Why Event Marketing is So Important…(Especially for Apple)
Apple has a reputation for being quite short and to the point with their social accounts. In fact, as of writing this, Apple has gone and deleted all of their past tweets from its official Twitter account and seems to only post new product images to their cover photo on Facebook. The company understands the importance of social media, and its importance to event marketing, which is why their marketing for this past year’s WWDC20 (Worldwide Developer’s Conference) was short-lived but effective.
In an alternate world, Apple would flood their social media with content revolving around their past, current, and even upcoming events. Although it might not be their style, here are a few ideas Apple, or your brand, could utilize in future event marketing campaigns for upcoming developer’s conferences, product releases, or more.
Before
I love the idea of creating hype through sequentially releasing themes, speakers, or events happening within a larger conference, and it’s quite effective at building excitement. For Apple, this could take shape through releasing the schedule for each day of the conference in the weeks leading up to the event, with one releasing each week. This would provide plenty of content opportunities, as well as get people familiar with the event’s format.
Teaser posts are another incredible way to build interest within your target audience, and outside of it. Not only do they get your followers looking forward to the event, but according to Social Table they also “build interest among people who don’t already know they’ll love your event.”
Another method to create hype (notice a trend?), could be creating a countdown. This is possible through the Instagram Stories feature, or even through an entirely separate webpage through linked posts. In doing so, Apple could drive their audience to what’s essentially a branded calendar notification, to not only reiterate and grow excitement but also remind them of the event and directly drive ticket sales.
During
Even though Apple live streams their Conference and promotional content on their own website, it couldn’t hurt to extend this to other platforms. This could increase their reach, as well as engage those who may not be aware of the event but happen to stumble upon it on the platform of their choosing.
Similarly, with Apple’s enormous social following, it could serve them well to engage with their audience through a live Q&A session carried out either through Twitter, or Facebook/Instagram live. This could give audience members a unique chance to engage with the brand, and could even be worked into the event schedule to generate more viewers and conversation in the community.
After
Although typically the smallest portion of social content, what you put out after the event may be just as important as before or during. Recapping the event provides a great way to direct people to specific topics or events they may have missed while attending others and provide a general “highlight reel”. This could be carried out over Instagram Stories, rather than YouTube like Apple already does, to drive engagement on the platform and make it easier to reach more audience members. The content could also be tailored to differentiate from the YouTube recap to incentive repeat viewings.
Additional post-event content could revolve around media or influencer content about the event. This means less work for the social team, while still putting out great content. Apple could work with tech-based influencers like MKBHD, a YouTube tech-guru with over 12m subscribers, or even repost content from industry-leaders about their event. This gives credibility, as well as an outside perspective on their event so that it’s not all Apple all the time.
Now, let’s take a look at what actually went down on Apple’s social accounts, specifically for their Worldwide Developer’s Conference 2020, this past July.
Most of their content before the event revolved around their central page for the event, and Twitter. The best example I could find was the tweet below encouraging users to like one of their tweets to get reminders sent to them before the event. Additionally, they created a hashtag, #WWDC20, to group all their own and their audience’s content in one place. Apple also used unique visuals for the entire event, with special stickers and an Animoji behind a MacBook. In all, these efforts were quite successful, especially through creating a recognizable hashtag to connect their audience across platforms.
Thanks to COVID-19, Apple’s entire event went online, for the first time since, well ever. This made sharing and creating content to promote each day that much more seamless, and it seems Apple certainly took advantage of it. With a strong hashtag already in place, the buzz around the event took off, with influencers and industry-leaders all coming together and chiming in on the conversation.
Afterward, the mainstay of their content surfaced on YouTube. Apple provided 5 recap videos, one for each day, that they shared across a few platforms. These videos were easily reshared by other media sources and individuals, thanks to their well-executed format and style.
Without a doubt, Apple succeeded in creating an effective social media campaign around its Worldwide Developer’s Conference in 2020. Although they don’t seem to be the most active brand across social media, when they do post something, they make sure it counts. Which is exactly the goal we should all strive for when creating social media event marketing content and strategies. Every post, every hashtag, and every event should be planned, targeted for your audience, and in line with your goals for the campaign. Just like Apple.
