Gary Vee’s Marketing Advice for Event Pros (And My Take On It All)

Last week I had the opportunity to hear Gary Vaynerchuk (aka Gary Vee) speak at a conference for event professionals in New York City. In his signature fashion, he pulled no punches and served up straight-to-the-point, no fluff marketing advice to the business owners in the audience.

Here’s a breakdown of the three big marketing takeaways I had from his keynote, plus my own thoughts based on my 15+ years experience in this fantastic industry we call events.

Gary Marketing Tip 1: Every company should post on LinkedIn 3x/day.

Ok this is a big one. He truly hammered this home throughout the speech about how LinkedIn is the most underutilized social platform for business.

Worried about the fact that three times a day seems like a lot and people will get annoyed? Gary’s response:

Don’t worry because most people won’t see it.

It sounds counterintuitive, but he has a data-backed point. Only a tiny percentage of the people who follow you will see your posts and the ones who end up seeing all of them are the ones who engage with you, which means they LIKE the content you are sharing.

DCM Perspective

Gary is 100% on the money with the underutilization for LinkedIn. I’ve watched the level and style of discourse over the last year turn, particularly when it comes to the event professionals I am connected with and their extended networks.

However, I think the caveat is that LinkedIn is beneficial for event professionals if you are doing B2B business. If you are in the social sphere, your ideal client is like spending their time elsewhere. Yes, they may be here for business purposes, but you’ll be able to connect with them on Facebook or Instagram faster than the disruptive marketing that would come from LinkedIn.

So if you are short on time or resources, continue to do what all marketers agree on and focus on the platform where your audience spends their time to get the most return on your investment.

Gary Marketing Tip 2: The 2nd most important social platform to focus on is YouTube Shorts.

Oh did this get some puzzled looks from the crowd! The reason he mentioned this and not Instagram, which is what most event profs spend their time, is two fold:

1. YouTube is a search engine.
2. YouTube allows you to get more visibility faster than the algorithms of other platforms.

YouTube Shorts launched in the pandemic and focused on videos 60 seconds or less. Sound familiar? Yes, it’s YouTube’s answer to Reels and TikTok, except with the added benefit of being a search engine.

YouTube is the second most popular search engine behind Google. So bascially you’ll be getting content marketing, social media marketing, and search engine optimization all in one.

So why aren’t more business owners spending their time here? One simple reason: fear.

Fear of being in front of the camera and being judged, to which Gary says, “Who cares. Show up anyway.”

DCM Perspective:

I couldn’t agree more with the need for video, something I hope you know if you’ve been here or on the DCM Instagram for even a minute.

Video is HUGE! It’s the fastest way to get people through the “know like trust” phases of marketing, particularly if you’re in a service-based business.

Yet another bonus here: you can use content created on other platforms to share here.

That means you can create one video and get multiple uses out of it.

The one thing I would add is that you still need to be showing up on Instagram. (More tips on how to do that here.) I know Gary didn’t mention it, but this is where additional knowledge of the events industry comes into play.

It may not be a lead driver, but it is absolutely a platform to be factored into your social media marketing strategy for brand awareness (know) and lead qualification (like).

Just like on YouTube, show up with your face in front of the camera and share your thoughts in addition to the photos of your work.

And to that end, let’s wrap this up with the bottom line point you need to take away if nothing else.

Gary Marketing Tip 3: If you keep showing the world that you know what you’re talking about (through content), you will get business.

This is a direct quote friends and I once again, I couldn’t agree more. I know how hard it can be to put the effort into creating content (i.e. working on the business) when you are also juggling servicing clients, managing staff (or vendors) and all the other things that come with working in your business.

But the ones who really thrive long term (and we’re all in this for the long haul right?) are the businesses that keep. showing. up.

The saying used to be ”Content is king” yet now I think it’s more like “Consistency is king” and the best way to be consistent in your marketing is through content creation.

Start with a single piece (article, portfolio page, video) and spread it across your email marketing efforts, social media posts, and advertising, as applicable.

You don’t have to reinvent the wheel with every piece of content, but if you keep showing up it DOES pay off. Gary is proof of it. I am proof of it and you can be too. Know your audience. Trust your gut about what they want from you and provide precisely that.

As always, you don’t have to do ALL the things, you just have to do the things that will keep YOUR business going, which starts with simply showing up. Consistently.👊