Analysis of Social Media Marketing

The assignment requires an in-depth analysis of social media marketing, covering topics like social media usage, advertising, customer reviews, and online presence. The document aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the subject by referencing various studies, research papers, and industry reports. It includes information on social media platforms, their impact on businesses, and the importance of having an online presence in today's digital age.

Emerging Themes 1
Emerging Themes
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Emerging Themes 2
Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction..........................................................................................................................3
2.0 Findings and Analysis..........................................................................................................5
2.1 Organizing an Event.............................................................................................................5
2.1.1 Technological Advancements.......................................................................................5
2.1.1.1 Internal Social Networking.....................................................................................5
2.1.1.2 Convergence and Connectivity...............................................................................6
2.2 Event Promotion...................................................................................................................7
2.2.1 Legal Transformations...................................................................................................8
2.2.2 Technological advancements.........................................................................................8
2.2.3 Social Impact.................................................................................................................9
2.2.4 Demographic Changes.................................................................................................10
2.3 Enhancing the Live Experience.........................................................................................10
2.4 Extending the Lifetime Value of an Event.........................................................................11
2.4.1 Social Trends and Shifts..............................................................................................12
3.0 Recommendations..............................................................................................................13
3.1 Establish Complete Social Profiles................................................................................13
3.2 Create an interactive Website and Blog.........................................................................13
References................................................................................................................................14

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1.0 Introduction
Since its inception, social media has become one of the most used communication and
information dissemination method for all ages and all events. Nowadays, successful
organizations rely a lot on the power of the effect of social media to create a compelling
brand image of their products and to promote events. The power of social media in event
organization, promotion and sustenance has also led to the rise of event management
platforms such as Eventility. These platforms adopt the best social media practices to
successfully organize events by rallying attendees, improving affinity, encouraging
engagement and maintain the thrill of the event even after it is finished. According to
Eventility’s infographic, the success of an event is based on four simple practices, namely
event organization, event promotion, enhancement of the live experience, and extending the
lifetime value of an event.
According to Eventility, which is an event management platform, social media is far much
more than just event organization and therefore successful marketing will depend on the
tricks that are used. For example, social media can be used to engage the attendees at the
stage of event planning by rallying them to vote for their preferred speakers or activities. This
will ensure maximum attendance because the activities of the event are those that will excite
the audience since they were participants in its planning. The Amiando (2012) survey show
that Facebook is the most used social network with 84% of event organizers using it to
market their events. Twitter is used by 61% whereas 42% of event organizers use Youtube to
promote their events. It is projected that 78% of event organizers are likely to increase their
use of social media.

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Source: ( Amiando, 2012).
Therefore, organizations that still depend on the traditional methods of conveying
information or promoting events because they are not aware of the emerging tricks in the use
of social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook among others cannot survive in the current
competitive market. This brief seeks to ascertain the emerging trends and the impact in the
use of social media for event management by critically evaluating the case study of the
infographic from Eventility and then making justified recommendations for effective
management of the identified emerging issues.

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2.0 Findings and Analysis
2.1 Organizing an Event
2.1.1 Technological Advancements
The organization of events has advanced with the transformations in technology and the
emergence of social media. Unlike the traditional methods of promotions where attendees
were only involved in the attendance of the event, the use of social media marketing extends
far beyond the marketing of the event (Tuten, and Solomon, 2017). The attendees can now be
involved in the event organization thanks to the social media that offers such a tremendous
opportunity. The event organizers can ask the audience to suggest their favorite activities like
speakers or bands and then design an event programme that will ensure that the audience
enjoy the event. Examples of an online platforms that use the online RSVP invitation include
JoinIn and Eventbrite.
2.1.1.1 Internal Social Networking
Technological advancements have made it possible for event organizers to collaborate
through social networks while planning for events. This has enabled them to save time and
energy by creating a collaborative environment and minimize continuous email exchanges.
Unlike the use of emails where each client has to be attended individually, social networking
enables the event organizer to reach several clients with a single message. Also, responses are
made on the same platform, and those who had similar questions can be answered at the same
time thus saving time and effort. Research by Culnan et al. (2010) found out that internal
social networking can reduce email volume by 30%.
A developed internal social network enables the collection of the RSVP’s and to experience
an increased rate of response than paper invitations. With this feature, the event organization
platforms like Eventility can conveniently gather RSVP’s, and this enables the planners to

