Been there and done that!However, when you are organizing such big events this is one thing that is mostly ignored due to the important things that fall way ahead on the to-do list.
Questions like where to start from and what you should be doing or not doing while creating a social buzz around your events are a later thought, even after the marketing plan is set in motion.
So the common practice is to jump to the platform and start posting some content regarding the event and invite people via your network. This was a go-to practice a few years ago however with the changing time and technology just inviting people and sharing few updates about the event won’t cut it. The modern social media channels are much more personalized and need a strategic approach to make your event a success.
The first step in starting your social media networking is choosing the right social channel: Social media channels are many but each has its own importance, Choosing the right channel where you will find relevant people as per your targeting is recommended. Linkedin is a chosen network for most of the B2b network and in combination with discovery networking listings.
Here is a list of few must-do activities that every event professional must know for creating a social buzz around the B2b events.
This list is divided into the pre, during and post-event activities that you need to do have a full cycle of a social media campaign that will result in long term gains of increased engagement with event audience.
Pre-event stage:
This is the time when you need to create curiosity around the event. It is always a good idea to keep your attendee’s interest maintained in the event by giving them some teasers about what is in store for them during the event.
Step one: Create a page for your event on all the social media networks, invite your close network to like and share your event page.
Step two: start posting interesting content about your event and updates that your attendees may be interested in.
Step three: Creating interesting #tags for your event. Topics that are relatable to your industry can also be added in the Hashtags. Hashtags are a great way to populate your events online bring specific and niche audiences they help you reach masses in a small time frame.
Step four: Run some pre-event contests to engage your audience and keep them excited about upcoming event updates.
Event attendees stats show that people like to know what they will get when they attend your events so create posts that help them understand what benefits they will have from the event.
Creating video teasers of the event is also a great way to keep your audience engaged and interested.
A running countdown on registrations can create curiosity among social viewers and turn them into your visitors and attendees.
Give complete information, keep it simple and interesting is the key when comes to creating a social media buzz around your event. Increase registration of your event with paid campaigns on the networking sites where your events are listed and run a social media campaign to increase your overall impression share. Make sure your event listings have a rating and feedback section where attendees can interact in the pre, during and post stages of the events.
During the event:
The pre-social media interaction should be a continuous activity resulting in during the event promotions.
Keep your audience engaged with live update of the event
Live-tweeting post interactions and speaker updates can make great content for your social media posts.
Contests to engage people on specific booths, gamification and giveaways also add on to during the event attendee engagement plan.
Post-event:
Social media engagement activity for an event is a continuous cycle, even if you have a yearly edition of the event it’s crucial to keep in touch with your users post the event.
Ask for feedback to all your event visitors and participants this can help to improve your upcoming events.
Share the glimpses of the event, speaker sessions, award ceremony, winners, best booths, client testimonies, twitter mentions, and popular tweets make up for all the content you need for post-event social media buzz.
Social media buzz creation is an ongoing activity and content quality is the key. Share reliable, trustworthy updates that will keep your users coming back for more events, making your event attendees your brand ambassadors.