Category: Event Marketing
ABCey Presents: 5 Ways to Use Instagram Stories for Your Next Event
Instagram Stories has opened the door to a new range of possibilities for both users and marketers, making it a great space to promote events. Thus, ABCey has created a list of our top 5 ways that you can use Instagram Stories for your next event!
1. Instagram Live Video
Record and show in real-time! You can shoot live video using Instagram Stories before, during, and after your event. This way, you can showcase your venue and promote event transparency. Backstage content is a great way to drive viewership and keep your audience interested. Filming behind the scenes will give users a sense of involvement/understanding of how event planning actaully works.
2. Q&As
Having a Q&A session is a good way to engage your audience. Your followers might have common questions about your event or are interested in knowing more about the event planning process. In this case, you can collect the most popular questions and answer them in a picture or video format on your stories.
3. Advertisement
There are so many ways you can advertise your event using Instagram Stories. You can promote your brand or upcoming event using appropriate hashtags; you can also place your event page link in your stories. There’s also Instagram Stories ads, which allow you to insert a short advert in between users stories. You can target your ads by reach, video views, traffic, conversions, app installs, and brand awareness.
4. Start A Poll
The good thing about Instagram Stories is that it lets you run quick surveys and take your audience’s pulse. Thus, if you have a dilemma while in the midst of planning an event, you can always ask your audience for their thoughts. This is a nice way to engage with your followers and make them feel that you value their opinion!
5. Influencer Takeover
It’s always good to change things up. Consider letting your event speaker, a performer, a sponsor or an influencer take over your account and engage with your audience. By providing a platform for others to push some of their own content, you’ll also be able to leverage the speaker’s own audience and marketing power, and drive impressions for your event.
What do you think of these ideas? Did we miss any? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook and Twitter!
If you’re interested in learning more about events we’ve done for other San Francisco startups or Fortune 500 companies, click here.
ABCey Presents: Top 10 Event Marketing Strategies
Knowing how to market your events is essential to your success as an event planner. There is a lot to consider for event promotion, but don’t be overwhelmed! ABCey presents a list of the top 10 event marketing strategies for you to test out at your next event!
1. Experimenting With AR Content
It is no surprise that augmented reality (AR) is becoming more and more popular at events. However, this opens up a whole new world of possibilities for the type of content you can create to promote your event. Especially now that the iPhone X is going mainstream, AR will be so much easier for event marketers to use.
2. Social Media Influencers
Social media influencers are another powerful event marketing trend and finding the right one can put your event on the map. However, finding the right influencer for your event can be a challenge. Luckily, several social media tools are out there to help you, like SocialRank, Scrunch, SocialLadder, and StreetTeam.
3. Experiential Marketing
Experiential marketing can take many different forms, but at its core it’s all about immersing your guests in a memorable, live experience. Attendees crave personalized, unique experiences, so this marketing strategy is sure to be well-received!
4. Event Distribution
Event distribution allows consumers to purchase tickets the moment they find out about your event instead of having to visit your site. This marketing strategy makes ticket purchasing quick and easy and can help you find potential attendees naturally. An example of this process is the event discovery app Goldstar, which is very successful with 7 million members.
5. Invest in Short and Snappy Video Content
Video content can capture your audience’s attention quickly and is easily shared, which helps spread the world about your event. 70% of marketing professionals find that video converts better than any other medium, so it’s a marketing tool worth investing in!
6. Use Call to Actions That Demand Action
Believe it or not, call to actions such as “register now” or “click to learn more” actually work! Be sure to use them in your marketing messages. You can even get creative with how you phrase them!
7. Creating a “Why Attend” Page With Compelling Content
A “Why Attend” page is intended to explain to consumers why investing their time and money in your event is worth it. When creating this page, it’s important to envision your ideal attendee and appeal to that type of person. If done right, “Why Attend” pages are highly likely to increase event attendance!
8. Real-Time Crowd Shaping Through Smartphones and Wearables
With the capabilities of smartphones and wearable technology, it will be so much easier to adjust elements of the event’s environment based on the attendees’ behavior in real time! For example, if the attendees look cold, you can increase the temperature in the room right then in there, or if the music’s too loud, you can turn it down on the spot! Smartphones and wearables will ensure your events run smoothly!
