SimpliExperiment: Just how far can the powers of social media actually spread?

SimpliFlying has set out on a live experiment to show how news and ideas can be spread through social media.

How many times have you signed up for a conference  or event only after hearing that your industry peers were doing the same? For us, conference attendees are often nearly as valuable as conference speakers, and hearing first hand from peers is important in the decision making step.

Airlines in Transition Conference and Travel Distribution Asia Summit

The Airlines in Transition Conference will be held in Istanbul from April 19-20, and feature over 30 airline CEOs. As an effort to test the powers of Social Media, SimpliFlying has teamed up with conference organizer CAPA to offer an exclusive Social Media discount of $500 off of the registration price (use “simpliflying” as a discount code during check-out)

If you can’t make it for this one, then there’s the Eyefortravel Travel Distribution Summit Asia, happening in Singapore from May 9-10, 2012 where you can save $100 by using “simplifly” as a discount code during checkout.

And we’ll be present at both the conferences.

We think this is a pretty cool idea and we are determined to showcase a real-time example of how social media can quickly get the word out there and create a guide for you to use when spreading the word about your own events.

Social Virality – Who has done it well?

Let’s take a step back and look at a few examples of social virality and social discounts.

American Express is now offering a new Twitter discount initiative where tweets are    turned directly into discounts. American Express Card holders can now earn retailer specific discounts after linking their cards to their twitter accounts and tweeting specific #hashtags.

COPA Airlines recently managed to drive 50X return on investment through a Facebook app and AAdvantage ran a viral Facebook Campaign in early 2011 and while the ROI on the initiative was not as high as the COPA example, they still managed to grow fans 100X in just 54 hours.

In both of these cases the campaigns quickly went viral.  Discount codes and event marketing can go the same way and social media should not be overlooked as a way to drive event registrations.

Then there is The Social Media Tourism Symposium – These folks know their social media and have turned the process of choosing a host city into a social media contest. In true NCAA Finals fashion, they have take on the zeal that spreads across America each March during college basketball finals, and have created their own #SoMeT12 Sweet 16. Cities and local partners are currently using social media to gain votes to bring the tourism conference to their towns.

SimpliSocial: Quick Guide to Social Event Marketing

1. Utilize the platforms that are most relevant to potential conference attendees:
2. Links on all pre-conference mailers noting to follow the conference on Twitter for a social-specific discount code.
3. Links on the conference website noting to follow the conference on Twitter for a social-specific discount code.
4. Messages to targeted Linked-in Groups.
5. Messages to related personal Linked-in contacts.
6. Tweets about the promotion (and Direct Messages to relevant followers).
7. Creation of Linked-in and Facebook Events.
8. A blog post (such as this one)
9. Targeted Facebook ads to relevant users
10. A creative a fun contest to create excitement leading up to the event.

Remember, the target audience for each conference/event is slightly different, research where your audience is and focus on those channels to most effectively market your event.

Goals to consider when using Social Media to push an event or a conference:

1. Target audience
2. Geographical coverage
3. Reach and relevance of each social platform
4. Messaging

Help us to prove the power and reach of social media

If you are interested in either the Airlines in Transition conference or the EyeForTravel Distribution Summit, then help spread the word of these cool social discounts to your colleagues and industry peers. When they ask how you learned about the conferences, let them know it was through the powers of social media.

Learn more about the conference and sign up here. Remember to use the special social codes: “SimpliFlying” when checking out for Istanbul, and “simplifly” for EyeForTravel in Singapore!