Welcome to another episode of Social Media Sanity, a podcast designed to guide you through the vast realm of social media. I’m thrilled to have you here! If you haven’t already, don’t forget to hit that subscribe button and give us a thumbs up to let us know you’re enjoying the content. Let’s dive in!
Have you ever attended a social media event and felt like you were just going with the flow? Well, today’s episode is all about empowering you to make the most out of your events with purpose and intention. As a business owner, it’s crucial to set clear goals and define your intentions before, during, and after the event. Let’s explore how you can unlock multiple outcomes from a single event.
Setting Your Intentions and Goals
First things first, it’s important to identify what you want to achieve from the event. Do you aim to grow your business, make valuable connections, or raise awareness about your work? By setting clear intentions, you’ll be able to navigate the event with purpose and guide your actions accordingly. As I always say, intentions drive results!
Once you’ve established your intentions, it’s time to set specific goals. What are the tangible outcomes you want to accomplish at the event? Whether it’s booking calls, meeting influential individuals, or expanding your newsletter list, make sure your goals align with your overall intentions. These goals will act as your checklist, helping you stay focused and accountable.
Preparation for Success
To ensure a successful event, it’s vital to prepare in alignment with your intentions and goals. If your intention is to grow your newsletter list by 50 people, you’ll need to ensure your newsletter funnel is primed. Check if your funnel is set up and working smoothly, and consider creating a compelling incentive to entice event attendees to subscribe.
Moreover, think about capturing significant moments through images and videos. These assets will be invaluable for future content or showcasing your expertise and credibility. Depending on the event type, you may need to hire a videographer or simply rely on fellow attendees to snap a picture. Gauge the importance and type of content you need and allocate resources accordingly.
Nailing the Event
When you’re finally at the event, make the most of your time by making connections, booking appointments, and capturing relevant content. Ensure easy accessibility by utilizing QR codes, whether on your business cards or your phone’s home screen. This quick and simple interaction allows others to connect with you effortlessly, whether it’s booking a call or following you on Instagram.
If the event has a hashtag, be sure to use it! Sharing content and engaging with others online creates an offline-to-online bridge, strengthening connections made during the event. Remember, people trust those they’ve met in person, and this online connection reinforces that trust for future collaborations.
Post-Event Follow-up
Here’s where the magic happens—follow up with a clear call to action (CTA). Whether it’s scheduling a call to chat further or promoting a specific product, be proactive in continuing the conversation. Remember, fortune and collaboration lie in the follow-up. If writing follow-up emails feels challenging, use tools like Chat GPT to create a personalized and effective message.
Additionally, connect with people you met on social media platforms such as LinkedIn or Instagram. Like and engage with their content to show your genuine interest and maintain those newly formed connections. By adding value online, you solidify your offline interactions and open doors for future collaboration.
Action Items:
- Set clear intentions and specific goals before attending an event.
- Assess your resources and allocate them according to the importance of capturing content.
- Utilize QR codes for easy connection and engagement during and after the event.
Remember, making the most out of social media events begins with purpose and intention. By setting clear intentions, specific goals, and following through with strategic actions, you’re bound to unlock multiple outcomes. Now, go forth and conquer those events!
If you need social media support, schedule your call at bit.ly/TalkWithTamay to get you started.
Full Transcript:
Tamay Shannon [00:00:04]:
Welcome to Social Media Sanity, the podcast that brings you bite sized reminders and insights to navigate the world of social media. I’m your host, Tamay Shannon. In each short episode, we provide practical strategies, thought provoking questions, and permission to be true to yourself as a business owner. Join us on this journey to a mindful and purposeful online presence. Let’s dive. In this episode, we’re going to be talking about events and how you can have multiple outcomes from one event. And we’re going to talk about what you should do before, during, and after on social media so that you can reach your goals in the business. The first thing you’re going to do as prep work for this upcoming event by the way, congratulations on the event, whatever it is.
Tamay Shannon [00:00:55]:
The first thing that you want to do is you want to set your intentions and goals. The intentions are what do you want to accomplish out of this event? I want this event to grow my business by 10%. I want this event to introduce me to three movers and shakers in the Chicago area. I want this event to but you want to set the intentions for this event. And what the intentions do is it guides your actions. It guides who you talk to, how you behave, and all of that wonderful stuff. So at the end of the event, you’re not just left with, oh, I met some cool people. It was really good, let’s see what happens.
Tamay Shannon [00:01:39]:
No, we’re not going to do was see what happens. We are going to create and guide what happens by setting our intention. Then you want to set the goals for the event. So I’m going to book five calls. I’m going to meet this person. So very specific things that you can check off the list, right? So you want to set the goals for the event, and you want to keep these goals present for you as you move into the aligned prep work that you’ve got to do. And so if you’re trying to figure out, okay, so what is the prep work that I need to do? It’s dictated by your intentions and your goals. So if you say, hey, I want to grow my newsletter list by 50 people from this event, then that means you’ve got to make sure that your newsletter list is set up or working.
