Jessica serves Paragon Events as Marketing Specialist. While continuing to discover new ways to add a creative edge to Paragon Events and its clients, Zell takes a glimpse into 2018 marketing trends and a look back at 2017.
How do you see social media changing in 2018?
Video is huge on social media now and I don’t see that changing. With this, I think a lot of brands and companies are going to utilize that to their advantage and get creative with ways to show people the live experience of what they do.
There are several ways to advertise and customize on social media to target your audience. I believe that sponsored ads and branded content are going to increase.
What do you predict to be the most commonly used social channel?
I still think Facebook is the leader in social media. With more and more new channels coming and going, Facebook has done a great job at remaining relevant and keeping people connected. However, I do think that Instagram is a close second because of the visual aspect it provides to users.
How do you plan to reach your audience and create a more personal connection through the use of social media?
One brand I look up to is theSkimm. It incorporates all aspects that make a social media account successful. It is informative, funny, engaging, and emotional; ultimately it makes you feel like are a part of something.
In order to reach an audience, a personal connection has to be made, which I believe theSkimm does a great job at. One example I can think of in the events industry would be to share live updates on-site at an event to allow the public to feel present.
What would you say the positives and negatives are when it comes to marketing through social media?
The positives when it comes to marketing through social media would be that it’s free. There are also a magnitude of ways to get creative – it’s almost like an open road map that you can utilize to your advantage. Through social media, you are able to reach a multitude of markets depending on what specific channel is used for a message.
On the other hand, the negatives would be that it can be difficult to gage your ROI and decipher what is successful and what’s not. Capturing the public’s attention and actually keeping their attention is perhaps the most challenging tactic of social media.
What are some technologies or social channels you want to utilize for 2018?
When it comes to technology, Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality are now being seen at all types of events and meetings. This technology can be utilized onsite to reinvent an event experience.
Social channels provide extensive analytics that can help a brand or company better understand what is working verses what is not. They can also provide metrics to clients for recaps. This is something I want to dive deeper into internally and externally in 2018.
What marketing method do you find the most effective?
I really think that email marketing is the most effective. This marketing method is effective because it goes directly to an individual’s inbox. One of the first things people do in the morning is check their emails or scroll through social media. With email marketing, you can utilize graphics, content, and direct links to websites. It is ultimately an efficient and effective way to showcase all resources and information that you want to get across in one location.
From a marketing standpoint, what tactic do you find makes an event more successful than others?
I would also saying email marketing. Leading up to an event, securing attendees and maintaining that relationship is important. It ultimately helps to keep your attendees engaged in the stages leading up to an event.
Along with email marketing, taking advantage and investing in graphic design and printed materials can also help elevate the perception of an event and brand the overall event.
Live streaming has been utilized such as Facebook Live. How do you foresee that growing?
Live streaming can be utilized at events to create a sense of inclusion. It helps to offer a glimpse into an event from an outside standpoint for those who could not attend or who might have been interested in a certain part of the event such as a keynote speaker, etc.
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