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Saffire has always encouraged our clients to sell more tickets in advance and avoid long cash transaction lines at their events, and now we’re taking it to the next level! We’ve brainstormed with our current clients, met with technology partners and challenged our own team to come up with ways we can help Saffire clients #stopthespread of Covid-19.

Lots of events have made the hard decision to cancel in 2020, but events scheduled later in the year are moving forward with planning. We’re as excited as anyone for these summer and fall events to happen, but we know there will be a “new normal” in terms of safety and customer care. We’re going contactless, and we’re encouraging you to join us!

Here is how Saffire is promoting safety for you and your customers when your event happens in 2020 or makes its glorious comeback in 2021:

No-Touch Selling with BlastPass

With Saffire’s RFID system BlastPass, you can set up your entire event for contactless payments, including food, rides and games. BlastPass is a cashless RFID wristband or card that acts as an electronic wallet for your guests to make purchases while at your event, eliminating the person-to-person contact required when exchanging cash or tokens. BlastPass can also grant guest access to specified entrances or areas, manage alcohol service and more. What’s even better—BlastPass doesn’t require an internet connection to continue selling!

Increase Online Sales with SaffireTix to Reduce Cash Lines

Advance online purchasing means less cash exchanging hands at the gates between huge groups of people. Our team excels at helping with the advance planning and early communication needed to shift your sales to online. In this time of social distancing, customers understand the safety advantage of buying online and avoiding contact.

The goal is to have customers show up with a ticket in hand to limit all forms of contact “out of the gates” (or in this case IN TO the gates!) Better yet, Saffire’s sales team will help you manage the costs related to this service to stay in line with your budget!

No-Touch Scanning With SaffireTix

SaffireTix is the most mobile ticketing technology in the industry. You can allow customers to scan their own print-at-home or mobile tickets using an iOS device, without a staff member or volunteer ever touching a ticket.

SaffireTix iOS scanners can be placed in self-serving stands, and a staff member or ticket monitor can watch all scans from a safe distance..

SaffireTix Can Help Meet Evolving Social Distancing Policies

From manageable reserved seating maps that help block off designated seats to tracking live attendance numbers for your venue’s capacity, SaffireTix can help you create a safer experience for your events and attendees.

Are You Ready to Embrace the New Normal?

Moving forward with your event in an era of new rules and regulations can be scary. Thankfully we live in a time when technology can take some of the stress out of logistical requirements. Advance planning and preparedness is key.

Contact us today to see how Saffire can help you confidently go contactless!

When it comes to executing your marketing strategies in the form of social media posts, ads, and other online initiatives, it’s extremely helpful to have a go-to-guide that outlines how the content should look and feel. By keeping your content consistent and unique to your brand, you build trust and loyalty among your audience. Here, we break down the essential elements that will ensure your brand shines online!

Brand Voice & Tone

Developing a unique brand voice makes your organization stand out and improves recognition. Think about what you want your audience to feel when they interact with your content – inspired, informed, encouraged, happy, humored? Defining your brand voice can be as simple as getting a few team members together and brainstorming what keywords describe your organization best. Think about your organizational values, and who you are trying to reach. We suggest coming up with 3-4 key adjectives. Here at Saffire, our brand voice & tone is friendly, fun, authentic, & educational. 

From here, you can use your brand voice and tone to influence your approach to things like:

• Spelling, punctuation & grammar: While these details might seem small, spelling, punctuation and grammar play a special role in shaping your style. In your style guide, note whether or not you encourage the use of things like abbreviations, exclamation points, trending vocabulary and so on. Whatever it is you decide is best, just make sure you keep it consistent.
• Emojis: These elements can add some fun and flavor to your posts. In your guideline, take note of where and when to use emojis, or if you want to avoid them altogether.
• Hashtags: Do you use hashtags? Do you place the hashtags at the end of a sentence, or do you only include them in the comment section of your post? Write down all the hashtags you use, if any, and where they should be placed.

