Many event organisers want high-level promotion to raise attendance. They often turn to social media to promote. The tweet below is densely packed with information about « Content Marketing World 2016 ». It is designed to entice the @CMIContent account’s followers to register for the conference but also to encourage the featured speaker to promote their talk.
.@lieblink joins our all-star lineup at #CMWorld! Use code SM100 for $100 off registration. https://t.co/x4k4l53Vu8 pic.twitter.com/OGQZB9YK2U
— Content Marketing (@CMIContent) April 14, 2016
I see conferences use similar communication tactics but seldom as expertly or efficiently as Content Marketing World. This tweet is best-of-class and emulating it is out-of-reach for many conferences. Even though it is an image and a well-written tweet, getting all the information packed in that tweet that much in advance of the event is a real challenge.
Let’s list all the elements we see in the graphic top to bottom and left to right:
- Conference’s name: Content Marketing World 2016
- Subtitle used across several social media posts (here, to link them to a successful movie franchise).
- « I’m speaking! » which denotes excitement at the idea and makes the image especially suited to be shared by speakers themselves.
- Speaker photo: standardised and square for use on the website and in all other communication.
- Short version of the speaker bio (which complements the long version that’s on the website).
- Conference’s logo
- Conference’s date
- City in which the conference will take place
- URL of their website
- Conference’s hashtag
And in the tweet itself…
- The speaker’s Twitter handle
- The hashtag
- A promotional code (again this entices the speaker to share the post)
- A short link to the conference website.
Once you have all those elements, it’s rather simple to produce the images either manually in a graphics program or programmatically (if there are many many speakers). Even tweets can be generated programmatically and uploaded into a scheduling tool such as Hootsuite.
The challenge is in assembling all these elements well in advance. It takes forethought, time and a well staffed team. A venue must be secured. Speakers have to be selected and confirmed. Editors have to work with speakers to hone their long biographies, craft the two line biographies, obtain the right picture and the relevant social media handles. You can’t deploy those smart marketing tactics until you have good content to support them.