Social media isn’t what it used to be. That’s a fact we can’t escape from.
Not so long ago, a social media marketer could post any old content on their Facebook or Twitter profile, and it would be seen be all their followers, and the followers of anyone who clicked the share button.
It was easy. Posts didn’t need any thought or pre-planning. A funny meme or image with a filter was enough for a status update to go viral.
But times change. People change. And so do the platforms themselves.
Now, event marketers need to go big with their posts to get any traction. They need to be well thought out, structured and professionally created.
You can’t take a still image of the crowd at your festival anymore. It has to be a video taken by a flying drone.
You cant just post advertising posters and banners anymore. They have to have some form of GIF or moving part. Or if you’re really clever, a bit of AR.
The shift to a more considered approach to social media has been brilliant for consumers. They now experience a much higher level of quality in the information they’re digesting.
But for event marketers, the evolution of social media marketers means higher costs.
As marketers spend more money and time creating the content they post on social media, the platforms themselves can charge more for advertising on their sites.
Whereas previously, content got a large ‘organic’ (no spend) reach, the social media platforms decided that this was harming their ability to sell ads. So they dramatically cut the reach of each post. And we really do mean, dramatically.
Overnight, reach numbers dropped by 50, 60, even 70%. And marketers had two options.
Become ok with the fact that you’re not reaching anywhere near the number of people you were, or pay to top your numbers up.
So now, the general rule in social media marketing is that if you want to grow your following, or spread a message quickly, you HAVE to pay for it.
And you can’t market an event without social media.
Social media is still the quickest way of hitting a mass market, whether you have to pay for it or not. And as long as you can calculate ROI, social media marketing is still a cost and time effective way of spreading your message.
