What I learned about social marketing from SXSW
It ain’t over till the last beered-up guy gets escorted off the dance floor. But, before SXSW hits closing time, I thought I would reflect on somethings that I’ve learned.
1. If you make it and make it big, they will come.
There was a last minute show. I mean it came together Saturday and the show was Wednesday. Through the magic powers of a website post, Facebook posts, tweets, and a couple Instagram pictures, the place was packed beyond comfort zone levels. The show had really big names. The show had a great flyer that stuck out from all the other showcase flyers. Big, bold, and attractive marketing with ample amount of information, the show took off with no problems.
There were other showcases that had been put together for longer and had more time to disseminate information out that were great but not this great. Same amount of info. Same style of writing in presenting info (can’t show favorites that’s a no-no). Yet, the big named artists and attractive presentation of the showcase made it a much greater success.
2.Be lazy.
Now, I could have and should have done more by attending every showcase and taken pictures. Or, I can let the people who are there express their love for the artist in their tweets and photos.
By letting the public take the photos for their favorite DJ or band, you can feel the excitement of not only being in the middle of the crowd, but also have the true appreciation for the artist come out with every word written and picture taken. If I got in the middle everything just to snap a photo it would become just that: taking a picture of someone I don’t know or listened to that one song everyone kinda knows. It would show in the photo.
If I was going to take a picture of some unknown artist (to me) l might as well have put a cassette tape on a chair and set that on stage and post it to Instagram.
Another thing I’ve noticed is that people liked to be recognized for their words and images. As an artist, I love it when someone likes something I’ve done. And, for the public attending those shows, having that moment of joy in captured in a photo or a few short words and that then recognized by others, it could never be beat.
3. People are social so be social but not too social.
I’ve noticed to just keep it to the minimum on social. Marketing events for SXSW, the Facebook page had only one post featuring the showcases and some of the artists for that day. So, when people find the page, first thing they see is what, who, and what times can they see the people they came to SXSW to see.
The website had info about each artist as well as links to their music or their social pages. People don’t come to see a whole showcase. But, if you introduce them to the other artists they didn’t know, they would be more inclined to stay. They would even be more inclined to tell their friends about the “amazing artists” they just discovered and how they “have to go see them.” Again, the more info and just the right amount info and will get people talking.
More or less the same logic was applied to both Twitter and Instagram. Before these whole South By shenanigans got rolling, I set 6 tweets per day of SXSW—only 6 tweets. Each was written with the same style and same information. The modern, social society took care of the rest.
All I did the whole SXSW experience was retweet from any of the artists’ performing at the showcases. I retweeted fans who attended the showcases. I made sure to definitely retweet any coverage we received. The same rules applied to Instagram: The showcase bills were posted by me, and pictures of the performances were all reposted from fan pictures.
Overall, this isn’t the greatest solution or advancement in marketing thought. But, the power of how increasingly social people have become is something to consider. By no means is this letting the public have free reign in marketing. Instead, it’s allowing the best content made by fans for other fans to have some light and recognition. I marketed the shows. The fans took the show info and love for the artists they came to see and marketed the great performances themselves.