good ROI on your marketing investment by optimising your campaigns when creating them.
So there you have it, a brief view into each of the three main social networks and what they are all about.
When making a decision about where to devote most of your time, always think about your target audience first. Where are they and where is the conversation happening? What content are the consuming? What gives you the best platform to reach them?
Let their activity guide you towards the right path.
And that’s not to say you can’t use them all, many brands do! It’s just better to have a strong presence in one place rather than have weak messaging on all the different platforms.
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