Social Media Strategies

What is micro-blogging: Micro-blogs are mini posts or updates that can directly be sent to blogs. There are a number of services for micro-blogging, like Twitter, Jaiku and Pownce. Social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace also have micro-blogging features in them, called status updates.

Microblogging appeals to people because it is immediate and because they can send the updates through portable mediums as well, thus making it more accessible. You can send messages as text, video or audio. You can also use cell-phones to send and receive updates.

Micro-blogging your events: For events, I would say, one of the most valuable things is how you can give live updates of your plans or of the events themselves as they unfold. So those readers listening in from home, will know just how remarkable the event is. If your updates are combined with Google maps, the experience will be even better. Takes me back to the time when we used to send videos, feedbacks, thoughts and thanks only the day after the event, once everything was well over. This was only a few years back. Now, it’s amazing how we can give minute by minute updates to people all across the globe. Even if our community isn’t present at the site of an event, our bond still grows, because they know exactly what we’re about. We once had an inauguration that we were twittering about on an hourly basis. After a while we started to receive messages from curious readers; “has the ribbon been cut?”, “does anyone like the new painting additions?”, etc. Needless to say, I was ecstatic.

It’s all about balance: So, while micro-blogging can be great, if it is not done properly it can also be intrusive. You have to differentiate between two mental reactions; “that’s good to know“ versus “who cares“. Use the right mental triggers to make sure you give something of value, rather than inane pushy updates. Remember, an over dosage of any social marketing tool can have a negative marketing effect as well, so its all about striking a comfortable balance.

Service Options: I would suggest you to explore different micro-blogging services before getting started on it. Some of them may seem more valuable and relevant to the event planning business. For example, Pownce offers additional things like file-sharing and event invitations on top of their micro-blogging service. So, you can send your electronic invitations or tickets through it to your community. Similarly, you can use Twitter to keep informing your audiences about the traffic situations on route to your events. This again, is a great way to differentiate yourself from your competitors.

Find your customers: You can interlink this with the other social marketing tools that you are using and then target your event audiences. For example if your service is for frequent travelers and are launching an event for them to meet, socialize and avail discounts; you can put a watch on twitter updates to find people who travel a lot. If a twitter user is traveling, he or she would surely put that in. If this is your target market, then it’s a good idea to be right there Twittering too.

Simon U Ford (SUF.EDBD)

Social Traffic - The book

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