Can Social Media Influencers Really Draw More Attendees?

For years meeting planners and marketers have solely relied on social media.

These event gurus have used both organic and paid content to reach their ideal audience and compel them to attend their events.

But social media marketing alone will not always move the needle on your goals. Influencer marketing for your event can bring the reach, relevance, and resonance that is needed for a prospect to become an attendee.

Thinking beyond millennials

Is influencer marketing really effective for anyone besides millennials? Yes. And the best influencer marketing campaigns can be more successful with older generations than you might think.

When looking at what makes influencer marketing so successful, it isn’t really anything based on age. In fact, engaging influential individuals who command the attention of, and maintain high levels of engagement with, your intended audience has always been a powerful way to spread a powerful message that resonates.

The difference today is that digital marketing allows us to better identify the best influencers for the job. The available analytics now allow us to track the effectiveness of influencers from the very first post to the click that converts.

Influencers: Macro vs Micro

Does every influencer have to have more than a million followers on Twitter? Hardly.

In fact, the influencers who regularly have the greatest impact on behavior are micro-influencers, or those who have a relatively small (500-10,000 followers) but dedicated following.

Micro-influencers often hold this power as a result of consistent engagement with their devoted followers who view them as more authentic, trustworthy and relevant in their area of focus.

One great example is from a Tom’s of Maine influencer marketing campaign. The brand identified micro-influencers that regularly posted about their preferences for natural, toxin-free product ingredients. Tom’s of Maine was able to work together with influencers who shared their ideals. They shared their day-to-day experiences using Tom’s of Maine products and helped in “spreading the brand’s passion for goodness.” The results were strong and Tom’s of Maine’s social media strategist won an award for the campaign.

In just the first two weeks of implementing its micro-influencer marketing strategy, Tom’s built its community of Instagram users by 8 percent. With the goal of doubling its Instagram community of 1,000 this year, the company has since more than tripled its growth. “Tom’s of Maine a 2016 Retail Innovator Award Winner for its Micro-Influencer Strategy,” MAVRCK Blog

Engaging influencers in your content strategy

There are many ways to engage influencers. Marketers can persuade them to work on a campaign or pay them directly.

However, approaching influencers with the goal of developing a collaborative, rather than transactional, relationship will yield greater results for your project.

This method is also helpful in cultivating a long-term relationship rather than a one-off engagement. Long-term relationships are important because you can save time and money by not having to research and identify new influencer partners when you have to plan outreach for your next event.

These influencers can work with you to develop creative content, including blogging on their own site, writing for social media channels, or developing other types of creative communication that spreads the word about your event.

Part of developing a collaborative influencer relationship is a personalized pitch . In order to create a highly-tailored pitch you need to consider your message, tone and content goals. You can’t create a message that’s custom to your target influencer if you don’t conduct an effective amount of research.

One sure-fire way to go wrong when working with influencers is to ignore their personality and individual type of content. So review all of their channels including websites, blogs and social media to get a sense of these things.

It’s key that you take the time to understand how their content works (or doesn’t) with your brand’s event promotion and content strategy.

When to start influencer outreach

Evaluate your next event’s intended audience, look at both their demographics and psychographics, and determine whom they are paying attention to online to help you identify the perfect influencers to help reach your event attendance goals.

Remembering to look at each influencer’s reach, relevance and resonance will ensure that your influencer marketing campaign is a hit for your target audience or potential attendees.