WFA's Stephen Chambers catches up with the new CEO Jerome Hoban of Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton, Calif. (VT Photo)
REPORTING FROM ANAHEIM, CALIF. — The Western Fairs Association Convention & Trade Show showed big attendance numbers even before it kicked off Jan. 5. WFA Executive Director Stephen Chambers said that when he left Sacramento, Calif., to come to the convention, there were more than 900 attendees registered.
“Usually at that point, the number is closer to 800,” he said, adding that with walk-up registration he expects the final number to reach more than 1,000 attendees. Last year’s conference in Reno, Nev., drew an attendance of 940.
The WFA trade show was, once again, sold out, and the opening hoedown at OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa, Calif., drew more than 600 people. The convention also has a record number of sponsorships this year.
With California fairs still experiencing a crunch on government funding, cutting costs is a popular subject. One way to cut the advertising budget is to boost social media, which is a low- or no-cost way to draw attention to a fair.
Robin Wachner, Communications director at OC Fair & Event Center, said that social media is especially helpful for smaller off-season events that may not have advertising budgets.
“We’ve definitely bolstered the advertising for those types of events through our social media accounts because it’s a resource that we already have available,” said Wachner.
Cassie Roberts at Saffire Events, an online event marketing and web design company, led a packed session on her top 25 online marketing tips and ideas for fairs. Some ideas would work for any venue or event, while others were more fair specific.
One tip that works for anyone who uses social media is to be sure to include a photo.
Cassie Roberts of Saffire Events presents her top social media marketing tips. (VT Photo)
“Every social platform reports higher interaction when a photo is included,” said Roberts, who added that it’s important to make sure Facebook posts include the photo within the post as opposed to in a separate link. Also, Twitter posts with image links get twice the interaction of those without.
To take the photo idea to the next level, Roberts suggested including video, which YouTube makes easy by providing an embed code.
Wachner said that she’s noticed increased engagement when including photos.
“I don’t think people just like to read something; I think they like to be told a story or shown something interesting,” she said. She added that she thinks the popularity of photos is why Instagram is becoming a more popular tool. The platform is OC Fair & Event Center’s second most-used social media tool after Facebook. The fair uses HootSuite to schedule posts in advance, but monitors all of its social media outlets 24/7.
“We also view our social media as customer service,” said Wachner, who added that it’s important to be responsive.
A relatively new Facebook feature allows users and companies to pinpoint the demographic that follows them on the social media site. Facebook revamped its Graph Search feature in October. Using the search bar at the top of the page, users can sort through their followers by gender, city they live in, age, or other criteria.
“Maybe you’d find out that the majority of the people who like your page are female,” said Roberts. “Something like that could change your posts a bit during fair time.”
Fairs can form partnerships with vendors to advertise special promotions on social media. Ask vendors in advance if they’re interested in participating, then pick a few each day to highlight.
“This varies by fair, but if you have a long fair, you can pick two vendors per day to highlight with a discount if patrons show the post or text,” said Roberts. “Not only does it drive traffic to your social media, but also to the vendors and concessionaires themselves, ultimately increasing the number that want to work with your fair.”
She added that fairs can do the same thing to promote their sponsors’ big sales and events, even not during fair time. “They may return the favor during your event,” she said.
Wachner said that another important thing to remember is to keep posting during nonfair time. Not only does OC Fair & Event Center have Centennial Farm and year-round events, posting during the off season is also a way to build excitement for the fair months in advance.
“We post when we announce the theme, and soon we’ll announce our concerts and they’ll go on sale,” said Wachner. “Even though most of our interaction is June, July and August, we keep posting and building excitement because we don’t want our fans to forget us in the off season.”
Interviewed for this story: Stephen Chambers, (916) 927-3100; Cassie Roberts, (512) 430-1123; Robin Wachner, (714) 708-1543