Learn from event mentorship program expert May Yeo Silvers as she shares how to find your ideal client through social media.
Are you currently using social media to promote your business? If you are not, then you are potentially leaving a lot of money on the table.
What Is Social Media?
It is basically a form of media that we use to “socialize”. That’s why it’s called “social” media. Social media could be Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and YouTube to name a few.
Why Use Social Media For Business?
Why do we want to use social media to promote our business? Well, first, it’s free. Second, you get to reach a ton of people with the press of a button. And especially during these times when everyone is cooped up at home, people are spending a lot more time on social media. There is no better time to have such a captive audience than now.
What Platforms Should You Be On?
How you decide which social media platform to promote your business depends on a few factors. If you are targeting C-level executives, you most likely will find them interacting on LinkedIn or certain professional groups inside Facebook. You most likely won’t find them on Tik Tok or Instagram.
On the flip side, if your target audience is millennials, then Tik Tok and Instagram would be your go-to platform.
If your work is very visual, then Pinterest is the best platform for you.
Once you decide which platform suits your business, you will need to start being “present” on your social media. One of the main challenges that event planners (or any business owners) face is not being “present” on a consistent basis. They will do a lot on their social media one week and then they “disappear” for the next few weeks with zero social media presence.
Consistency Is Key
Developing a strong social media presence requires planning and consistency. You need to commit to a schedule that is realistic for you and you can commit to that frequency.
Posting less each week is better than posting a lot one week and not posting for the next few weeks. Your target audience needs to be constantly reminded that you are still actively in business. When you don’t post for an extended period of time, they will stop following you and start following your competitor instead.
What Should You Post?
Another challenge that event planners face is not knowing what to post on their social media or running out of things to post on their social media. You want to post content that is interesting and beneficial to your target audience.
You should avoid posting what is going on in your personal life on your business social media account. Put yourself in your target audience’s shoes. Do you think they will be interested to know what you had for dinner and where you go for vacation? How is that information helping them to consider hiring you for their event?
You want to post content that asserts your authority and share your expertise. You want to be able to broadcast to a large audience that you are the expert in your field. You want to post content that shows how you work such as the “behind the scenes” footage when you are planning an event.
You want to post content that shows the type of clients you work with, the type of events you do, and also share insider’s knowledge and tips that will be of value to your target audience. The whole goal of doing all this is to show them you are someone whom they can trust, like, and they can also appreciate the value you bring to them.
One of the biggest mistakes that event planners make is posting images of their work that do not align with their brand or the fees that they want to charge. Whenever you post photos of your work or any form of content that relays your expertise, your target audience subconsciously puts a “price” on how much they will pay for your work.
If the photos do not convey a high-end feel, then you cannot expect your target audience to pay you a high dollar amount for your service. If the content you are sharing is not of value to them, then they will not trust to plan their high-end event.
Analyze Your Social Feed
As event planners, we sometimes have “blinders” on. We think that our work is beautiful and we deserve to be paid the fees that we want to charge. Often, the opposite is true.
You are not the best person to evaluate your own work. Ask a friend or acquaintance to take a look at what you have posted on your social media, and ask them to give you some feedback. Ask them to share how much they will pay for your work based on the photos of your past work and the content you are sharing on your social media. You may be surprised by what they share.
Some of the social media outlets also provide analytics on how well your social media is performing. Like Instagram, you will be able to tell where most of your followers are from, their gender, age group, and the times they are active on that platform. This information is extremely valuable as you can implement a sales strategy based on the data.
Conclusion
In summary, social media is a great way to promote your business but you need to have a good understanding of who your target audience is, which platform to use, when to post, how often to post, and lastly, what to post. Once you have all these factors dialled in, you may just have found yourself a money-making machine.
Let's Connect
Not sure how to fully maximize your social media presence? Let’s hop on a call and discuss how we can do a social media audit for your business.
Standing By You,
May Yeo Silvers
