Spring is festival season in New Orleans. The weather is warm and sunny, without the heavy humidity that settles over New Orleans for the summer months. With a different festival every weekend, there is never a shortage of things to do. While the themes of our festivals cover all ends of the spectrum, there’s a safe bet that they’ll all include music, food/drink, and good times.
As an avid social media user, I often get served ads on Facebook for the upcoming festivals. This could be a result of several different kinds of targeting. I’m in the right geographic location to be served ads for upcoming festivals, as well as probably in the right audience segment. While I may not necessarily click on these ads, they remind me to incorporate the upcoming festivals into my future plans. With so many digital ads competing for our attention, a Facebook ad that is short and sweet with all the relevant details (festival date, time, etc.) will make a more valuable impression on a viewer. Facebook provides an environment where viewers are already in a social mindset, interested in what their friends are doing. This is a great space in which festivals can increase general awareness and interest.
Our local New Orleans festivals recently seem to be taking advantage of the “Events” feature on Facebook. Scrolling through my newsfeed, I often see an upcoming Event because a friend has “liked” it, or because Facebook thinks I’ll be interested in it based on my previous online activity. When enough friends have responded with interest to the Facebook event, I get a notification alerting me that X number of friends are interested in an Event in my area. The Events feature on Facebook is a great way for festivals to get the word out to their target audience (especially if targeting the millennial generation). Social media in general tends to be a less expensive tactic, but can be successfully utilized for either mass reach or customized engagement with one’s audience.
Social media provides a way for festivals to connect with their audience while blurring the line between offline and online. An Events page on Facebook is a great home for user-generated content to live, such as pictures, videos, etc. Facebook’s live streaming capabilities even make it possible for online users to experience the festival “live” through the lenses of their Facebooks friends. Keeping an active social media presence can help ensure lagging indicators of success as festivals’ attendance and popularity grows year after year. Be sure to hop online and check out all the festivals New Orleans has to offer!
