The Impact of Social Media on Events
Event managers must come to terms with the new social media
platforms Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, as they present fresh opportunities
and challenges (Bladen et al, 2012: 387).
However as stated by Kietzmann et al
(2011) “Social media is very
powerful, many executives are reluctant or unable to develop strategies and
allocate resources to engage effectively with social media” (p.241). Therefore social media forms a contemporary
issue which is affecting the events industry.
In order to understand the impact of social media we firstly
need to identify why event companies are using social media. One of the most
important benefits social media brings is that it allows companies to reach
networks of people. As stated by Bladen et al (2012) “These sites bring
together like-minded people and allow them to maintain dialogue with family,
friends or business associates” (p. 389). Therefore networks of people that
share experiences at an event can connect to each other, creating word of mouth
and viral propagation. The effect of this was examined in a study by Lee at al
(2012) who examined the “Effect of Facebook users' arousal and valence on intention to go to the
festival”. The findings from the study strongly suggest that event
professionals should design event pages with exciting elements as it generates
positive emotions. With the creation of the event page this also guarantees
communication between the organiser and the attendees before during and after
the event. The benefit that this also brings is that it is an ideal platform
for organizers to collect and gather market research feedback.
From the research that I have
gained and personal experiences as an event planner I believe that Facebook is
the most favorable platform in order to promote an event. Facebook event pages
are beneficial to event organizers as it allows potential attendees to identify
local events, encounter reviews, create more public relationships which can
increase attendance at an event (Becker et al, 2009:cited by Lee et al,
2012). Therefore this indicates that by
creating an event page this acts like a fan page. This increases excitement and
anticipation to the buildup of the event as users connect with each other.
Allowing users to connect with each other builds a network around the event as
individuals can see whose who and who else is interested in the event.
Another advantage Facebook
brings to an event page is the option to add photos and videos. Lee et al
(2012) recommends that “event managers should include
carefully crafted video messages that promote the excitement experienced by
past event attendees who were inspired to attend the event by Facebook event
pages”. Therefore evidence shows that
this marketing technique creates feelings of emotion for the attendees unlike
most traditional methods, a video will give the attendee an understanding of
what to expect. Consequently building up the excitement for an event and
resulting in higher event attendee attendance.
Kietzmann, J. Hermkens, K. McCarthy, I. Silvestre, B. .
(2011). Social media? Get serious! Understanding the. Business Horizons .
54 (1), p.241-251.
