1. Invest time in social media
Most businesses recognize the importance of social media and the huge amount of daily users that are active, but not all of these business owners take action and reap the rewards of this. Social media isn’t as easy as just posting an image; Listening, engaging, responding and staying active are all components that enhance a businesses social presence.
Social media is a chance for event owners to really portray a positive image of their events and use imagery as a persuasive technique to showcase people having fun and the best reactions from previous events. It’s important to note that video content usually performs considerably better and you can increase engagement levels by using a call to action in the caption section. For example, ask the followers a question such as ‘What would you like to experience next time?’ This encourages comments on your posts and subsequently increases your engagement levels. If you spend time replying to these comments and building a rapport with your followers, it helps to build a level of trust and eventually can assist in turning them into loyal customers.
The key is to make your communication feel more personal and tailor your captions/posts to your niche audience. Social media is a huge tool in helping a brand portray it’s personality; this can be done through the use of images & captions.
In the context of a chocolate cooking class, you could upload positive images of your previous cooking events that show your fellow advocates enjoying their baking. Utilise captions to ask your followers questions such as ‘What’s your favourite cake?’ or ‘When did you last bake a cake?’, this will allow you to start a personalised conversations with people who reply.
2. Have a blog section
Having a blog section on your website is such an effective tool when it comes to communicating with your audience. Most of the time, when a user is reading a blog post, they are actively seeking new information. Blogs are typically the best for going into specific details on certain topics and allows a business to elaborate on the key points that they want to get across.
For example, Food based events can use their blogs to write up the ingredients and instructions for their favourite recipes! This is a great way to engage followers who want to try out the meals at home.
Blogs are also a very effective place to encourage further engagement from your readers, you can do this by recommending other blog posts that are within the same topic. At the end of your blog, it’s also beneficial to advertise your upcoming events if they complement the same topic. For example, if your blog is based on making a chocolate cake, then your readers will more than likely be interested in attending a cake/pastry event.
3. Networking is key
Networking is a very effective marketing tool. It’s a great opportunity to meet with potential clients, promote your brand and make connections in your industry. This technique is essentially offline advertising. For example, attending events such as markets and trade shows giving out free samples with a leaflet that contains a special offer for first time customers; this is highly effective and will help to raise your brand awareness. Your discount may be along the lines of 30% of your first cooking class, this will instantly generate interest and will allow you to strike up conversations about the discounted event.
Retaining customers is a key factor to a successful business. At the end of all your events, you should be presenting offers and talking about your upcoming events with existing customers. This creates loyalty with the customer and offers a sense of exclusivity as they know others won’t be offered the same deal.
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