9. Measuring ROI
ROI (return on investment) is very important for event planners to keep in mind when trying to get hired. By measuring ROI ahead of time, you’ll show your client that you can help them get the most bang for their buck. Not only that, but you’ll also be able to prove how you plan to do that! The numbers are just as important as the final product!
10. Highly Targeted Emails
Contrary to popular belief, email is a very effective channel for marketing. Event marketing through emails allows you to segment your audience based on interest, location, and engagement, which will help you build rapport by creating meaningful content. Email personalizes your message, and everybody likes to feel special!
Which event marketing strategy will you try? We’d love to hear from you! Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook and Twitter!
Capital One Labs SF Design Studio Grand Opening
ABCey is excited to announce the Capital One Labs San Francisco Design Studio Grand Opening to be held on Wednesday, February 12th. The new SF Lab will exemplify a first-class, brag-worthy model of collaboration to research emerging technology and consumer trends.
The new design space was created by renowned San Francisco-based architecture and design firm Studio O+A, with collaboration from Scott Doorley and Scott Witthoft, designers of the Stanford d.school and authors of Make Space.
Two years in the making, the SF Design Studio’s goal is to combine 70+ entrepreneurs and connect with current Design Studio locations around the country to encourage change in the way we bank. Their mission to ‘re-imagine the way 60 million people interact with their money.’ Located at 101 Post Street, the studio is already home to Cafe 360, which encourages people to learn time saving money tactics as well as enjoy free WiFi and a cup of coffee.
Capital One Labs is continuing and expanding on the laid back feel of a start-up with their new Design Studio which will act like an accelerator of ideas, theories and products.
The Capital One Labs San Francisco studio is designed to be a collaborative space to enhance the ways teams communicate, work, and innovate. Its goals are:
- Accelerate the Capital One Labs enterprise-wide digital agenda
- Facilitate and institutionalize design thinking and lean startup learning across the organization
- Research emerging technology and consumer trends
- Seed disruptive ideas
- Rapid prototype and pilot test products
- Collaborate with the local digital ecosystem, including academics, VCs, and entrepreneurs
The new space feels far removed from a corporate atmosphere, focusing on spaces for small groups, visibility and open floor plans. These aspects encourage people to think in the presence of others rather than alone, and create the environment for generating new ideas.
Let us know what you think about this new startup accelerator in the comments below or on Facebook & Twitter. If you are a Venture Capitalist, Startup, Designer or Engineer interested in learning more about, or attending the Grand Opening, please let us know! For inquiries, email Events@abcey.com.
Upgrading the Invitation
At ABCey, we’re obsessed with all things tech and digital. Yet few things compare to opening up your mailbox and seeing a little envelope with your hand-written name on it. Sending prospective guests a non-digital invitation sets your event apart from the rest in our digital world. Our advice for invitations is to make them thematic, bold, and personal. Try out these creative twists on the traditional invitation to amp up the buzz for your next event!
1. Make it Yummy | Channel Willy Wonka and give your guests a golden ticket to remember! Everyone loves to get a little something sweet, so try printing the event details on the wrapper of a candy bar or over a tin of cookies. Whatever goodies you choose, make sure they can stand the trip without damage.
2. Make it Useful | If you want people to remember your event far beyond its end, make an invitation that’s sure to stick around. This is a perfect idea for corporate or launch events to ensure your business, literally, becomes a household name! Think outside the pen and try a kitchen towel, candle, a mug, or a chip clip. Imagine any item you use daily and make it happen!
3. Make it Pop | Reading in 2D is so overrated. Make your invitees work a little with invitations you decode with 3D glasses! Using 3D is a fun way to amp up a traditional paper and envelope in the mail.
4. Make it Go | Make your next event a first-class affair with invitations for your favorite jet-setters. Even if your party isn’t a destination getaway, the same exotic feel can be achieved with luggage tags, tickets, hot air balloons, or train-themed cards and invitations.
5. Make it Open | This is one instance where thinking inside the box can be fun and surprising. Although giving away boxes full of goodies can get pretty pricy, there are ways to keep your invitations inexpensive and chic. Boxes in all shapes, sizes, and colors are easy to find for around a dollar a piece and can be stuffed with confetti or a little balloon. Using a box makes your invite seem like a special gift to your guests, and who doesn’t love receiving packages?
Do you have a creative twist on the paper invitation? Tell us in a comment below or on Facebook and Twitter!