Marketing your event is a huge undertaking and the sooner you start it, the more effective your results will be. And of course, how, when, and where you market your event on social media is going to make a significant impact on those results!
I’ve found that my clients are amazing at using social media to promote their events leading up to the event, but they fall flat when it comes to keeping that buzz going throughout the actual event and afterwards.
You’re putting so much work – blood, sweat, and tears! – into making this event the best it can be, so you want to make sure the buzz you’re creating doesn’t fizzle once the doors open! To help you keep the momentum going, I’ve shared 5 of my best tips for using social media to market your event before, during, and after.
Hashtag, hashtag, hashtag
The most important thing to do once you’ve named your event is to create a hashtag for it. The shorter the better! For example, if you’re hosting the National Widget Resellers’ Association annual conference, you might want to use #NWRAconf16. If the event has a specific (but short) name – Widget Mania – you could consider #widgetmania2016 or #wm2016. Your official hashtag is going to be the driving force behind the rest of your social media campaign.
Before you finalize your official hashtag, run it through a search on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. There’s a possibility you may be sharing hashtag real estate, especially if you’re going with abbreviations, so just make sure that if others are using the same hashtag it’s not going to have a negative impact on your brand. Also keep in mind that if another event is using the same hashtag, it could get hijacked – especially if they have a larger audience.
Whatever you decide upon for a hashtag, choose only one!
So now that you have your hashtag, where should you use it?
My answer is very simple.
Think of your hashtag like Frank’s Red Hot Sauce. Put that $#!* on everything!
Before the event: It should go on all your event marketing collateral. All your graphics, promos, subtitles on your videos, your Twitter bio, any of your social media posts promoting the event… you name it. If it’s promoting your event, hashtag it.
During the event: If you’re using slides to give a presentation, put the hashtag on the footer of every slide. Tell the audience to use social media as much as possible, using the official hashtag. Put the hashtag on tent cards on every single table.
After the event: Continue to use the hashtag after the event is over by reaching out to attendees, sharing ‘tweetables’ from speakers, and if your event is annual start creating the buzz for the next one right away!
Make your event easy to promote
Create marketing copy in advance to give to your speakers and sponsors, and they’ll love you. For one thing, it reminds them to help you promote your event – they might not do it otherwise. It also saves them time if you just tell them what you would like them to say, instead of asking them to come up with something from scratch. And remember to include that hashtag in your suggested social media content!
Testimonials
Before the event: If this isn’t your first rodeo, you surely have testimonials from previous attendees. If you don’t, reach out and ask if they’d be willing to give you one.
Make sure to tag the attendee when you share their testimonial on social media. People love that kind of recognition, and they’ll also be more likely to share or retweet it. If you can, include their headshot if you’re creating a graphic. And, of course, include that official hashtag. (Are you getting sick of hearing me say that yet?)
During the event: Even better than words and pictures is video! Video testimonials are powerful. Where possible, ask attendees if they’d be willing to share a few words about their experience and their takeaways during the event. Their energy will be highest and memory freshest if you can get the testimonial on the spot. What’s great is you’ll also have content you can reuse and repurpose for future events! Not everyone is comfortable being on video, so if that’s the case with some of your attendees simply ask for permission to record their testimonial with a voice recording app on your phone, then transcribe it later.
After the event: Continue sharing the testimonials after the event. The idea is to build excitement (and maybe a little envy) among the folks who didn’t attend, to encourage them to attend the next one!
Behind-the-Scenes Content & Sneak Previews
People are nosy and they’re curious about what happens behind the scenes, even if they won’t admit it out loud. There are so many ways you can leverage behind-the-scenes content to create more excitement before, during and after your event. Here are a few ideas:
- Post pictures of event set-up, soundchecks, swag bag stuffing, etc
- Livestream with your speakers on Periscope moments before they go on-stage
- Pictures of the audience, sponsor marketplace, speakers
Have a Dedicated Social Media Team
You have your hands full organizing this event and overseeing the operation of it – you have no business running the social media! Make sure you have someone (or several someones depending on the size of your event!) running point on social media. This person can be a social media professional or they can be a volunteer, but what’s important is that social media must be one of their only responsibilities during the event. Some of their duties can include taking pictures, posting “tweetables” from speakers, and retweeting attendees.
Have them wear a shirt in a colour that stands out – branded for the event – so that attendees know they’re the social media person, and tell your guests to seek this person out if they’d like to share a testimonial.
This really works for any size and type of event. One of my clients is an art gallery and they frequently bring me in to run social media during opening receptions for their high-profile exhibitions. The last time we live-tweeted an opening reception, a woman who had never heard of the gallery, but who was a huge fan of the artist, came in and bought two pieces of art. That one sale was worth far more than what my client paid me to cover the event while they focused on customer service and sales!
These are just a few ideas to help promote your event on social media. If you have more suggestions, leave a comment below! I’d love to know what’s worked for you in the past.