The Buzz Bin

One of the best ways to deliver meaningful results in social media is to tie your effort to an event. Whether it was Twestival or after parties at SxSW, smart organizations move from conversation to more meaningful activities where people can congregate or receive significantly more value.

This is something we encourage our clients to do in their efforts. For example, Networks Solutions has hosted or sponsored numerous online and offline events over the past year to foster more meaningful relationships beyond its current online social media efforts, which include blogging, publishing and discussing valuable research for small business owners, responding to general complaints on the Internet, and conversing with customers via its Twitter account.

Right now Network Solutions is backing up its Small Business Success Index research with a webinar featuring top entrepreneurs discussing what it takes to succeed in the new economy. The GrowSmartBusiness Webinar is ideal in that — combined with the research and an integrated communications campaign — it delivers real valuable content for Network Solutions’ core stakeholder, the small business owner or entrepreneur. It will allow hundreds of people to view the event publicy, participate and converse live. This goes way beyond a blog post or Tweet to generate more powerful conversations, relationships and customer actions.

Social media is a great place to begin relationships, but to deliver more meaningful marketing results real valubale calls to action need to be delivered. Events really help because they allow people to foster deeper relationships. When we communicate online a lot of the natural, intangible conversation axioms are lost — body language, tone, eye contact, etc. Further the types of social conversation vehicles don’t necessarily provide depth, so even an online event can dramatically evolve a relationship.

I see events as part of multichannel social media and traditional communication programs. Multichannel campaigns that go beyond a singular tool — Twitter, blogs, etc. — and involve integrate communications often develop stronger results. They also tend to feed each other.

Consider how many times you’ve seen an event trend on Twitter or photos from said event on Facebook or blog posts developed from the content? It’s just a natural way to develop more momentum.