Today, having a social strategy for events is not enough to make you stand out from the crowd. But having a great one will.
There are many ways to make your event stand out on social media, whether it’s online, offline, B2C, or B2B. Learn how to create great content and harness the power of social media. Let’s get started!
Social media strategies prior to the event
Your social strategy should be geared towards reaching, connecting, and anticipating people before the event. These guidelines will help you follow:
Clarify your audience and the ideal social platform for you to post before you start posting.
Your social media efforts should not be limited to one person. That’s a wasteful way to spend your time. You want to reach financial institution software developers if you’re hosting a conference for software developers in-house at banks. You want to reach current and potential donors if you are putting on a gala to raise money for a museum.
You can use the demographics of your target audience to help you decide where to focus your efforts. These examples and techniques will help you pinpoint your audience and identify their most popular social media platforms.
- LinkedIn is a great place to find bank software developers who are looking for career growth.
- Follow the museum’s Instagram account to find image-oriented museum donors.
- If your museum’s donor population is older, you should concentrate your audience research efforts via Facebook.
- Consider engagement across all platforms for your company or that of your client. Your promotional efforts should be focused on the most popular social platforms.
- Discover which platforms are the most appealing to your target audience.
Use hashtags to generate buzz
#VeryNecessary is a memorable hashtag. You want your branding to match it. A hashtag that is informative and engaging for business seminars will work well, but a hashtag that has personality and sparkles in it will be more effective for events with lots of energy.
Your hashtag will be used on all your social media posts once you have created it. This will encourage the type of interaction that social media is known for. Your hashtag doesn’t have to be limited to social media. It can be used to build reach and communities by appearing on websites of sponsors, digital newsletters, or even in email signatures.
Engage influencers who are familiar to your event audience
Find influencers that have spent time building rapport with your target audience. Based on your audience size, you may need to build a list with 10-25 influencers. Start with influencers that you may find easier to “get”. Reach out to them and tell them about yourself and your requirements. You might also consider calling outposts that you enjoy the most.
Your speakers may already be popular with a certain part of your audience. It should be easy for them and their contacts to share information about the event. Make posts and images that are flattering for your speaker that they can share with their fans.
Prioritize consistency
Your social media presence should use the same colors, logos, and tone across platforms to ensure brand recognition. Check out what your accounts look like to visitors by logging out of the brand account or logging into a personal account.
Post photos on social media platforms to get the word out about your event, make sure the Facebook and Twitter, Instagram photo size is correct. Use the ideal image size for every platform and share eye-catchy images to prevent people from scrolling.
Do you want to increase your brand presence on social media platforms? Here are the best social media management tools for 2022.
Slow and steady posting is a good idea
You can’t grab people’s attention if you bombard them with sales messages. You should provide content that is interesting to your followers and excites them. Sometimes, you can even market to them.
Teaser posts can pique your interest
An Instagram post featuring a standout image from last year’s event. A Facebook time-lapse video of the space being prepared for the event.
Teaser posts accomplish a few things. They get people excited about a certain quantity. Marvel fans are well aware of the power teasers have in generating excitement.
Teaser posts can also increase interest among people who aren’t yet aware of how much they will love your event. Marvel releases teaser posts as a movie’s release date nears. Images and videos are released to excite existing fans and build interest among new ones. Your event can be the same: teasers that appeal and create excitement among existing fans are a great way to do this.
For lively engagement, combine earned, owned, and paid
- Your company’s or client’s social media accounts are called owned social media.
- Earned social media refers to the exposure that you get through sharing content with your followers.
- Don’t discount paid: More than half of event planners use social media advertising to promote their events.
Social media strategies for the event
Even though people already connect in person at an event, it is possible to increase and strengthen those connections between participants, remote participants, and event hosts.
You should also print or make an event poster to help you market your event and to share valuable information with your audience.
Live Streaming opportunities are available
Youtube and Facebook are growing live streaming at an incredible rate. Emarketer predicts that by 2020, people will spend an average time of 92 minutes watching digital video. Facebook claims that people spend three times more longer watching a video when it’s live than when it’s no longer live.
Live streaming is possible, but you should also look into other options, such as post-keynote interviews. VIPs can arrive on the “red carpet” area.
A social wall can be used
This displays hashtagged posts, including pictures, text, and reactions, in real-time.
Any projection screen can be used with Hootsuite social aggregation software. You may need someone to manage the stream and approve posts before the display.
After the event, social media strategies
Keep the energy up and keep the community connected after the event.
Post-event video
Make videos engaging content that encourages further engagement. Video can be taken by a professional videographer, from a member of the team with a smartphone or shared by attendees.
Seek out event testimonials
You can find testimonials from attendees using your social media aggregator. You can find first-hand reactions to your events by using enthusiastic Tweets, Instagram captions, and Facebook Ruminations.
You can use those testimonials in your next event advertising. This is a great opportunity to engage with your supporter and for their supporter to be visible again to their network. SurveyMonkey research shows that people are five times more likely than their family and friends to be influenced by online influencers they don’t know. It is extremely valuable to have a participant’s actual testimonials available to their network.
Ideas for creative social media marketing for online events
Online events come with their own strengths and challenges. They are easier to host but more difficult to promote. These bonus tips will help you:
Give people online reminders
Engage tech-savvy audiences. Ask them to submit questions for teachers or speakers. If they require any special tools, remind them. You might consider setting up a time and date for them to test their online attendance tools during a dry run.
Use your video wisely after the event
You have an abundance of videos if the event was live-streamed. If you were a part of a webinar, take a picture of the screen that you used during the class. Then you can create promotional materials for the next event, educational material on YouTube, or clips to share with social media.
Now, you are ready to implement your social media strategy.
