The emergence and spread of social media platforms is a phenomena that has unlimited potential for growing your business. The largest networks have millions of people who are actively participating and engaging in interactions based around a variety of subjects. Being savvy allows you to tap into those potential customers, getting your message in front of them for free.
 

Unfortunately you don’t have unlimited time, and each of these websites will require a commitment in order to achieve success. At the same time you can’t afford to ignore all of them. That is why it is important to choose the social media platforms that best match your business, goals, and the needs of your customers. That will allow you to focus your efforts and achieve success in the most effective way possible.

Facebook: The Biggest Player 

This is the largest social network in the world, with 1.19 billion users, including an estimated 73% of the United States adult population. It’s also a versatile platform that allows you to post text, images, and video, and interact with people through a number of different options. At the same time the demographics of people who use this site are evenly distributed across all ages, genders, and ethnicities, allowing you to reach a broad audience with your marketing efforts.

Facebook is an important social network for every events business to have a presence on. While it is not always the best for conversions, the sheer size of its user base makes it impossible to ignore. At the minimum you will want to have an official ‘Facebook Page’ set up for your company, which you should post to on a regular basis. This content should be short snappy, and accompanied by an image whenever possible.

Twitter: Best User Engagement

While this is arguably the second most recognized social network, it is only fourth in overall usage. However that is balanced by the fact that people who are active on Twitter tend to have a much higher level of engagement than users of other platforms. At the same time the inherently short nature of the messages transmitted across this site makes it ideal for updating a user base about news, events, and developments in real time.

There are a number of advantages to using Twitter to promote your events business. Hashtags make it easy to catalog information, and create trends around different ideas, framing yourself as a leading source for industry news. It is also a great direct communication tool, which can be invaluable for connecting with V.I.P. members, or communicating pertinent information to your followers.

 

Instagram: Popular With a Young Demographic

This is an image based social network with a rapidly growing member base, that boasts a high level of engagement. It is mainly used by a younger demographic, and is great for targeting people in the 18-29 age range. Instagram can be particularly useful for event businesses if you are good at capturing fun and interesting pictures of your facilities, employees, and different functions that are held. However it should only be employed if you are adept at taking quality photos, as the user base is relatively sophisticated and will spy an amateur from a mile away.

 

Pinterest: The Best ROI 

This increasingly popular image sharing website has become the third most trafficked social network over the last year, boasting a user base that consists of 21% of all U.S. adults. It’s also predominantly female, with women making up 84% of its members. At the same time it tends to have a relatively affluent population, with 34% of its users boasting an annual household income surpassing $100,000.

Like Instagram, Pinterest is image based, so it will be best for events companies that are skilled at capturing interesting photos that promote a business image that is professional, intriguing, and fun. The high percentage of female members makes it useful for targeting that specific demographic, while the affluence of its users makes it great for converting leads into customers. It also has long term value, as pins retain their viability far longer than posts to other social media platforms.

LinkedIn: For Professional Connections

This is the world's only “professional” social network, and is intended to be a tool for growing connections in the business world. While it is the second largest social media platform, it also has one of the lowest user engagement levels of any of the top players. That’s because unlike Facebook and Twitter, LinkedIn is not intended for entertainment purposes. It is instead focused on giving professionals a place where they can find one another. Despite that it can be an important resource for event planning businesses.

It’s recommended that either the owner, or the marketing manager of an events company have a personal profile on LinkedIn. That will allow them to reach out to other professionals in the industry, connecting to them in order to form partnerships, or collaborate on projects. You should also have a LinkedIn page for the business itself. This probably won’t get a lot of traffic, but it is relatively easy to set up and requires much lower maintenance to keep it viable over time.