Is there anything that social media hasn’t changed? Event marketing is just one of hundreds of professional tasks that have been changed by social media. In order to stand out at trade shows and major industry conferences, brands and marketers must go to great lengths on social media sites if they want to get noticed. Here are some tips for making your next event stand out on social media:
Create an Online Hub for all Your Social Content
It’s great to have your content distributed across several social media sites, but a single destination where attendees and interested parties can go to get all the information they need is a good asset too. Mobile World Congress provides a great model by including the preferred event hashtag, relevant Twitter handles, Facebook pages, YouTube channels, and Google+ profiles on a single page. There are other ways to do this too, such as integrating your Facebook and Twitter content. Whatever method you choose, decide how you will drive people to this page. One idea is to make it part of the online registration process. A good social media agency can help you has out the details.
Tap into the Hashtag Craze
Speaking of “hashing out,” hashtags are a lifeline for those seeking information on a single topic on Twitter. With a good hashtag, people can find all content related to your event simply by typing in a short series of characters preceded by #. Examples of good event or movement hashtags are #SXSW, #CNNDebate and #StopSOPA. You can create a hashtag for your industry event that’s unique and easy to remember.
Curate the Most Interesting Event-Related Content
The most successful events generate large quantities of online content, from the attendees. As an event promoter, you can curate the best content, including blog posts, Twitter updates, photos and YouTube videos, by organizing them with a source like Storify. One good example of an event that utilized this was the inaugural Napa Valley Film Festival in 2011. Choose carefully when hiring a social media agency to act as a curator for your event; after all, you want this to be impressive.
Event promoters seeking social media marketing strategies can use these tips to see real differences in the effectiveness of their social media campaigns. These methods have worked for some of the most talked-about events of the year, and they can work for yours, too.
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