How to use social media for events

Social media is now more important than ever. It helps us event planners and marketers spread information about events and meetings to interact with attendees, gain feedback and even create long-term engagement with our target audience (which has been somewhat more difficult in the dark ages before any social media!).

Now let's get straight to the point of how to make the most of this - we've put together some advice on using social media before, during and after your event:

Prior to the event

As with any marketing, to take full advantage of social media for your event, start with a solid marketing plan. Integration of all your social channels is a key thing here. Plan ahead about how you’re going to use each piece of your social presence. Familiarise yourself with Tweetdeck and Hootsuite to manage your social channels from one place and save time.

Your first mission is to inform the right people about your event. Apart from the necessary website for the event, set up event pages on Facebook, Upcoming, Eventbrite and LinkedIn (for corporate events), making sure you're targeting the right audience from your plan.

It's really important to engage your audience from the beginning. Use tools such as crowd campaign where your audience can vote for speakers and sessions for your upcoming event - for info on crowd campaign read more at Convince and Convert .

Next: Pick a hashtag for your event! Having a unique and memorable #hashtag for your event can be really valuable when promoting it on Twitter. According to WiredImpact you should develop your hashtag early and keep it short which also means using only one hashtag (remember you are doing this to simplify your promotion and not to confuse everybody). Just having a hashtag is not enough though, so make sure you promote it and that it is unique (think of what sticks). For example, an abbreviation of your event's title and a year would do (the # for Mobile World Congress next year is #MWC15). And last but not the least: Actually use your awesome hashtag. tweet about new in the industry, latest programme additions, speaker interviews, and topics related to your event. You want your tweets to show up in relevant conversations before the event, resulting in attendees showing up onsite!

Submit press releases before, during and after the event to sites such as PR Web and PitchEngine - simply write an announcement about your company, product launch or event and they'll get your news distributed to every major news site and search engine on the web, which may just pop up through keywords on your target audience's google alert .

At the event

On the day of the event, marketing and social media is at its highest peak of potential for spreading the word! Take photos, share quotes and testimonials, create videos and distribute throughout your social media channels. Here is where social media can really make an impact and create a buzz around your event now and for the future.

Use your specific event hashtag to create a Twitterwall ! This will let you display only the tweets you’re interested in from everywhere on Twitter, use it to track hashtags, usernames, and keywords. Then set up a big TV at your event so display the twitter wall, for people to follow. The possibilities are up to you.

Take the advantage of apps like Foursquare and encourage your attendees to check-in. This, on the other hand, lets you pick point the most popular areas of the event where attendees find each other and meet easily (if it's a bigger venue). You are ultimately helping attendees to connect - and what is more important at any event than making the right connections and sharing valuable, fresh content?

After the event

Your main goal after the event is to extend the lifetime value of it until the next event. Gather the conference/event content and spread it as widely as possible within your target audience. Focus on creating and maintaining post-event buzz. Start by connecting with all the new contacts you made at the event. Now upload, tweet, share and publish reviews, success, memorable moments and all the relevant content.

Ask your attendees and speakers for their feedback. Remember to keep the buzz going. Keep your online community engaged 365 days a year.

In the end, keep in mind:

Whether customizing your conference on the fly to meet the needs of your audience, creating media buzz or engaging participants, one things is clear: social media has revolutionized events. If done right, your conference or event can become a global experience.- Mashable

For more information visit:

Eventility - 4 Ways to Use Social Media to Boost Events (infographic)

Facetime - The Essential Guide to Social Media for Live Events

BizBash - 12 creative ways to promote hashtags during the event

Image credit

Slider-image credit: Jim Larrison

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