Tamay Shannon [00:02:27]:
You got to make sure that the funnel part, like how they enter into the funnel. What is a follow up sequence? Are you going to create a new follow up sequence? Are you going to reuse an old one? How are you going to entice them to join the newsletter list? Is it going to be a prize? Is it going to be candy? What are you going to do to entice them to join the list? So you’ve got to think about all the pieces of your newsletter funnel to make sure that everyone works for this event. And is custom for this event. So that’s how you determine your aligned prep work based on your goals and your intention. Another piece of prep work that you want to do for the event is you want to look at are there any video or images that you need to capture for the event, or during the event rather. And so this is your shot list. So what things, what pieces of content do you need to capture for use later down the road for posterity, whatever reason. But what pictures do you need to caption and write those down, whether it’s you in front of your booth, whether it’s you speaking on stage, whatever it is, and you want to look at the importance of these images and videos.
Tamay Shannon [00:03:39]:
And that will be how you rank whether you, let’s say, get a videographer. So let’s say you’re keynoting, I would suggest getting a videographer for that. Get somebody who can record the video of you on stage, record the audience, because that will definitely be an asset that you can use to grow your business. But if you are at a vending table, it might be sufficient to have somebody in the crowd take a picture for you. So depending on the type of event, it will determine what resources you devote to capturing images and videos from them. Now you’re at the event, make sure that you get your pictures, get your video, all of that wonderful stuff. Make sure you’re making appointments, making connections. And for all of this, you want to make it easy for people to connect with you.
Tamay Shannon [00:04:28]:
So whether you’re passing out business cards, whether you’re setting up calls on the spot, one of the easiest things that I find for people to use is a QR code. And you can put this in two places. If you have a vending table, you can put your QR code, print it out, put it on a table, have it put in acrylic, you can make it fancy, whatever. But what this allows people to do is quickly scan it and book a call with you, scan it and follow you on Instagram, scan it and sign up to your newsletter. And so this QR code should be in line with what your goals and intentions are for the event. So that’s how you’ll determine where this QR code directs people. And another place you can put the QR code is your phone. So while you are not at the vending table or while you’re just walking around at the conference, this is something that, again, people can scan the home screen of your phone and get to where they want to quickly.
Tamay Shannon [00:05:31]:
So instead of them being like, hey, what’s this? Or where do I go? They can scan it and instantly book a call. They can scan it and find the time that works best for them on your calendar. And there, we’re good to go. Also, here’s a little bonus. Make sure you have a 15 to 22nd elevator pitch, maybe even closer to 15 seconds. And when you get up to the mic to ask a question, when you introduce yourself, make sure you do that quick elevator pitch before you get into your question. This is going to allow you to share who you are and give people in the room the opportunity to connect with you. If this event is big enough to have a hashtag, like it’s a conference or something like that, I think it’s very important that during the event, you use the hashtag and send out content.
Tamay Shannon [00:06:24]:
Whether it’s LinkedIn or Instagram, whatever is appropriate, make sure you send out content and be able to participate online and connect with people that way. So you’ll be able to see the hashtags, see other people’s content, connect with them. And what that does is it helps to bridge the offline online gap. People trust people that they meet in person. And so if you are able to say, hey, here I am in real life and here’s my person online, this is who I am online, and you’re able to bridge that gap and show people, it makes that connection a lot stronger. So when you go to make a request, when you go to set up a call or anything like that, they are much more likely willing to collaborate. And finally, after the event, the things that you want to do after the event are obviously follow up with a CTA. So whether that CTA is book a call, let’s have a chitchat, let’s get to know each other, a 20 minutes virtual coffee, or whether that CTA is buy this product, whatever it is, make sure you follow up.
Tamay Shannon [00:07:35]:
Fortune is in the follow up. Money is in the follow up. Collaboration, the serendipity, the magic is in the follow up. So make sure you follow up. And if you’re anything like me and you’re like, I don’t know what to say. This is so weird and awkward. Go to chat GPT Tell Chat GPT to create a short follow up email for you, for this audience and this type of event. It’s going to spit out something, you’ll edit it and use that.
Tamay Shannon [00:08:00]:
You’ll also want to connect with people on social and then like and engage their content immediately after. So connect, like for example, connect with them on LinkedIn. Go to a post that they recently created, like the post and comment on the post. You can do the same thing on Instagram, but connecting on social and then liking engaging with their content signals to them, hey, remember me? This is who I am just dropping by connecting, right? It signals that to them. So make sure you do that. And finally post ASAP. So don’t sit on your recap like, oh, I just went to this event, it was really great. Don’t post it three weeks from now.
Tamay Shannon [00:08:43]:
Post it as soon as possible. And it doesn’t have to be perfect. What you want to illustrate with this post typically, are a couple of things your expertise. You want to show that you’re still learning and growing and becoming an expert in continuing that in your field. And you also want to show that you’re open for business. This is just another way to show that you are actively open for business. This is what you do before, during and after your events and following this system. Following this plan will make events much more fruitful for you and your business.
Tamay Shannon [00:09:22]:
Like I said, one event, multiple outcomes. And that wraps up social media sanity. Apply the insights and strategies to build a mindful online presence. If you enjoyed this episode, I would greatly appreciate it if you could leave a review on your favorite podcast platform. Your feedback helps me reach more listeners like you. Stay tuned for more episodes as we navigate social media together. Thank you for joining me on this journey. Take care and do you.
