Supercharge your social campaigns with advice from our Social Media Expert, Liv

Changing algorithms and optimal posting times can boggle the mind of an experienced social media user. We’re sure you’ve been there. Your social posts are performing well one week, only to take a hit after the next mega-rich tech bro makes haphazard changes to the platform.

Yes, Elon. We’re looking at you. Anyway, in your frustration, you turn to Google for answers. But what follows is a sea of cookie-cutter advice that isn’t relevant to the events world.

That only builds more frustration. Social media is a crucial tool in your event promotion arsenal. When it works, it works. You can build an engaged fanbase with clever social media marketing, which, of course, can help you smash ticket-selling goals and expand your event brand further down the line.

So, to help you out, we had a chat with our Social Media Manager, Liv. She’s a dab hand on the social media apps, helping to drive engagement for Skiddle, some of our most successful accounts and making sure the likes soar on our TikTok page.

Liv has provided some actionable tips, while also explaining some of the how’s and why’s of her approach to social media promotion.

So, no more cookie-cutter advice for you. Scroll down, get the good stuff and supercharge your social media campaigns today.  

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What should be the starting point of a social media campaign for an event brand?

“Before diving into creative ideas, you’ll need to consider what it is you want to gain from your social media campaign. Ticket sales? Site visits? Engagement? Brand awareness? Ideally, you’ll be aiming for all of these objectives, but settling on one will make for clearer overall messaging and better conversions.”  

Being over-promotional on social media can often turn people away. Can you give us some examples of the type of content you would produce to keep people engaged?

“Social media is saturated with promotional content. Users spend time on social media to be distracted by entertaining content they can share with their friends.

I stick by the 80/20 rule when it comes to types of content – 80% of your content should provide value to your audience, whether this be entertainment or information. The other 20% should be promotional content – line-up posters, ticket updates, exclusive offers and merch.

We’ve started seeing promoters and artists getting more crafty with promotional content so that it falls under the realm of entertainment. Hedex and Bou are great examples of this, creating exciting, engaging videos to announce tours/new releases.

An example of engaging content I personally love to see is anything behind the scenes – day in the life, backstage interviews, disposable camera shots from the afterparty. Allowing your audience to be a part of your brand is always a huge win.”  

How does this type of content help sell event tickets?

“By allowing your audience exclusive access to what goes into your event, they’re more likely to buy into your brand as a whole, ultimately becoming an advocate. Nowadays, events with huge lineups are ten a penny, so you need to provide your audience with something they can’t get from the next brand that comes along.”  

Can you tell us about the work that the Skiddle social media team will be doing over the festive period?

“We’ll be posting loads of content to coincide with our New Year’s Eve campaign “Isn’t New Year’s Eve Brilliant?” – featuring our advert, posters & billboards. We’ll be creating end-of-year round-up content highlighting artists to watch out for in 2024, Skiddle’s Artist of the Year, 2023 in 23 Seconds & of course, some trending content thrown in for good measure.

We’ll also be conducting some street interviews to drive conversation around New Year’s Eve – keep an eye out for two girls with microphones around the Northern Quarter!”  

What’s the best social campaign you’ve seen this year and how can promoters adapt the ideas for their approach?

“It’s got to be the #FakeMoss stunt created by McCann Manchester for their client Aldi, ahead of the Chanel fashion show in Manchester’s Northern Quarter. They jumped on a huge moment at just the right time to spark an enormous amount of organic PR and conversation on social media.

This stunt was a brilliant example of how inserting yourself into current conversations can put your brand in front of millions of already engaged eyes. Keep up to date with what’s happening in your industry, so that if something crops up that you can add value to, you’re ready to jump into the conversation before it moves on.”  

Lots of event brands use Instagram and TikTok, what would you say are the key metrics to track on both of these platforms?

“Social media, first and foremost, is social. You need to create content that will spark conversations, drive engagement and essentially beat the algorithms to put your brand in front of your customers’ eyes.

Because of this, I believe the most important metrics to track on social media are impressions and engagement rate.

It’s always handy to keep track of click-throughs (sticker taps, link in bio visits) however there’s no point in focusing on converting your audience when you have no audience to begin with! Focus on what you’re giving your audience, not on what you’re asking of them.”  

Talk to us about posting times. As a social media manager, what do you feel the best times to post assets are?

“This will differ depending on your audience demographics (location, age etc) but you also need to think about your audience psychographics. Put yourself in their shoes, or create an audience persona to truly get into the minds of when your customers will be browsing social.

During their lunch break? After they’ve finished work? If your target audience will most likely be out at events on the weekend, it’s probably best not to post on Saturday at 10pm.

Social media is all trial and error – what works this week may flop the next. It’s all about being open to learning from your wins and losses, and continuously applying these learnings going forward.”