Since event planning can take a lot of time, it’s critical to find ways to maximize content creation from events.
What does this mean in its simplest form?
Find a way to document and record your event participation: take pictures, jot down notes, shoot a live video, and monitor what other people are saying about your event. Last but not least, write a recap or record a video after the event. I’ll expand on those ideas as I talk about Random Acts of Kindness Day in Menomonee Falls.
Event Planning
When the Leadership Menomonee Falls Class of 2020 announced their plans for Random Acts of Kindness Day, I knew I had to find a way to do something for it. I was part of Leadership Menomonee Falls last year and had an amazing experience. Naturally, I wanted to support the current class’s service project.
Being kind is part of how we operate at Appeal Marketing and in our daily lives.
Since I enjoy working with others, I reached out to Amy at APQ Printing and talked about a card-making station. We bounced a few ideas off of each other, not sure how it would evolve. I also called fellow chamber member, Lisa Mackey, who coincidentally had the same idea. We all felt that a handwritten note goes a long way to make a difference in someone’s day. That cemented our decision to co-host a Kindness Card Station.
Event Promotion
I created this event description and graphics:
APQ Printing, Appeal Marketing, and Hospitality Solutions are sponsoring Kindness Cards for Random Acts of Kindness Day because one kind word can change someone’s entire day.
Our Kindness Card station will include pre-printed postcards, stamps, pens, and markers. Feel free to write our your message to someone special on the spot or take a postcard to go.
Say thank you, give a compliment, or simply let someone know you’re thinking of them. Please join us in spreading kindness through written cards!
The Leadership Menomonee Falls class and Menomonee Falls Chamber shared the Facebook event I created on my business page, and we all shared on our personal pages. I personally invited my contacts via email and texting.
Especially for larger events, it’s important to monitor what other participants are doing, comment on other posts and share other participant’s content to promote the event as a whole. Being social and human on social media is not only fun, but it’s also a good practice to increase reach and show your company’s personality.
Day of the Event
The official day was finally here! We had approved and printed a cute speech bubble design on the postcards. We had pens, crayons, blank “create your own” postcards for little artists, stamps, a sign holder, and a basket in case we had to mail postcards for someone.
Our very first morning Kindness Card Station at the YMCA was ready to go.
It was an absolute joy to see the surprise on guest’s faces when we told them we had free cards and stamps to send someone special a note. Some told us, “Great, I’ll send these to my grandkids.” Another woman said, “I know someone who could use one of these notes. She is going through a tough time.”
One sweet woman told us to, “Save our stamps” because she had some at home.
We saw some people we knew and made some new friends. It was a blast!
Later that afternoon, we convened for our happy hour Kindness Card Station. Each venue has a different vibe, and we looked for ones with more foot traffic. The morning YMCA station did reach more people, as everyone tends to go their separate way later in the day. A few restaurant patrons took some postcards to keep on spreading kindness. Leadership Menomonee Falls participants later showed up and shared stories from their day that took them across the community to schools, businesses, and area non-profits. Kindness was everywhere!
While we limited our content to pictures and comments on social media, we could have also taken video – either recorded and edited or live video on Facebook. However, the posts of pictures stayed consistent with the group’s overall coverage. Since we were only one event in a collection of many Random Acts of Kindness events, we didn’t want to overdo promoting our event.
Event Results
At our last station, we all agreed that our Kindness Card Station was a lot of fun. We enjoyed the opportunity to collaborate, get to know one another better, and share our love of handwritten notes with others. 100 postcards were handed out and passed along to spread kindness.
In looking at Facebook Insights, I was able to reach a much broader audience and present my company in a non-selling way. It helped increase brand awareness and build goodwill. My reach on LinkedIn was higher than average posts too.
The entire Random Acts of Kindness Day in Menomonee Falls was a huge success. The local paper wrote a story about it, and a local tv station covered the event’s ribbon-cutting.
I was so moved by all of their kind acts that I shared this comment on Facebook:
THANK YOU for inspiring us all with this giant servant leadership project! You are amazing! It is uplifting to see all of the pictures of people who were treated to kind gestures today. Kindness makes such a difference. Well done!
Cathy Olig to Leadership Menomonee Falls Class of 2020
Ways Ideas to Maximize Content Creation with Events
In summary, think about maximizing content throughout the event planning process. For example:
- Start with a written description that can be edited for other social media posts
- Remember to take and share pictures during or after the event
- Record video – go live if you feel inspired
- Monitor and participate in the larger group when appropriate
- Track results, determine the effectiveness and ideas to change
- Follow-up and say thank you to guests, co-organizers
- Write a blog post about the event
- Record a video recap after the event
- Promote the blog post with additional social media graphics
- Add the story of the event to your newsletter
Content creation is an on-going process for any business. Sometimes it’s easy to forget to hit record or document a small event or cool customer experience. With advance planning and the right marketing partner in place, you can more easily create content that effectively showcases your brand.
Interested in learning more?
Contact Appeal Marketing for a free consultation today!