We're living in an interesting age of media. Information is thrown at consumers in an extremely rapid pace, but everyone has an opportunity to get their attention. From quirky GIFs and eye-popping images, to catchy headlines and addictive copy.
Taking note of this, you're probably asking yourself, "How can my venue’s social media profiles get attention and retain it?"
Facebook habits have changed. The line between an event invite and a spam message is thin. And as far as Twitter goes, the channel was first used as a platform for individuals to rattle off thoughts as soon as they entered their minds, has now morphed into a tool where you can spend upwards of an hour ensuring that the 140 characters you produce go viral.
Social media and nightlife went hand in hand in the MySpace and Facebook heydays, but it's a whole new ballgame now.
As the saying goes, content is king, and that's definitely the case when it comes to the relationship between social media and your venue. That being said, whatever posts are created should have a direct tie to the brand of your business and its values. At the end of the day it's a direct representation of the venue.
"Be able to post a variety of content but that are all true to the business' nature," says Eugene Abreu, former co-founder of Manhattan's Privileged Marketing Group and founder of nightlife consulting and design firm Little House Big Idea. "People are just getting lazy, [believing that] throwing up a flyer or mentioning a party will automatically drive traffic through their doors and that's the furthest from the truth."
Rather than just sharing any piece of content or art, everything has to be quality - from the images to the messages.
"For Instagram, I would post high-quality images," Abreu said. He believes these pictures should be engaging and invoke some sort of action or emotion from the audience.
But that platform is only a slice of the pie.
With close to 300 million users, Twitter is one of the fastest growing social media networks around. Rather than becoming complacent and believing you're a social media maven just because you've tasked someone on your team to schedule Tweets via Hootsuite, the content has to be fresh.
"I will challenge [any venue] to have someone on staff making sure [there is] fresh content to engage followers," Abreu says. "It's super important that you give your social platforms as much attention as you would give your staff and day-to-day operation."
With only 140 characters to work with, you need to ensure that your Tweets are conversational. Engaging your audience is key through your messaging, as well as sharing pieces of content by publications that you believe will bring your followers together, which ultimately ties them right back with your brand.
Facebook and Twitter get a bulk of the attention, but there's one channel that Abreu believes every nightlife business should tap into.
Rather than just banking on your venue shots to live on those two channels, photo-sharing sites like Flickr and Photobucket are often overlooked.
"It does wonders for your visibility and in terms of search engine optimization," Abreu says. "You'd be surprised how many people Google nightlife venues and search through the 'images' section."
Creating a strong social media presence for a nightlife venue isn’t as easy as flipping a switch, but by dedicating time, resources, and the same level of attention as other areas of the business, there’s return on investment could be immense.
“Take time to nurture your social identity,” says Abreu. “You don’t want to be a last impression, you want to be a lasting impression.”