THE LOVE CONNECTION: SOCIAL MEDIA & EVENTS

NBU, DEC 2015

WHY DO WE NEED SOCIAL MEDIA AT EVENTS?

BEFORE:

TO SPREAD THE WORD TO PROMOTE TO GET SELL MORE TICKETS TO ESTABLISH THE BRAND

DURING:

HAS THE EVENT HAPPENED IF IT’S NOT ON TWITTER?

AFTER:

GAIN FURTHER MEDIA COVERAGE FOLLOW UP WITH PARTICIPANTS MEASURE RESULTS CONTINUE WHAT YOU STARTED

BEFORE THE EVENT

Get the social media going (after you answer some questions):

what is the event all about - party, conference (what type of conference), promotion/product launch?

why are we doing it?

who do we want to target?

what is the final result we are looking for?

Based on that:

Decide on social media channels (most likely you will need Facebook & Twitter).

Create them or start producing content for the existing ones.

NB: Figure out a plan a.k.a have a strategy!

Think of ad budgets, where to spend them and how to target ( look at all the options Facebook & Twitter ads give you, they really work!)

NB: GET YOUR # GOING

make it easy, intuitive and relevant to the event (check if someone else is using it)

make sure it’s well communicated: visible on your website and Twitter profile (add to profile description and/or pin a tweet that announces it)

urge partners and sponsors to use it - politely mail them or even better, mention them in tweet so their social media people notice you

TWITTER IS YOUR BEST FRIEND

CAN YOU DO AN EVENT WITHOUT SOCIAL MEDIA? NO. SO YOU ARE GOING TO NEED CONTENTWithout content you don’t have social media, so

create a content strategy - both for your own website and for other media, think how you are going to involve the partners

create a content calendar and start blogging, doing videos or anything that fits the event

content helps both branding and promotion

WHAT HAPPENS AT THE EVENT BETTER NOT STAY AT THE EVENT

DURING THE EVENTDedicate one person or team

Appoint a team member or a whole team of people that will only be responsible for covering the event on social media:

posting on Twitter

updating Facebook

answering questions

collecting Q&A

Double check if the wifi is working - just in case have a Plan B for that.

Make sure people can charge their devices - ask for additional plugs

Create a special area for bloggers & media - make them feel comfortable and VIP, give them a front roll so they can take pictures, make sure at least they have wifi and plugs. NB: what they see is pretty much what the world outside of the room will see of your event

PUT A NOTE TO SELF ABOUT

TWITTER IS YOUR BEST FRIEND IF YOU KNOW HOW TO USE IT

get a wall to show the tweets

use it to promote the partners & sponsors

engage people in a conversation

it is your best Q&A tool

give people gifts

EVERYBODY TWEETS VS. FEW PEOPLE TWEET: MEASURE THE PULSE OF THE EVENT BASED ON THE SOCIAL MEDIA REACTION A.K.A WHAT’S GOING ON ON TWITTER

AFTER THE EVENT

things don’t end with the end of the event

send a Thank you! mail, tweet, blog & Fb posts

measure what the event has achieved based on social media: monitor tweets, the blogs etc

produce your own content to follow up the topics

start building a community!

BIGGEST EVENTS I DID IN 2015

TEDxMladostWomen 2015 - tedxmladostwomen.com First Laravel event in Bulgaria First Sketch event in Bulgaria with Despark

CONTACTS: @SAAABINAP LINKEDIN:SABINAP