Amplifying your event presence with social: Before

Let us set the stage. Your company is hosting/sponsoring/attending an event or conference, and you’re preparing email blasts, signs, flyers, booklets, speaker bios, giveaways, meals, booth design, A/V setup, accommodations, scheduling… Ready? Not quite. If you aren’t including social media in your event strategy, you might as well forget about the rest.

It might sound extreme, but if you aren’t using social media to drive awareness and attendance, the other efforts you’re making are far less effective than they could be. [Read: you’re wasting resources and money.] Now that we’ve got your attention, we’ve got you covered with our three-part checklist, which tells you exactly what to do and what to consider before, during and after an event.

BEFORE AN EVENT

Questions to ask:

• Is your organization hosting, sponsoring, or simply attending?
• Is there a link to an event information or registration page?
• Will your organization have a booth? If so:
  • What are the dates and times that your booth will be staffed?
  • Where is the booth located? What is the booth number?
  • Will you be hosting any activities, presentations or giveaways at your booth?
• Are there any speakers, presenters or panel participants from your organization? If so:
  • Do you have their high-resolution headshots?
  • What is the title or topic of their presentation?
  • What is the date, time and location of the presentation?
• Are there any partner relationships you want to highlight through the event? If so:
  • What are their social media account handles/names?
• What is the most essential element of your company’s involvement with the event?
• Who will be posting to your brand’s pages during the event?

Things to do:

• Create shareable social images with:
  • The event name and booth details
  • Speaker headshots and presentation details
• In advance of the event, start teasing out your company’s involvement through social media (including links, booth, presentation and speaker details).
• If the person (or people) posting to your brand’s pages will not be on site during the event, create a WhatsApp group for those on the ground to quickly and easily share photos and information from their phones with your social team back in the office.

Up next:

• Amplifying your presence at any event with social media: a three-step guide – during
• Amplifying your presence at any event with social media: a three-step guide – after

Other resources we like:

• Event Manager Blog: Social Media for Events (2018 Edition)
• Buffer:Event Marketing 101