SMM Matters

Does your current strategic meetings management strategy include planning for your social media presence? 

These days, it’s hardly enough to just send out an email invitation for a meeting and expect to gain the attention of all of those who should attend your meeting – you need the message to “go viral” and make its way through social media channels and get noticed.  This is true not just for public events, but for corporate and association events as well.  Between LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Google+, the way in which you market your event needs a cohesive strategy – and that strategy should be part of your overall strategic meetings management plan. 

Brand management is something that all strategic meeting professional should be paying attention to, and social media is definitely part of how your meeting’s brand is executed.  (More on brand management and meetings in an upcoming post!)   When you have multiple meeting planners at an company organizing events, it’s important that the company’s brand is executed with consistency and thought – and what better way to gain this visibility and control than via SMM.

One way to start monitoring your overall social media presence via SMM is to include a question (or two) on your meeting request form (MRF).  This is the form completed by someone who wants to hold a meeting at your organization and sets the SMM process in motion.   Adding a question like, “Would this meeting benefit from marketing via social media?” to the MRF requires the person completing the form to think about how social media can be incorporated into the marketing strategy for the meeting being planned.  The response to this type of question can also prompt follow up from someone in charge of social media and/or direct the meeting requester to resources to help align their social media strategy with that of the entire company. This process also allows for data to be collected on how social media is being utilized for meetings and events across an enterprise, and can help strengthen an organization’s overall brand. 

For more ideas about how to use social media to market events, check out our recent ebook!