Social networking platforms have become a vital tool for event organisers and businesses to engage with their audiences. With so many platforms available, it can be difficult to know which ones to focus on.
In this article, we'll explore the top social networking platforms for event organisers and businesses. Lastly, we provide recommendations on which ones to use based on our research.
Dear event organiser or facilitators, brace yourself, here are your recommended tools:
Top social networking tools for event organisers, facilitators and businesses
Eventbrite
Eventbrite provides a platform for ticketed events and can handle payment processing. It allows event organisers to promote events and sell tickets to a wider audience. However, there is no live chat between event attendees. Therefore, it may not be the best option for boosting engagement.
Meetup
Meetup lets people search for events by interests. It allows event organisers to create and promote events to a targeted audience. It also has a strong focus on creating communities. Members are able to join groups and attend regular meetups. However, there has to be a leader to start a meetup. It might be hard to discover new possibilities, for example when traveling.
LinkedIn Events
The social networking platform for businesses, employees and professionals. LinkedIn (Events) is a great platform for event organisers who want to target specific audiences of industry professionals. The platform allows event organisers to create professional events. Moreover, users can easily RSVP, share events with their network, and see who else is attending. However, event on LinkedIn are limited to a professional audience. Therefore, it may not be a good fit for all events.
Cvent
Cvent management software offers a comprehensive event management platform with features like registration, ticketing, and payment processing. It provides tools for event marketing and audience engagement, like surveys and mobile apps. However, costs can be high, particularly for larger events or more advanced features.
Idloom
Idloom provides event management tools like registration and payment processing. It offers custom branding options for events and a range of templates for event websites. However, there is no automated community building.
Facebook Events
Facebook is like the MySpace of social networking platforms, but we cannot leave it out (yet). Events on Facebook have a wide reach and can easily connect businesses with potential attendees. Thus, the platform allows event organisers to create event pages, promote events, and manage RSVPs. However, Facebook events are oversaturated and do not feel professional.
Slack
Slack is primarily a messaging platform for team communication and collaboration. It can also be used to create private channels for event planning and coordination. However, it is not designed for public events, and there are no features to allow automated creation of channels/communities.
Discord
Discord is a chat app originally designed for gaming communities, but it can also be used for event planning and coordination: Scheduled Events. It offers voice and video chat, making it a good option for remote event teams. However, there is no possibility to find servers easily, and there are no features automating community building.
UNBLND
Our favourite... We might be biased, but UNBLND is the most social community platform that allows event attendees to interact in a virtual space. It gradually moves people from (anonymised) virtual space to real world interaction.
UNBLND automates the creation of groups to make it easy to create more engagement amongst event attendees. In addition, the mobile app offers features like networking lounges, live chat, for online events and in-real-life events. It is perfect to start engaging your audience prior to the event so attendees get to know each before the in-real-life event starts.
The social platform, UNBLND, is not primarily an event management platform, but ideal to manage the community of event attendees and lets them connect more easily. More information for event organisers is featured on a dedicated website: UNBLND Spaces.
Powerful management tools and social networking platforms for event organisers and event facilitators - Our conclusion:
In conclusion, social networking platforms can be a powerful tool for event organisers and businesses to engage with their audiences.
Based on our research, we recommend using
- LinkedIn Events for professional events,
- Facebook Events for reach,
- Eventbrite for ticketed events,
- Meetup for event marketing,
- Cvent for comprehensive event management,
- Slack for team communication,
- Discord for remote event teams,
- Idloom for custom branding, and
- UNBLND for automated community building prior to the event.
By using the right social networking platforms, you can create engaging content, foster strong communities, and build long-lasting relationships with your audience, and more importantly within your audience.
Find out more to engage your event audience on space.unblnd.com. UNBLND has many benefits and covers many advantages of different platforms.
Written by Adriaan De Bolle, CEO UNBLND (Ubigreat bv), adriaan@unblnd.com.
