Snöball’s Influencer Marketing Extends Event Amplification
June 12, 2019
Event marketers are used to seeing a lot of buzz onsite at their events. Between messaging pushed out by the host organization itself, social media sharing and media coverage, an event is a hive of marketing activity. But what’s often lacking, says Rachel Stephan, chief snöballer at snöball, is the authentic voice that comes from the people who are actually experiencing the event — the attendees, speakers, partners and exhibitors.
That’s the idea behind snöball, a digital tool that helps event organizers harness the power of influencer marketing and put it to use at their events: to provide a way for those event participants to easily share your message through the filter of their own personal experiences.
“With influencer marketing, you’re giving the megaphone to your influencers, because [the message] is more authentic coming from them,” Stephan says.
Ideally, the buzz should start long before your event takes place, helping to raise awareness and excitement to drive attendance, media awareness or any other goals around visibility, she adds.
In an initial snöballcampaign, everyone involved with the event is considered an influencer. Snöball provides your influencers with the assets and tools they need to advertise the event. For a speaker, these communications focus around the fact that they’re speaking, their topic, the date and time. For an exhibitor, it would be their booth number and what they’re demoing. The content could be anything that will help your influencer promote their participation and become an advocate or ambassador for your event.
Snöball recently launched additional services designed to expand content and extend event marketing amplification even farther. These new offerings, which can be considered a “phase two” of the campaign, allow event planners to take influencer engagement one step further.
The first new service is focused on retargeting. Snöball takes all the data gathered from the initial campaign and figures out who your most engaged — and engaging — advocates are. Then, the company works with that specific segment to further amplify your message by retargeting all the people who may have visited the assets or landing pages shared by that influencer. The idea behind the retargeting is that the more times those prospects see your event advertised, the more likely they are to click through to your landing page and hopefully decide to register.
This retargeting can also be expanded to include “lookalike” audiences, whose demographics mirror that of those who have engaged with your influencers.
The second offering is centered around co-creation of content with these highly engaged influencers. Based on the data, they are the people sharing the most event-related content and getting the most hits on their landing pages — so they are already extending your reach. Why not work with them to create a piece of content that can be used year-round?
Snöball will approach these influencers on your behalf, and working with you, will take charge of creating this new content. It could be a short interview video, or a 30-second video clip of them talking about what people will learn at their session, or why they are excited about the event. Post-event, it could be a video telling people what they missed, and driving them to recorded sessions, slides or other content on your site that may be of interest.
Stephan says that essentially people come to events for two things: networking and education. And they are looking for content that will help them make a decision on which events to attend.
“[These video clips are] a low-key authentic way to get that piece of content,” Stephan explains.
She adds, “Here is a video from the speaker themself about the topic. We give it to them to use on their landing pages, so they have another way to promote their participation. And from a meeting planner point of view, you now have a great content asset to use in your marketing campaign.”
Stephan also notes that these video clips come across as more authentic because they aren’t highly produced and polished.
These pieces of content can also be repurposed into additional content. Say there’s a recorded conversation with a speaker on a specific topic of interest for your event. That could be turned into a blog post, or quotes could be used in a compilation of testimonials. All this new content can be used to improve not only your event website but also your marketing campaigns throughout the year.
“You can include these pieces in your email marketing and it's great for inbound to bring traffic back to your site,” says Stephan. “It creates more variety and more content for your campaigns.”
Snöball has also just released a new guide to event influencer marketing, to help event marketers learn how to better engage with influencers.
To learn more about launching your own snöball, go here.
Download your complimentary copy of the Event Influencer Marketing Guide here.
Don’t miss any event-related news: Sign up for our weekly e-newsletter HERE and engage with us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram!
Partner Voices
Less than six months ago, Lisa Messina joined the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) as the first-ever chief sales officer after leading the sales team at Caesars Entertainment. A 12-year Las Vegas resident, Messina is a graduate of Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration and serves on MPI International’s board of directors.
TSNN had a chance to catch up with this dynamic leader and talk to her about her vision for the new role, current shifts in the trade show industry, creating more diversity and equity within the organization, and advice to future female leaders.
Lisa Messina, Chief Sales Officer, LVCVA
With Las Vegas becoming The Greatest Arena on EarthTM, what are some of the things you’re most excited about in your role?
