EVENT PROMOTION GUIDE

[Pages:11]EVENT PROMOTION GUIDE

The Starting Line.

Congratulations, you have decided to host an event in our city! Now it is time to start promoting. The last thing you want is to spend time and money planning an event only to have it flop. This guide is here to lead you on your journey to promoting and creating a successful event. We will focus on the 3 main sources for promotion in Hartsville:

I. SOCIAL MEDIA. Social media is an umbrella term that we use for web applications that allow us to share content and conversations with our peers. While there are many social media platforms that you could choose to use for your event, we suggest using Facebook at a minimum. Facebook is still the largest social media platform in the world. So in short, go where the most people will see your information.

II. CITY OF HARTSVILLE PLATFORMS. The City of Hartsville has created multiple platforms for informing our residents about events in the city. Currently, we have 6 different ways to push information out, but we are always working to create new avenues for sharing information. The current platforms include: Monthly Event Cards, TV Screens in City Facilities, Online Community Calendar, Mobile App, Social Media, and E-Newsletters. This guide will discuss how to qualify for promotion on these platforms.

III. COMMUNITY RESOURCES. Our community strives to support all things local, including events. Some of the current successful community resources for promotion are community bulletin boards, radio, cross promotions, and advertising in local publications. These are not the only options for community resources, but they are our most popular. It is up to you to be as creative as possible (while still abiding by laws for signage, public engagement, flyers, etc.).

SOCIAL MEDIA

Create a Facebook Business/Organization Page

A Facebook Business Page gives your business or organization a voice and presence on the world's largest social platform. By creating a business page, you will be able to post as your business or organization and answer questions about your event from behind your brand. It is important to use a Business Page instead of your personal profile to create a cohesive brand for your business or organization that is separate from your personal information.

To Create a Facebook Business Page:

Go to pages/create Click to choose a Page category Select a more specific category

from the drop-down menu and fill out the required information Click Get Started and follow the on-screen instructions Be sure to have pictures and logos ready to use on your page to increase brand recognition

Create an Event on Facebook

SOCIAL MEDIA

Go to your Page, then click Event, Milestone + at the top of your Page's Timeline

Select Event

Add details about your event:

NAME YOUR EVENT. Give a short and simple name so people will know what it is at a glance.

ADD YOUR LOCATION. Be sure to tag the location or include a full address so your event can be recommended to people close by.

CHOOSE A CO-HOST. Add any other businesses or organizations you want as co-hosts to the event. This helps expand the reach of your event and allows others to keep the details up-to-date. Your co-host will be able to edit the event just like you.

ADD A WEBSITE OR TICKET LINK. If you are selling tickets for your event, you can include a link to the ticket agent (like Eventbrite) or a website with more information. Try to keep your URLs as short as possible when promoting your website. Shorten your URLS through an online tool such as .

PICK A PHOTO. Events with a photo look better across Facebook. Remember, your photo appears on more than just the event page itself. People will see the photo in their News Feed, notifications, and more? so it's important to have a photo that looks good both big and small. If you upload your own photo, it should be 1920 x 1080 pixels or larger and include a little text. Event logos are normally a great place to start for an event photo.

Click Publish

Share Your Event on Facebook

SOCIAL MEDIA

Share the Event on a Page You Manage Go to your Event Page Click Share Click Share in News Feed In the upper left hand corner of the box, click the down arrow next to Share on your Own Timeline Select Share on a Page you manage If you manage multiple pages, select the page you wish to post to Add a comment or brief description about the event in the Say something about this... section. (REMEMBER: this is where you can be as creative as you want.) Click post

Share the Event on your personal timeline Go to your Event Page Click Share Click Share in News Feed Add a comment or brief description about the event in the Say something about this... section. Click post

LET'S GET SOCIAL.

SOCIAL MEDIA

CREATE SOME BUZZ. Share, share and share again! Post updates about vendors attending or entertainment happening at your event. Buy a sponsored ad on Facebook to help you reach a larger target audience. Ask your attendees to post about their excitement for the event using a hashtag (example: #HartsvilleHometownFest).

GET YOUR DUCKS IN A ROW. Create an itinerary for the event and post it to your Facebook Business and Event page so people who are interested in the event will know what is going on throughout the entire event.

BE SEEN. One of the biggest trends currently is online videos and

specifically "Live" videos on Facebook. Using this Facebook feature allows you to give a lot of information to the public without creating a long post that people may or may not read. This tool can be used not only before your event, but during as well. Remember keep anything you post on social media short, sweet, and to-the-point. Add photos when possible to draw

attention to your post.

CITY OF HARTSVILLE

Upload your event to the Online Community Events Calendar

Go to Click "Submit Event" Add details about your event

NAME YOUR EVENT PROVIDE A SUMMARY OF THE

EVENT UNDER DESCRIPTION ADD EVENT CATEGORIES UPLOAD THE EVENT IMAGE

YOU UPLOADED TO YOUR FACEBOOK EVENT ADD THE EVENT DATE AND TIME ADD THE EVENT VENUE DETAILS ADD ORGANIZER DETAILS (THIS IS YOU) ADD A WEB ADDRESS OR FACEBOOK EVENT WEB ADDRESS (URL) ADD THE EVENT COST (LEAVE BLANK TO HIDE OR ENTER "O" IF FREE). DOUBLE CHECK THE ACCURACY OF THE EVENT LOCATION, DATE, AND TIME Click submit All events must be approved by an administrator before they will post to the calendar. You will receive a confirmation email when your event has been submitted.

CITY OF HARTSVILLE

Submit your event to the City for promotion.

Email a description of your event, event flyer and/or image (in PDF or JPEG format), and contact information to

Jordan Braddock, Marketing & Events Coordinator Events@

Review the City of Hartsville Promotions Policy on the next page.

Please note the City of Hartsville reserves the right to approve or deny any event that does or does not comply with the specifications in the Promotions Policy. All promotions applications are juried

by our Marketing and Communications Committee. Promotions may be limited based on space availability. In this case, events will be accepted based upon order of submission. Should you have

any questions about this policy, please contact The Key at 843-917-0602.

KEY THINGS TO REMEMBER

Any event that is located on City property, open the public, and/or blocks streets is required to have a City of Hartsville Special Events Permit. Be sure to submit your Special Events Permit application at least 21 DAYS (3 WEEKS) IN ADVANCE so that your event can be approved and city resources (i.e. barricades, trash services, police assistance, etc.) can be arranged for your event. If you have questions about the permit process, contact Karine Thomas in the Business Navigator at Karine.thomas@, call 843-383-3025, or visit https:// ernment/forms/special-event-permit-app/.

All event vendors will need a City of Hartsville business license or vendor's license. Permits must be obtained by the vendor and are available through the Business Navigator at 843.383.3025 or inside City Hall at 100 E. Carolina Avenue.

Flyers or banners cannot be posted within the city limits without approval from the Business Navigator.

Any event on city owned or maintained property (including streets) requires a certificate of general/property liability insurance for $1,000,000 dollars. A policy can be purchased through TULIP at OneBeacon Entertainment using ID code 0501-668.

South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) approval is required for any event that requires street closures, or events with people in the streets. SCDOT requires 3 weeks for event applications to be approved. The SCDOT Parade Form is located at .

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