Social media is a powerhouse that event marketers should make full use of. 73% of marketers believe that their efforts through social media marketing have been effective for their business. In addition, 79% of people say that user-generated content on social media influences their purchasing decisions.
These numbers give you some thoughts about using social media as your marketing benefit. And what if I told you that not just before an event, social media can help your brand attain significant reach even during and after the event too. Interesting, right!
There is no point in waiting anymore; we should get straight into ways to utilize social media to promote our upcoming event.
How do you utilize social media platforms to promote an event?
Let’s look at how we can use social media’s immense potential before, during, and after an event.
Before an event
Create a short video from previous events
Capture your followers’ attention by creating a short highlight video that features the success of your previous events. Great visuals and catchy audio is a brilliant combination that gets people hooked and, in this case, will enhance your event’s social media presence as people love sharing what they like on social media.
Upon seeing how exciting your previous events have been, people would want to register for the latest one along with their friends.
Create a hashtag campaign
Create a hashtag campaign around your event to encourage people’s participation. The hashtag you are creating should be relevant to your event. For example, you can use the event’s name, theme, or an easy-to-remember abbreviation.
Communicate and promote your event hashtag regularly. It should be shown on event signs, posters, presentations, websites, social media outlets, and even your email signature. In addition, include your event hashtag in every social media post about the event.
Use your hashtag to generate discussion about the keynotes, speakers, sessions, and sponsors before the event begins and attract people to register. Then, when the live event starts, go all out with the hashtag, live-tweeting sessions, providing images, and informing attendees about what’s coming up next.
Use the hashtag after the event to continue relevant discussions, inform participants about recorded sessions and other resources, and continue the conversations you started earlier.
During an event
Use a Social wall
The most trending feature during an event that captures the attendee’s engagement like nothing else.
The best social media wall for events is a unique real-time social feed on a digital screen. You can encourage participants to post with a specific hashtag that you have created for your event. The social wall at your event can display the user-generated content around your hashtag from various social media and review platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Google, etc.
You will convert the users’ social media engagement into event engagement by displaying this content on social walls.
Present the latest industry news
People like to watch exciting events happening worldwide in real-time. Therefore include industry-specific news on your social wall to make it more dynamic and educational. Collect all industry-related news using hashtags, or mix your personalized content between social streams.
This will capture the interest and excitement of your audience. At the very least, it will give the attendees a reason to put down their phones and urge them to participate in your event.
Share behind-the-scenes visual content
A fantastic event requires a great deal of effort. Share photos and videos of the ongoing preparations to look into this thrilling process.
Please share how you’re putting it all together. Be honest about the difficulties you’ve encountered and your efforts to overcome them. It gives your brand a more human face and makes you more relatable.
Using behind-the-scenes photos and videos to generate excitement and increase interaction is significant for your event. It promotes a sense of being an insider to the event and creates an emotional connection.
After an event
Provide event photos and videos
It would not have been possible for all the people to attend the event. To offer them value, provide them with special event moments on your social media handle so that they do not miss out on the beautiful parts of the event.
These social media photos and videos would be a chance to re-live the memories for those who attended the event. They will also share these photos and videos with their friends and family, boosting engagement for future events.
Get in touch through direct messages
Staying in touch with your event’s attendees even after the event sends a strong signal that you care about them. You can send direct messages to your attendees on social media platforms, asking them for feedback and what changes they would like to have in your future events. Add an emotional touch by asking them about their trip to and from the event and thanking them for joining the event.
Wrapping Up
Social media is too powerful a tool not to be used. Marketing statistics around social media are mouth-watering for event marketers, and you also need to join the bandwagon. Social walls play a huge role in engaging the attendees during an event, and Tag box Display helps you create a highly engaging one. So without any further adieu, start utilizing your social media channels through the shared tips.