Filling your event with LinkedIn

So your event is all planned, speakers booked, venue sorted and all the associated activities complete.

Here are my steps to using LinkedIn to sell it out in record time.

Change your summary area

As the promoter, change your summary area to bold eye catching news of the event and compelling reasons to book - with a link to click. This is very, very important. Add in some additional showcase info - speakers LinkedIn profiles, reviews of last year, videos, images etc. Change your current job title temporarily to reference the event you are promoting.

Create content around the event

Create content around the event using my four cornerstones method. Create short updates to link to content, information, industry news, images, quotes, facts, figures, and compelling calls to action to book a place. Review these to make sure they are brilliant.

Schedule these to go on your profile and also the company page associated with it. If there are other key stakeholders in the event - ask if you can place this content on their pages too. Expand the possibilities of the right eyes seeing and sharing this. One or two updates a day are enough - unless time is truly against you.

Write or have written pulse articles around the content that will be talked about at the event. Make sure these are top quality. Tag in the speakers if you use their quotes. Tag in any other people or companies that you reference. Chances are your industry is a close network and this will raise awareness much more quickly than writing a blog post in cyberspace. Include a link to your page for information about the event, as well as a click to buy tickets. Make it easy. Post one or two a week.

Engagement

In the first instance make sure you respond to all comments and likes on your updates and articles. Check out their profiles and ask to connect if they seem relevant. If they only view your profile they will see the showcase summary section.

Monitor who's viewed you on a daily basis and look at their profile. If relevant ask to connect. In the request box why not say 'also if you are interested in XYZ event click here' that way they don't have to connect if they don't really want to.

Connect with the speakers. Their engagement is key as often they are the draw for a lot of people. The event market is crowded but if a delegate loves a particular speaker they will make the choice to see them over another similar event.

Use pulse to read and share their articles if the content is relevant to the event. Comment on their articles and updates (where relevant - don't spam them or overdo it) speakers, especially in-demand ones are extremely busy and not obligated to help you promote the event - this is the way to associate them with their event while building goodwill with them by maximising their exposure on LinkedIn. If they don't write articles on Pulse then maybe offer to have one copy written for their approval?

Another way to maximise engagement opportunities is to find relevant content from around the web and share it on your event page and your own updates with a link to where to buy tickets.

Some suggestions are: Slideshares, YouTube videos of previous keynotes (both speakers, other speakers with relevant content or previous event footage) other relevant blogs, tweets, Facebook updates, articles and well pretty much anything. Just make sure it is relevant, interesting and up to date.

Use features with caution

Groups

Here you can post update and promotions in related groups where your target market hangs out. The problem with groups is that understandably, the active engaged contributors don't appreciate marketing people just dropping by to promote their thing then disappearing. And chances are you don't have the time frame to build those relationships to become and active engaged contributor.

One way around this Is to contact the admin or most active member and ask for permission. If your offering is of interest then usually it will be approved. What works even better is if you offer the admin an incentive (reduced ticket etc) or a group offer (reduction for 10 or more, a small discount for group members etc) and ask them to post the update. It will be taken more seriously and will create the magical engagement ingredient of goodwill.

Direct Message

Use with caution. Again it's tempting especially when time is tight (and when isn't it in the events world?) to write a standard offer message and send it to everyone in your address book, well as many as you can at a time anyway. Do not do this. It's lazy and unprofessional and frankly spammy.

Instead search your contacts using advanced search to segment your contacts by location (in my early days I was inviting people from Las Vegas to come to an event in Liverpool by mistake) and industry or job title to get a few key people of interest and / or influence and write engaging, personalised messages that show you know who they are and why you think this event would be of relevance. If you can offer them a discount code even better. Always add a PS that if not of interest please could they share with their network. Write them a short blurb. Make it easy. They can always say no. But if you don't ask you don't get - and if you have followed the steps above you should have some goodwill in the bank.

Using Influencers

Once you have your list of key people and influencers it makes sense to build more goodwill by viewing their activity on LinkedIn and looking for opportunities to share and support their content and news.

Identify key influencers who have many contacts and access to large numbers of your potential delegates. If you can offer them VIP attendance - maybe a round table with the speakers. In return ask if you may publicly share their attendance news with your network. If they are willing to share an event booking link on their updates this cause a surge in ticket sales.

If you have control of the delegate list here is where you can maximise your success on LinkedIn.

As people buy tickets search and connect with them and send a welcome message as to who you are and why you are connecting. If you search by email and they are not on LinkedIn why not invite them to join? Once you are connected add them to your list of LinkedIn contacts that are going to your event. Use the keep in touch / tag / reminder feature to do this.

Contact them to ask if you can tag them into occasional updates you will be posting. Really start to build relationships. Introduce people who are going to each other if you think it would be of use. Write updates and comments and tag 2/3 delegates in together, especially if they are linked in some way - geographically or job title or industry. Inbox them occasionally with updates - once a week is enough. Build momentum and excitement. Share their updates and news and gain their trust and goodwill. These are your ambassadors.

Countdown to the Event

Amongst your scheduled and live updates it is time to write your countdown updates. From around 7 days to the close of early birds and 7 days from the close of ticket sales and 7 days to the actual event. Here it is ok to use the official event hashtag. Build excitement and momentum and use compelling calls to action. This is where your ticket spikes will be. Your informational content, your goodwill building, strategic messaging, expanding of network and influencer and ambassador campaigns will have kept your event in the awareness of your target market and now is the time to make it easy to buy.

Once sales are closed and you are building excitement for the event this is the time to create a list ready for next year’s event when the whole process will start all over again!

On the day and after the event

Live updates on LinkedIn will be of interest to your network who couldn't make the event. Encourage their virtual participation by replying and responding to comments and posting videos and pictures from the event.

Post event make sure you publicly thank all attendees, speakers, influencers and ambassadors and post a concise take away piece from the day.

Sit down and relax until the next event!

If you have an event you want to sell out using our LinkedIn and Twitter promotion techniques drop me a line. I will help all I can and can give more specific advice if I know the event / industry.

Alternatively you can outsource the event promotion to us while you get on with making the event a fantastic experience for the attendees.

Helen@blueskydigimarketing.co.uk