Social Media Success: An Event Case Study
The Sprocket Report
How to be social in social media still perplexes people. They’re too busy to post regularly and when they do post about an event, the blast lands with a disappointing thud. “See?” they say, “Social media doesn’t work!” Well, here’s one of our clients with proof social media DOES work for sharing your events:
This client has had a Facebook page for a number of years and they went through cycles of posting faithfully for a few weeks and then letting the effort lapse again. Sound familiar?
Last year as they scheduled their summer events, they decided to try something new to get the word out: Facebook ads. We created three ads for them, carefully targeted to the right audience demographic and displayed each for about a week. The total cost at Facebook was about $370.
The client was quite excited to see the results! Those three ads were seen by over 100,000 people and attendance at the 2015 events was better than the year before. You can clearly see the “bump” each ad gave to their Facebook Reach number in the graph below:
Buoyed by that success, they asked us to take on all Facebook duties and we started posting regularly on their page for them. We published a combination of original content and reposts from appropriate sources, we connected with other pages and we responded promptly to comments. The number of “Likes” grew slowly, but they were all qualified followers who were sincerely interested in this local group rather than a bunch of useless ghosts generated by a “Like Farm.”
By the time our client started advertising this summer’s events, their Facebook following had increased over 67% and folks were regularly engaging by “Liking,” commenting and sharing posts – even during the months when no events were happening.
The client ran only two Facebook ads this year and spent only $100. As expected, the Paid Reach number was down compared to the more extensive ad campaign last summer. But they also saw some numbers they DIDN’T expect – because folks are still suspicious of social media’s claims.
Instead of starting from a flat line like last summer, the client already had an engaged audience, so when the tiny ad bumps happened, they were amplified. Take a look at the graph below and see for yourself.
Viral Reach – followers of the client’s followers – almost doubled. Organic Reach – free publicity to new audiences – increased fivefold. By nurturing the relationship with their audience during the off-months, the client reached more of their target market when the time came to advertise their events.
Social media marketing doesn’t happen overnight. Nor does it work in a vacuum. But it is a powerful component of your marketing plan. If social media is part of your marketing, consider delegating the effort. Give us a call today to set up a plan that works for you. We’re happy to help!
Kate Gingold
I have been writing a blog with web marketing tips and techniques every other week since 2003. In addition to blogging and client content writing, I write books and a blog on local history.
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I have been writing a blog with web marketing tips and techniques every other week since 2003. In addition to blogging and client content writing, I write books and a blog on local history.
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