Extending Your Reach: Social Marketing Through Hybrid Events

Communication is key in any business and association; learning to apply the different techniques that exist is a critical step in reaching the target audience and, most importantly, for them to understand the message that we try to spread. Social marketing is no exception, with the goal of infusing ideas that benefit society, and at Be The Match® Mexico, we use the different approaches that allow us to connect with supporters, specifically on the web.

Before knowing where to tell the story, you must know what to tell, and for that you need to have good storytelling, a story of value that connects with the emotions of the audience and generates a link through a narrative that remains present in their memory.

In this sense, the organization of events has always been a successful channel for transmitting stories live and direct, but in recent months, the ability to go beyond the walls of a room to expand these experiences simultaneously has become essential for nonprofit organizations, as it produces a positive effect when it comes to reaching more ears in a single effort.

Today, audiences cannot be ignored when planning an event and neither can social media, since 78.3 percent of the Mexican population uses them,[1] which allow these audiences to help prepare for, enjoy, live stream or broadcast it from anywhere in the world, actively or passively, and on a stage that is now universal. Part of the planning is to take into account both the audiences who will attend the event and experience it first-hand, as well as those who will tune in to one of the communication channels to watch it, taking into account that 32.3 percent of online users follow live broadcasts; also, it is necessary to understand the scope and characteristics of our different platforms to ensure that within the experience before, during and after the event, we have different formats that provide new elements of the story in a unique, fun and organic way.

As a nonprofit organization, we understand that social marketing involves more than just having the attention of a few people for a while but keeping it and continuing to work around it; marketing equals visibility, fundraising and relevance to continue to expand the reach of our messages. As an example of this, Be The Match® Mexico held its third patient-donor meeting, which was achieved with a careful prior communication strategy, as well as the live transmission of the event on different platforms, highlighting what was defined as a "wow moment" in which three transplant patients met their donors in an emotional and joyous moment.

The main message that Be The Match® Mexico sought to transmit was the magic of saving a life, and the strategy to achieve it was, precisely, an illusionism show that highlighted this idea both for those present and for those who followed the broadcast. It was in this same scenario that  the climax of the event occurred, wrapping it all up for effective communication.

In addition, the dissemination of the stories of patients and donors did not end that day, because once the event ended, everything that happened needed to  be consolidated and the achievements materialized in a series of actions that can be revived later, making the most of it over time. Multimedia or graphic material, as well as comments and texts of different types, whether they are presentations, messages received or communications, are valuable baggage that will allow the production to be strengthened beyond the date of execution of the event. We know that 13.6 percent of social media users consume blogs in video format, which corresponds to the importance of continuing to distribute, edit and adapt the content of the event so that the impact continues to last and reach more users.

Good practices with social media make a huge difference in the pre-, during and post-event impact. Posting shareable content, using an authentic voice, like the testimonies of the patients and donors, starting a conversation and interacting with the audience to spread positive messages and solve doubts can go a long way toward  the success of the strategies.

As we have seen, events are one way in which organizations seek to achieve a good impact on the media, and among them are social networks, which serve as support for so-called citizen journalism. The new scenario for events implies thinking about these networks if you want to universalize the information, understanding that this is vital for nonprofit organizations to achieve successful events and thus expand their important message to their key audiences.

In the last five years in Be The Match® we have reached more than 116,000 individuals in Mexico who want to save lives and invite others to join our cause. That serves as an inspiration for us to continue working to promote the culture of bone marrow donation and add more heroes to our mission.