2019 LOOR Racing Guide

Page 46 Lake Ontario Offshore Racing Guide
UTILIZING SOCIAL MEDIA
TO ELEVATE YOUR REGATTA
By Louisa Sonosky | Parker Media Management Inc.
YOU’VE GOT THE FOLLOWERS – NOW WHAT?
Half the battle in social media is gaining followers, the other half (arguably the
more important half), is what to do to keep them interested and engaging with
you. The importance of this cannot be underplayed as your followers are an
important asset to your brand, organisation and event. I’ve put together my top
5 tips on how to utilize your followers to elevate your regatta, increase its
success, and impress sponsors.
POST WITH MEANING
It’s not enough to post a status update a couple days before an event or share a
link from something else. All posts need to be done with meaning to represent an
extension of your event/brands voice. For example, sharing information leading
up to the event about sponsors, how-to sign up for certain things, or payment
deadlines have much more significance to your followers than a post with a few
sentences only. Running a contest with a giveaway from one of your sponsors or
asking a question to elicit a response from them. LOOR did this in 2017 with
Humberview for a chance to win car detailing packages; racers had to post a
sunset picture. Always ask yourself about the value added – to your customer
and event – before you hit the post button.
CONSISTENT COMMUNICATION
Coming in hot right before and during your event but then never posting again
isn’t the best thing. You should consistently be communicating with your followers,
so they get to know your brand and members of your event. Consistent
communication in 2017 for the Susan Hood Trophy Race allowed us to increase
Facebook engagement by 178.2% in the long term and 92% in the short term.
In 2018, we further increased engagement by 13.28%. Similarly, for the LO300
in 2017, we engaged with 40,329 on Facebook alone – a 73% increase – while
on Twitter we delivered messages to 18,200 people.
QUALITY OVER QUANTITY
If you’re feeling like you have to post for the sake of posting, then you probably
shouldn’t be posting. Always think back to your regatta’s purpose before posting
something to ensure it fits with your events meaning, purpose and community.
Followers are constantly thrown information all day so the last thing they need
is more unnecessary posts that clutter their feeds.
THE SECOND TIP LEADS INTO THE THIRD – GRAPHICS
You MUST use some form of graphics when posting or sharing something on your
event’s social media platforms. Videos and photos are way more engaging than