Automate (with Caution)
“Whether it’s using simple scheduling tools like Buffer, or Hootsuite, or automating customer response with Facebook bots, very few festivals are using the full suite of automation tools available to them to help drive efficiency in the sales process, as well as save a ton of time,” explains Leon. He adds a cautionary note however that there are a lot of tools out there that violate terms of certain websites, that are constantly being cracked down on. “A good example is like/comment bots on Instagram, that run the risk of getting your account shut down. Steer well clear of those.”
Crowdsourcing Visual Content
How many times have you seen the word “authenticity” pop up on blogs or white papers trying to decipher unique quirks of the millennial festival goer? It’s almost become a cliche, but when you consider the popularity of Snapchat, Instagram, Periscope, and the myriad of fan generated content, it’s clear that high production value isn’t a priority for festival goers. They want to feel like they’re there. “You can write an article about how great the event is, but it’s not the same as actually seeing an event and seeing people having fun,” said Milan. “That breaks through to something that’s a little more personal, and from the perspective that you would have if you were there. That’s what people want, and you should be encouraging, incentivizing and aggregating this content.”
Ad Optimization Tools
“Depending on the size of a digital campaign being run on Facebook especially, it can be extremely time consuming to properly maintain ad campaigns, especially if your team or digital manager may not be ultra-experienced in how to do this correctly.” Leon advocates for the use of tools like AdEspresso to allow automated optimisation and management of Facebook campaigns as they are extremely easy to scale. But he does remind that these services come at a fairly hefty price, and therefore may not be viable for smaller campaigns.
