How To Use Twitter To Market Your Brand Events

If you’re a small business looking for avenues to expand brand event awareness you should try Twitter. Twitter is a fantastic way to promote events. If you have ever tried to promote another aspect of your business with Twitter then you’re in luck, because marketing and event through this social media platform is not unlike marketing a product or a service. Much of the same processes should be used to market the brand, with a few minor tweaks geared towards getting people to an event.

 Content is King

Please forgive me, I know the phrase “content is king” has been used millions of times, but it’s relevancy is not lost in Twitter. Wet people’s appetites about the event by giving out tidbits of fantastic information; like reasons why attending the event will benefit them, countdown to the event day, information about event planning, interviews with event participants, and any promotional aspects of the event should be considered as Tweets. Links to pictures and videos are also great content, so connect to your Instagram and Facebook accounts. Make sure your brand website is discoverable through Twitter in case someone needs further details and explanation.

 Hashtags on Your Tweets #

Come up with a hashtag that can be used in all of your tweets which surround the event. Others who tweet about the event on your behalf will use the same hashtag. When it comes to the event day anyone at the event will use the same hashtag which will capture everything in the same category. Good event hashtags will categorize all of the tweets making your event discoverable by other people. Ideas for hashtags are simple. If this is your brand’s first event, then use the brand name as the hashtag. Keep all your hashtags very simple yet descriptive. Do not use any hyphens in the hashtag. And do a little homework to make sure your hashtag is not already being used.

 Promote Your Twitter Account

Don’t forget you can use existing contacts to promote your Twitter account. When corresponding with other people through emails and other business communications, make sure your Twitter account is promoted everywhere you go. Faxes, business cards, emails, and whatever correspondence you might have make sure you include your Twitter information. For example, include your Twitter account and the event hashtag in all email signatures. This is a simple yet effective way to help get the word out concerning the event. Remember that everyone else on the team should be doing the same thing in their email signatures.

 Recruit Fellow Tweeters

If you play your cards right you can generate help from others on Twitter while promoting your event. You can start by simply asking your followers whom you trust to retweet your posts or even tweet about your event on your behalf. Generating these types of Tweets can be done by offering things like free giveaways. If your event has tickets, why not give away a few over Twitter. These free giveaway ticket tweets can be retweeted by others who can help get the word out. Say for example that the 50th retweet gets a free pair of tickets to the event.

 Twitter is Social

While trying to promote your event keep in mind that you can talk to other people on Twitter. Encourage your followers who support your tweets by retweeting them when they talk about the event/brand. When somebody mentioned your company or your event say thank you and retweet it. Talk to people. Always respond to tweets which mention your brand or event hashtag. By participating in this form of social media you can generate the much-needed buzz surrounding your event. In order to do all of these things you’ll have to monitor the event hashtag. Check out the website TweetDeck to get an idea of how to monitor your tweets. If TweetDeck is not for you, there are dozens of quality Twitter tools you can use to monitor the buzz around your hashtag.

 It Takes Time

On a final note, creating a buzz on Twitter about your brand’s event takes time and people. Make sure you start with plenty of time to promote the event. Just because you said something once doesn’t mean it can’t be repeated. The key to successful event promotion on Twitter is a constant stream of interesting information.

Make sure all of your team has access to their own company Twitter accounts and are actively engaged in promoting the event. You might even email them a pre-written list of tweets to use so they don’t have to worry about creating tweets on their own at first. It takes time so start early, and be very persistent. If you do you will get the word out about the event and your brand will be a success.

About the Author:

Lindsey Patterson is a freelance writer who specializes in technology and the latest social media trends. She is currently acting as a social media consultant to Vivint.  Be sure to follow them as well via Vivint’s Twitter.