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foresee the type and number of attendees and to keep them updated of the dates and venue of
the event through the use of SMS event reminders or via online. This is contrary to paper
invitations where the event organizer is not aware of the number, interests, and expectations
of the attendees. Thus, the success of the event is dependent on chance as opposed to the use
of the internal social network where the progress is predetermined.
The social media through the internal network enables the organizers to involve the attendees
in the process of event planning. This can be done by engaging the audience on what they
expect at the event like the type of activities or performers, and then the organizers will
develop a program that fits the interests and desires of most of the attendees. By allowing the
attendees to be part of the event organization, their affinity towards the event increases and
attendance is assured. This approach will create online traffic for the event even before its
actual date. This is contrary to the traditional method where the audience was not engaged at
any preliminary stages. The SXSW Panel Picker is an online site where attendees vote for
their favourite speakers on various topics.
The internal social networking can also be used by the organizers to look for suppliers during
event organization. This is possible because the online reviews are used to ascertain the
quality of services or products. Services like photography, caterers among others can be
sought for. A survey conducted by Econsultancy (2015) found out that 61% of customers
read online reviews before effecting a purchase decision.
2.1.1.2 Convergence and Connectivity
The ever-increasing presence and availability of the internet have facilitated the success of
social media. Also, technological advancement has also led to the production of handle held
devices which provides an opportunity for the internet to be accessed anywhere. It is
estimated that by 2020, internet users will be over five billion with 50% of them using

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handheld devices to access the internet and eighty billion of them using connected devices
across the globe. This spread of internet will come with a seamless experience of the home,
work and surrounding environment in which all these elements will be accessed from a single
point by the use of a new range of technology enabled services (Bakker, and De Vreese,
2011).
2.2 Event Promotion
The promotion of an event using social media comprises of several disciplines which if not
executed properly may become a daunting task. This can be done by creating an event list,
just like an emailing list, the use of promotional video clips and encouraging the attendees to
share with colleagues. Other simple methods like check-ins twitter walls can be used to
engage the attendees. The organizer first starts by creating an event listing using various
disciplines such as Facebook, Google+ or online event platforms to reach out and make the
event more spread-out. This has been identified as the best starting point in event promotion
hence the reason why over 38,000 events are listed on Eventility. The organizer then
integrates social media with registration and to encourage the registered attendees to spread
the word. This activity is an excellent source of unpaid promotion, and it is more likely that
most of the attendees will have been convinced by the friends that shared the event. Studies
show that 71% of the online buyers are likely to purchase a product or service if someone
referred it to them in social media (Stelzner, M., 2014).
Another way of event promotion is through the use of hashtags. They make it simple for all
the people in the internal network to follow the social chatter around the activity and inspire
the audience to interact with each other. There were 123,995 users that commented on almost
three hundred thousand tweets a week to the SXSW in 2013 (Bea, 2013). Videos are also
another technological improvement used for promoting events. Videos are some of the most

