I love, love, love all things events and technology. If you can’t tell by my tweets, Facebook posts and all my other social media interactions, I love to talk about events and the tools that help us do what we do better. In June 2011, I partnered with an organization called imbookin to bring you PlannerTech – an event technology showcase. This weekly blog series is going to help continue to expose you to new tools you need to be aware of as an event planner. Also, in case you missed it, PlannerTech could be coming soon to your area!
Today, we’re talking about Planana
Your name: Anna Sergeeva, Co-Founder & Co-CEO
Company/Tool Name: Planana
Website: http://planana.com
Twitter: @goplanana
Facebook: http://facebook.com/
What is the “problem” that your tool seeks to solve?
We’ve found that most event organizers struggle to sell out their events. This problem occurs largely because traditional marketing strategies like paid advertisements and email blasts are no longer effective. People hear about events through their friends; people attend events with their friends. That’s why we build Planana – to help event organizers leverage social media to promote and sell out their events.
What is the best audience for this tool? Corporate events? Social? Other? Large? Small?
If you are organizing a public event, Planana is the best way to spread the word. Although Planana works for both free and ticketed events, we encourage organizers of free events to charge $10-20 dollars and make it really easy to redeem a free ticket if you share or tweet. In terms of size, Planana works best for events that are looking to hit a capacity of at least 50 attendees. Since our beta launch, we have seen a lot of business events (networking mixers, conferences, start up launch parties) and nightlife events (concerts, comedy shows, DJs) on the site.
What does your tool help event planners do better?
Planana helps organizers promote their events more effectively through social media. Using Planana, organizers can create perks like VIP benefits or discounted tickets that are redeemed by attendees who do social actions. For example, if I am attending a networking mixer on Planana, I can get a free drink if I post the event on two of my friends’ walls on Facebook. These social actions can more than double views of event pages and increase ticket sales by 30 percent! We currently integrate with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and email.
How is your tool different from/better than the competition?
Although numerous event sites prompt users to share when they RSVP or purchase a ticket, attendees have not had an incentive to do so until now. With Planana, organizers can incentivize and capitalize on the social buzz around their events. Our goal is to make Planana a robust promotional tool that creates custom and dynamic promotional strategies for our users based on their goals.
What is the single coolest feature of your product?
I attend at least one event every week, so I love seeing Planana perks. As an attendee, there is nothing better than getting a free goodie or discount for sharing an event I am already excited about.
Anything else we need to know?
Creating your promotion is currently free during our beta period, so get started at planana.com!
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Tags: event planning, Facebook, LinkedIn, PlannerTech, Social Media/Technology, Social network, Twitter
