posted on your favorite blogs.
Benefit: Blogs can be useful for promoting meetings. Many meet- ing
industry associa-
“By first developing a process and
strategy for your social media program, marketers will in turn be able to establish a brand
voice across various mediums while simultaneously understanding to whom their social media efforts are directed and why.”
tions such as PCMA, MPI and ASAE have set up blog channels around their events to create interest, to get feedback and to build communities. •
Podcasts:
(www.yelp.com) for example, is one of several that is used for restaurant reviews and many other services.
Social Media Best Practices
Content and how effectively social media is used to complement
most goods and services. According to the 2008 North Ameri- can Technographics Media and Marketing Online Survey, 60% of people trust information on consumer product ratings and reviews. Yelp®
and enhance marketing activities to drive greater results are what sets companies apart. By first developing a process and strategy for your social media program, marketers will in turn be able to es- tablish a brand voice across various mediums while simultaneously understanding to whom their social media efforts are directed and why.
On-
demand radio/video “talk shows” that can be accessed directly from your computer or downloaded to your iPod®
or other MP3
player. They are typi- cally inexpensive to make and can be dis- tributed essentially free via iTunes®
, other pod-
cast distributors and/or your website. Benefit: Podcasts are also great promotional
tools for events. Meetings are content generators. For example, in- terviewing upcoming speakers about their subject matter to create podcasts is one way to promote meeting attendance. If done prop- erly, podcasts will bring traffic to your website, generate business and attract attendance to meetings. • Widgets: Custom widgets can be created for your desktop to
develop real-time information, as well as industry and association news. Most widgets can include pop-ups of important dates (reg- istration, move in dates, early order deadlines, etc.), as well as a countdown counter for the show date. Benefit: Widgets reinforce brand recognition, value and top-of -mind recall. • User-generated review sites: Review sites may ultimately have
one of the greatest impacts on meetings, events and society. These types of platforms allow users to locate and rate all types or services, including organizations. Benefit: The reviews from clients, good and bad, aid greatly in making purchase decisions. These review sites are emerging for
34
One of the first steps in developing a social media strategy is
to establish objectives and determine how your company’s social media usage will help to engage buyers, influencers and custom- ers. How will you present your company brand and which social media components will the organization engage? Will you present the brand as one corporate ID, several ID’s or as an individual em- ployee? What will be included in your content plan? Secondly, the risks that may be involved in partaking in social
media practices should be considered. Show management organiza- tions should understand that the social media forum can be open for negative comments and complaints to be posted. They should be prepared for such instances and how best to manage and re- spond. This can be by making an acknowledgement of the issue and repairing the problem or to start a discussion or dialogue around the issue to bring both perspectives to light. Some of these negative comments can provide valuable customer insights. It is important to incorporate a social media policy to protect your organization and promote business conduct guidelines. This policy should cen- ter on listening and establishing a dialogue, and not selling your product or service. “Openness and transparency should be central to the policy as attempts to cover-up, censor or mislead are not only unethical, but they commonly backfire,” says Ball of Corbin Ball Associates. Lastly, determine who needs to be involved with the social me-
dia program. Will it be sales, marketing, legal or even customer ser- vice maintaining the various preferred mediums? Be sure to include a plan for assigning resources and tasks.
Conclusion
Show management organizations have a remarkable opportunity
to use social media to extend their show and capture greater share of mind. They can propel their brand to a higher level, where true benefits can be created. By working closely with the right partner and developing a strong strategic approach to social media com- munications, show management organizations can use this new
MIDWEST MEETINGS SPRING 2010
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