I challenged those that were at the recent Bluegrass Race Directors Symposium that rather than (figuratively) sleeping in the day(s) after their events that they should be extending what I refer to as the Crescendo. As illustrated in the slide below, there is an enormous amount of effort that goes into the planning and execution of the physical event with little to no effort to extend the magic post-event. You have a huge opportunity to Extend the Crescendo!
If you think of the actual (physical) event as the “Crescendo” it represents a couple of hours for your participants following weeks and months of planning on your part. After the event is over you exhale and breathe a sigh of relief that you've got 8 or 9 good months before you have to go through that hell again. I’m going to burst your bubble! The days and weeks following your event are just as important as the days and weeks that precede it.
Create A Share-Worthy Narrative
You should think of your event as a series of experiences that extend from pre to post-event and create great stories around those experiences that are “share-worthy”. If you create great experiences and stories to go along with them your participants will spread the word. I have written before about the importance of storytelling on my personal blog at http://illmakeaclaim.tumblr.com/post/7759597739/importance-of-story-telling. This is the content that should drive your social media strategy.
Creating great content takes some time and thought. If you'll invest in the overall experience surrounding your event you will never be without content again. If you're "forcing" tweets and facebook posts you should reevaluate your strategy. How many times have you opened up your event’s facebook page or twitter account and scrambled to think of something to post? Those posts are probably not worth much. I argue you should create experiences and content that your participants will enthusiastically share for you. Facilitate it, don’t micro-manage it.
At Punndit we think of “Content” as a combination of pre and post-race information that your participants want to not only consume but share. Some of that content is information driven (ie. registration info, deadlines, etc) and some is celebratory (ie. race results, event photos, etc). We’ve been working diligently on our RaceFace platform (https://www.facebook.com/Punndit/app_340327739363495) to not only capture that content and make it easy for your participants to share but also to combine it in new ways, sprinkle in some software magic along the way, and generate new content that is worthy of sharing.
RaceFace’s primary feature-to-date is a post-race application for socializing around video captured at your event. Runners can search for themselves or friends by Bib# or Name and jump directly to those moments in the video where they can then make comments (we call them punns) to be shared out on facebook and twitter. The links on those social networks lead visitors back to that specific spot in the video that was shared and allows everyone to add their own punns. It’s not about seeing yourself, it’s about sharing an experience. It’s what we call Social Moments. The comments we see on RaceFace tell the story. There’s the obligatory “That’s me in the white hat” but more telling are the comments like “Most of us have embarrassing moments that do not get recorded for posterity, however I got to have my upchuck finish recorded for all to see.” That’s a Social Moment! They drive traffic which drives awareness. They are part of your event’s experience and they extend beyond the participants to their circle of friends and acquaintances. They want to share, you just have to give them the content and the tools!
We’re seeing an average of between 250-300 facebook friends for those that have connected to RaceFace. That means every time one of your participants posts or shares something about your event they are likely exposing your event to more than 200 others! That’s the kind of multiplying effect you want. You just need to give them something to talk about.
Leverage Video Through Media Partners
You can take your videos (and exposure) to another level by fostering media partnerships. Video can be syndicated and we’ve built RaceFace to leverage that. You can upload your videos to YouTube which are then pulled into your Facebook page through the RaceFace app. Those same videos can then be shown through RaceFace on other sites such as local media partners facebook pages: Television stations, newspapers, radio stations. They all have facebook pages, why not leverage them to grow your event. They would love for you to hand them content.
Experiences + Narrative + Sharing = Extended Crescendo
It's a pretty easy formula but requires some creativity which can't always be outsourced. Only you know the essence of your event and what interests your audience. Quit thinking of your "event" as a static few hours of time on a Saturday morning and start thinking of it as a series of experiences that form a narrative. Then unleash your audience and they'll share your story.
