Who doesn’t love freebies!?

Are organisations really making the most out of social media? For those completing their internship in the events industry, are you finding your company are using it as tool to create buzz around their upcoming event and to provide incentives to potential attendees? If not, it is time they jump on the “social media” bandwagon and start maximizing on some great user-generated content.

Who doesn’t love freebies? If there is one thing I have learnt over the course of my internship, it is that competitions can be a great way to create awareness and excitement about an up coming event and can gain so much more traction within the public and media than you would think, especially in this “tech savvy” era we live in. However, there are number of factors that need to be considered before delving in headfirst and several PR techniques that can be applied.

If it is ticket sales you want to increase, then making sure you run your free giveaways at a time that will most benefit your ticketing cycle. Timing is everything. Event managers or anyone working in the events industry for that matter, should have a clear vision of what they want to accomplish from the get go. Whether it be free giveaways and competitions or whether it is to drive ticket sales and increase your social media following. Here are just a couple of ways and suggestions that could help you with this.  

Hash tagging has become a global trend, with people of all ages and skill sets. Ask users to post a photo and hash tag the event. Not only will this resonate with users/attendees but will help in spreading the word about your event, literally. Snap chat, another emerging and constantly expanding global development. Tap into your snap chat networks, by getting users to send in their favourite “event related” photos or themed snap chat drawings. Get users to starting tagging. Encourage event goers to tag the friend they will be bringing along with them to the event your are running in exchange for free ticket giveaways and goodies.

The best ideas are usually the most straightforward. Make the most of using competitions and promoting your event and organisation on social media by adding users and entrants into your database to send them promotional offers and information about upcoming events you’re your organisation - another free, but yet very effective promotion tool.