Our team was at The Big Game’s handoff ceremony earlier this month, and I couldn’t help but think, “We’re going to crush it next year!”
These high-profile events and venues not only drive excitement, but also provide unmatched opportunities for event planners. Allegiant Stadium hosts events from 10 to 65,000 people and offers on-field experiences. Formula 1 Grand Prix will take place in Las Vegas in November, after the year-one F1 race, the four-story paddock building will be available for buyouts and will also offer daily ride-along experiences that will be available for groups. And, of course, the MSG Sphere officially announced that it will open in September, ahead of schedule, with a U2 residency. It’s going to be the most technologically advanced venue as far as lighting, sound, feel, and even scent, and it will be available for buyouts and next-level sponsorships inside and outside. There’s no ceiling to what you can do when you’re doing events in Las Vegas.
Allegiant Stadium
As the trade show and convention business returns to the pre-pandemic levels, what shifts are you noticing and how do you think they will impact the industry going forward?
Our trade show organizers are very focused on driving customer experience. Most of our organizers are reporting stronger exhibitor numbers and increased numbers of new exhibitors, with trade shows proving to be almost or above 2019 levels. Now our organizers are really doubling down on driving attendance and focusing on the data to provide that individualized, customized experience to help attendees meet their goals and get the best value. Some companies continue to be cautiously optimistic with their organizational spend when it comes to sending attendees, but I think it will continue to improve. As the U.S. Travel Association makes more progress on the U.S. visa situation, we also expect a growing influx of international attendees.
What are some innovative ways the LVCVA helps trade show and convention organizers deliver the most value for their events?
We focus on customer experience in the same way that trade show organizers are thinking about it. We got rave reviews with the West Hall Expansion of the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC), so over the next two years, we will be renovating the North and the Central halls, which will include not just the same look and feel, but also the digital experiences that can be leveraged for branding and sponsorship opportunities.
Vegas Loop, the underground transportation system designed by The Boring Company, is also a way we have enhanced the customer experience. Vegas Loop at the LVCC has transported more than 900,000 convention attendees across the campus since its 2021 launch. Last summer, Resorts World and The Boring Company opened the first resort stop at the Resorts World Las Vegas , with plans to expand throughout the resort corridor, including downtown Las Vegas, Allegiant Stadium and Harry Reid International Airport. The LVCVA also purchased the Las Vegas Monorail in 2020, the 3.9-mile-long elevated transportation system that connects eight resorts directly to the convention center campus. This is the only rail system in the world that integrates fares directly into show badges and registration. For trade show organizers, these transportation options mean saving time, money and effort when it comes to moving groups from the hotels to LVCC and around the city.
Also, the more we can focus on building the infrastructure around the convention center, the more it supports the customer experience and ultimately supports our trade show organizers. Scheduled to debut in Q4, Fontainebleau Las Vegas will offer 3,700 hotel rooms and 550,000 square feet of meeting and convention space next to LVCC.
What are some of the plans for advancing DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) within your organization?
We’re currently partnering with instead of working with a leading consulting firm, to lay the foundation and create a solid DEI plan and be the leader when it comes to DEI initiatives. The heart of that journey with the consulting firm is also talking to our customers about their strategic approaches to DEI and driving innovation in this space.
What are your favorite ways to recharge?
My husband and I have an RV and we’re outdoorsy people. So, while we have over 150,000 world-class hotel rooms and renowned restaurants right outside our doorstep, one of my favorite things to do is get out to Red Rock Canyon, the Valley of Fire, and Lake Mead. Five of the top national parks are within a three-hour drive from Las Vegas, so there’s a lot you can do. We love balancing the energy of Las Vegas with nature, and we’re noticing that a lot of attendees add activities off the Strip when they come here.
Valley of Fire
What advice would you give to women following leadership paths in destination marketing?
I think it’s about being laser-focused on what you want to accomplish; building a team around you that lifts you and helps you achieve your goals; and being humble and realizing that you do it as a group. No one gets this done alone. Thankfully, there are a lot of women in leadership in this organization, in our customers’ organizations, and in this city that we can be really proud of. We’re a formidable force that is making things happen.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
This article is exclusively sponsored by the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority. For more information, visit HERE.
Add new comment