Ticketbud Tips and Tools*
August 18, 2015  •  by Sean Burke

Snapchat: Event Organizers Best Friend

Event promotion is tough. There are so many things going on and it takes something awesome to stand out in the crowded social landscape. However, Snapchat is perfectly suited for promoting an event and building an audience. The key is to tap into what makes Snapchat better than all other social media platforms: accessibility and time. Accessibility here refers to accessibility you, the event organizer, have to your key demographic. No doubt everyone knows that Snapchat is popular with a younger audience but do you know how popular?

Yeah. That popular. Snapchat is the fastest growing platform for the under 34 crowd. While this doesn’t mean that every event can benefit from its use, there are a great number of music festivals, bike rally’s and beer by the river events that could tap into the Snapchat audience. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Or perhaps snaps for a fun German themed party![/caption] The second key benefit Snapchat has is time. This means how fast Snapchat delivers content which allows for multiple uploads and snaps without fear of spamming. The time limit is both a limitation and an advantage. While it may be difficult to take a picture or video of something to convey an idea in under ten seconds, the time limit forces you to be creative. Snapchat also allows you to use multiple snaps without fear of seeming overwhelming. Brilliant. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="292" class=" "] Zoe likes to be the center of snap attention.[/caption] Now that I have no doubt brilliantly convinced you of using Snapchat for promoting your next event, let’s talk about the real important thing here: strategy. There are particular ways to use Snapchat to achieve desired results, you just need to use Snapchat effectively. [caption id="attachment_22761" align="aligncenter" width="350"] Example of utilizing the platform to be tailored to your audience and who you are.[/caption] Firstly, with no surprise here, the most important thing to Snapchat event marketing is to use effective content. What is effective content? Well that can vary a bit on your audience and your event but think fun. Snapchat was designed, and is used, for people to have fun with their messaging to each other. Make sure your content follows this idea. Make it fun, make it bright, make it vibrant. Make it seem like there is actually a person sharing the content with people, not a brand sharing it. Don’t use pictures of a flyer that you have for your event, that’s super boring and no one cares. What if you took pictures of where the event was to be held? Add in “can’t wait to start setting up for [insert event] in [#] of days!”? Do you have pictures from the last event you held? What about last year’s event if it is annual? Use those! Make sure that the content you use is engaging and fun. Period. Additionally, make sure to vary between photos and video. The great thing about Snapchat is how easy it is to use video content on the platform. It plays easy for your audience and it just needs someone to hold the button down. Great pictures showcase an awesome event but great video goes even further. [caption id="attachment_22762" align="aligncenter" width="350"]Make sure your voice is fun and playful. And go wild, draw on your snaps! Make sure your voice is fun and playful. And go wild, draw on your snaps![/caption] This leads into voice. How you present your content and how you communicate with your fans is another important point. Again, Snapchat is fun and playful (like your event will probably be!) so make sure that your voice in this space follows. If you are going to use the banner to add text, make sure it sounds like a person is putting it together. Avoid very clunky all-encompassing event phrases (they probably won’t fit in the textbox anyways with the character limitations anyways). Don’t hesitate to use the marker tool to draw on your snaps either. Have fun, go wild! [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="250"] Snapchat’s time limits are fast, make sure to get your copy down![/caption] One of the big benefits of Snapchat is the time limit. Some people think this makes it difficult to market an event when you have under ten seconds but I think that makes it better. It is going to force you to be resourceful yes, but it will also allow you to put multiple snaps together without fear of it seeming too spammy or too long. While the Snapchat app allows you to set your snaps to anywhere between 2 seconds and 10 seconds, your best best is to go somewhere around 4. One of our intrepid marketing specialists ran a series of tests with his own snapchat list to find that the snaps that are viewed the most frequently are 4 seconds long. This means they’re long enough to be viewed and people to recognize what they’re seeing but they move on quickly. This allows you to put multiple photos together for a great experience set. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="352"] Karmaloop is one of the brands utilizing Snapchat to gain engagement with their followers. Taco Bell, Grub Hub and Acura have also promoted their Snapchat account through exclusive content and contests for their followers.[/caption] Finally, there is My Story vs. individual snaps to your snap list. Both options offer different benefits and if you can, you should use both. Having a list of people following your Snapchat account allows you to send snaps just to them. This is perfect for l exclusive content or something like early bird ticket sales. Encourage your email list or Facebook fans to follow you on Snapchat for event deals and then before tickets go on sale, send a snap to everyone who follows you with an image including your early bird ticket code. This offer will only go to the people who follow you, encouraging and rewarding your loyal fans. My Story is a little different as it can be viewed by anyone. It is a collection of your snaps over a 24 hour period and put together in one place. This works well for promoting your brand and your event to a wider audience. Make sure the content you utilize here is (again) fun and engaging but also a good representation of who and what your events are. If you’re a local brewery looking to capitalize on Snapchat for your frequent brew parties, taking snaps of the process of beer being made is a great way to engage with a new audience.   Snapchat is an incredibly useful platform for event organizers. It is the best place to engage with a younger audience and it allows you to make your brand/event seem more personable. The trick is to use it right. If you follow these steps you should have no problem in increasing your engagement and spreading your message.
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