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effective ways of developing interest and event expectation. The video clips can then be
shared and ranked highly in the internet searches to be reached by a higher number of people.
2.2.1 Legal Transformations
The need for online registration for various purposes including that of event promotion has
led to the introduction of Data protection rules in most countries. This is to prevent the
manipulation of individual data of the people registering over the internet. This legislation
also requires all online websites that need registration using personal private information like
name and identification number or place of residence to publicly declare the extent of the use
of the data and to guarantee individual privacy and non-manipulation of data. This emerging
issue affects the event management sector which is most dependent on online marketing.
Madden et al. (2013) assert that people are sometimes fearful of providing their identification
during online registration for fear of data manipulation. This limits the online social network
because the event organizer can no longer keep a significant database of attendees. Cyber
insecurity also led to the introduction of laws governing unauthorized entry or manipulation
of private data (Lipschultz, 2018). The increase in online activity and presence led to
increased cases of hacking, and thus laws were made to tame the crime of cyber piracy. An
example is the UK CAP Code of Non-Broadcast Advertising which restricts specific online
adverts.
2.2.2 Technological advancements
The increasing number of social network sites has also led to the massive reliance on those
sites for event marketing. Platforms such as Facebook, youtube, twitter, WhatsApp among
others. These improvements in technology affect the sector of event management both
positively and negatively. The social network sites enhance speedy communication because
any information update reaches several people within seconds and the cross-posting option
increases the number of people reached. Also, the social network enables people to be in

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touch by opening up the world without any restriction whatsoever whether age, gender or
status (De Vries et al., 2012). This wide coverage and connections are good news to event
management for it means that the event organizer will have an extensive internal social
network which will also increase the number of attendees. Event organizing platforms like
Eventility and Eventbrite have integrated the use of social networks in order to enhance
serviced delivery.
2.2.3 Social Impact
The increase in the users of social media has led to a corresponding increase in the number of
social network sites. This has caused most of the people especially the young to spend most
of their times on these sites (O'Keeffe, and Clarke-Pearson, 2011), which is an advantage to
the event organizer who can efficiently use them to share the event promotions with friends,
thus promoting the event without payment. However, the employees in the sector of event
management are equally or even much more affected by the impact of the social network
sites (Edosomwan et al., 2011). For instance, the staff can be logged into the social media to
promote an event but end up being un-reproductive because most of the time the staff waste
time in private chats not associated with work. Additionally, social networking creates the
fear of leaking data such as valuable information regarding the staffs or loss of IP. Such data
can be manipulated by competitors to their advantage (Davison et al., 2011). According to
Aula (2010), the increase in the online presence of the organization through the social
network sites can also lead to the damage of the company’s reputation in case of poor
performance and negative reviews. Or in case a wrong rumor is spread by persons of ill will,
it can spread very fast because already the company has a high online presence and this will
affect its service delivery and loss of market share. There is also the fear of cyber-crooks who
may hack the organization’s private and confidential information and use it to the
disadvantage of the organization. To curb the adverse effect of social media on individuals

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and the corporations, social media policy has been introduced by most of the online
companies such as Amazon.
2.2.4 Demographic Changes
The increased use of the social media has led to shifts in the demographics of the online
users. Social networking has abridged the differences upon which the society differentiates
people (Perrin, 2015). For instance, the community discriminates people by age, sex, wealth,
education among others. But the increased use of the social media doesn’t recognize this for
it groups all peoples together, and thus the event organizers or marketer can reach all classes
of people in a pool and deliver the required information. However, other social networks like
Facebook can enable the segmentation of people based on age, sex, status among others
(Shen, and Bissell, 2013. This is to allow a specific message to reach only the targeted group
for useful results. Furthermore, the standard grouping of all classes of people leads to the
generation of expert ideas when asked to suggest ideas during event organization.
Now, this impact of demographic changes is of value to the sector of event management
because all classes in the society can be reached with a message that is either tailored for all
or it can accurately be directed to a specific group. Moreover, the social media has made the
world to be a global village where individuals who are separated by geographical boundaries
can be connected within minutes, and same information conveyed at the same time (Ali,
2011). This is an advantage to the sector of event management because the event organizers
can have a broad clientele which will increase the number of times the event is shared and
also the number of attendees.
2.3 Enhancing the Live Experience
According to Eventality, the actual day of the event is not the end of social media
promotions, but instead, it should continue even to the very day to ensure that the event