Responding & Engaging with Your Audience

You know you’re doing something right when your audience is commenting on your posts, asking questions, and sharing your content! But how do you respond to their engagement? Here are a few issues to consider for your style guide:

• Do you “like” every comment?
• Do you respond to every comment?
• How do you respond to negative comments?

If you don’t have the time or resources to be hyper-communicative with your followers that’s okay! The important thing is to be consistent so your audience knows what to expect from you.

Visual Content

Have you ever seen a post on social media and without a doubt knew what brand it was from? Chances are they have a strong brand personality that is anchored in the consistent use of imagery, filters, colors, and fonts. To achieve this level of consistency, we’d recommend including these pointers in your style guide:

• Make sure you’re using photos and videos that complement your brand colors. Include sample photos to show off this concept.
• Note what photo filters should be used and which ones to stay away from.
• Keep your logo placement and size consistent on all photos/videos. Use examples to show the dos and don’ts of logo placement.
• Make sure you are selecting photos/videos that align with your brand voice. Ask yourself, does this image communicate [fill in the blank]? i.e inspiration, fun, humor, motivation.

What & When to Post

So now that you have your brand voice and image defined in your style guide, it’s time to think about how often you want to post, and if you want to include content from outside sources. Things like industry articles, user-generated content, or trending GIFs/memes can be an awesome way to engage your audience. Some questions to be considered and answered in your guide might be:

• How frequently do you post?
• Do you only use in-house content, or do you share outside content?
• What percentage of your posts should be internal content vs. sourced content?

 

Creating an online style guide will help maintain consistency and form a stronger brand identity. Your guide can continue to build and morph as your organization grows and changes, but it’s important to start with these essential elements to maintain cohesiveness when posting!

 

Move over Google AdWords! Facebook will start testing ads in search results. Did you know Millennials contribute more than $50 billion to tourism in the U.S. alone? Here’s 3 Smart Ways to Market Travel to Millennials.

Ready for even more 2019 trends? The Wall Street Journal says in 2019 Travel Websites are Pushing Experiences. Facebook is continuing its “friends-first” emphasis, this time by encouraging more engagement: Facebook tests new “comment quality” feedback option as it looks to boost engagement.

Looking for how to boost visits to your destination page? A new report shows Interactive content is the most effective marketing tool for travel brands. When was the last time you audited your SEO? Study shows Search engines still dominate over social media, even for millennials.

Travel review site TripAdvisor is already one of the best tools to drive traffic to your destination or event. Soon it could get even better! TripAdvisor Wants To Become Your New Social Media Feed for Traveling. Planning for next year already? Check out these 11 Facebook Updates You Need To Know for 2019.

The Saffire Team is so excited to welcome our newest team member Thema Reed to the fold! Thema (pronounced Tay-mah—she says like “Taylor” but with “ma” at the end!) is dedicated to connecting with the Saffire family and sharing all the fun and helpful things Saffire has to offer.

Thema is the third person to join the Saffire team from Albuquerque, New Mexico (shout out to Jessica C. and Austin!).  She is taking on the role of Marketing Manager and joins Saffire with 3 years of communications and digital marketing experience working on social media, content marketing, PR and communication strategy for nonprofits. Before that, she was a Journalism major at Howard University, where she interned in many D.C. newsrooms, including CNN, C-SPAN and WUSA. Thema will be working her writing and editing magic all over Saffire’s marketing efforts!

When she’s not writing all the things, Thema enjoys exploring Austin with her husband and two big fur babies, doing yoga outside and eating lots of tacos.

To learn more about Saffire, Thema or just to say “hey,” feel free to email Thema directly at thema@saffire.com or connect with her on Linkedin at https://www.linkedin.com/in/themareed/. We hope you can meet her in person at a conference or future Saffire Summit!

Welcome, Thema!

So you have started to market using Snapchat. Now what? Learn how to use Snapchat Insights. Check out these 7 mobile apps that create quality visual content. Read about how as Millennials age and have children, they are still continuing to travel, and in record numbers.