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reaches a wider worldwide audience. This can be done by issuing prizes to the individuals
with the most number of tweets as a means of encouraging discussions and engaging
attendees about the event. Also live streaming of events is another way of reaching millions
of audiences. Hashtags can also be used to reach those unable to attend the event thus giving
them an opportunity to follow the action. Hashtags can spread the occasion beyond those
present. Research shows that tweets with hashtags receive double the engagement compared
to those that do not have (Cohen, 2015). Check-ins also can be implemented to motivate
attendees to check-in the event at different locations. The survey by Heine (2012) shows that
almost half of the 25 million individuals that download the foursquare app use it for at least
once a month. Lastly, to make the event lively, the organizers should provide continued
customer support by responding to queries like the direction to the venue, the time the band
enters the stage among others.
2.4 Extending the Lifetime Value of an Event
In conventional marketing, the conclusion of an event also marked the end of the promotion,
which meant that in the next event the organizers had to start all over again by looking for
audiences. However, with the current advancement in technology, the attendees can be
engaged all through using various social networking sites such as Youtube, Pinterest among
others. The event organizers can maintain an engaged community by uploading highlights
videos on YouTube to keep reminding the attendees how great the event was and always to
encourage others to attend. It is estimated that over four billion hours are spent each month
on watching Youtube videos.
Perhaps the best part of maintaining an engaged community is the opportunity to get
feedback on the event from the attendees by using a social monitoring tool to evaluate the
conversation during and after the event. The social media buzz can be a source of appraisal

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by examining the likes and dislikes of the attendees and acts as a basis for improvements in
the next event. The Columbus Marathon is a fitting example of the use of social media for
maintaining a community of attendees. They manage and keep an online platform for
attendees all through the year. This ensures that they have an established and ready
community of promising attendees once the training season gets underway and marketing
begins.
2.4.1 Social Trends and Shifts
Khang, Ki, and Ye (2012) observe that the increasing number of users of social network sites
has forced companies to also shift their marketing techniques to where the customers are
mostly found. These revolutionary changes have been optimized on as opportunities for
growth by most of the successful organizations. Each organization is now focused on gaining
traffic through social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter among others. This is
attributed to the shifts in social trends.
Organizations do not necessarily need to meet their clients face to face, but instead, they can
trade via online platforms. This means that corporations have to maintain a substantial online
presence to meet the customer needs. Customer service including feedback has also shifted
according to the social trends (Lovelock, 2011). Unlike the traditional marketing methods
where event organizers had to meet clients or communicate over the phone, Melián-González
et al. (2013) opine that the current trend has enabled the organizers to receive customer
feedbacks through the social media. These feedbacks are then used to evaluate customer
satisfaction and make improvements where necessary. This type of online survey is instant,
and prompt actions can be made to increase customer satisfaction. Customer reviews are also
other means of ascertaining the quality of services and the need for any improvement.

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3.0 Recommendations
3.1 Establish Complete Social Profiles
The organization should shift with the increasing trend of social media marketing by ensuring
that its social profiles such as Twitter, Facebook among others are complete. Each social
network has different opportunities for the company to showcase its products, services, and
accomplishments, and therefore to develop a robust online presence, the advantages of each
network should be leveraged. The social profiles should be active all the time, and the
customer queries responded promptly. The creation of productive social patterns will be able
to address the rising trend of the number of users of the social media and the corresponding
advancement in technology (Saravanakumar et al., 2012).
3.2 Create an interactive Website and Blog
The use of social media as a marketing strategy is indeed powerful, but there is still the need
of creating a website to act as a hub for all the online activity of the organization. Hoffman
and Fodor (2010) argue that a well-designed site offers the opportunity to upload various blog
posts, videos, etc. and brand them in a manner that reflects the organization. Also, there is
much freedom in a website as to how one can package given information, a feature that is
limited to the social platforms. The combination of the use of a website, blog and social
media platforms will increase the online presence of the corporation in response towards the
technological advancements and demographic changes.

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