We’ve created, launched and managed social media campaigns and presences for a variety of events, and that includes on-site social media engagement. We definitely have a number of tried-and-true tactics for creating buzz and interest during an event through social media, and I’d like to share some of those with you here.
Live tweet sessions. By tweeting bite-sized, but pertinent, pieces of information from sessions, workshops and keynotes, you’re providing value to those in attendance and those outside the event who are watching the Twitter stream. Interest and buzz is generated from retweets.
Tips: It’s important that people watching your tweets know the source of the information in your live session tweets, so be sure to include the speaker’s name (usually their last name for brevity). Better yet, include their Twitter handle if they have one. Photos of speakers or panels are great session-tweeting fodder as well. Jeff Hurt has a great post on tweeting at conferences and events, which has excellent pointers and is definitely worth a read.
Retweet others. Your attendees are the most important part of your event – and your best source for relevant, insightful information as it happens. They’re tweeting about what is important to them, and retweeting that information puts them front and center and gets them more involved in the event as a whole.
Tip: Thank your Twittering attendees for their insights with @ reply “Thank you” notes.
Post photos & video. Don’t just tell people what’s going on; show them by posting photos and videos straight from the event to your outposts (including your event blog). Post clips from keynotes and sessions, photos of popular speakers and products, on-the-spot video interviews with attendees – be creative!
Better yet…
Encourage attendees to post content to outposts from the event. Create a hub on Facebook or Flickr for attendees to share their own event experiences through videos and photos. Promote it through the event website and on-site signage and print materials, or even build it into an event-specific mobile app. Encourage people to tag them with your event name and hashtag for maximum exposure.
Ask questions to encourage conversation and feedback. Ask people to share their feedback of the event through your outposts, or even create quick polls and surveys using Twtpoll or SurveyMonkey.
Tip: Try using Google Moderator to gather feedback as well.
Create content that involves your attendees. I love Paper.li, and I’ve discovered that what they offer is perfect for events. It’s a great way to feature your attendees and the content that matters to them. If you gather Twitter account IDs from your attendees when they register, create a Twitter list and add them – then create a daily with Paper.li from that list.
Tip: Create similar dailies from lists of your speakers and exhibitors.
Get exhibitors involved. The expo floor can be a great source of excitement, so work through social media to build relationships between attendees and exhibitors. Bring groups together through Tweetups and demos at booths. Post photos of cool displays and swag giveaways.
Tip: Create an expo floor scavenger hunt using location-based services like Foursquare or Gowalla, or event-friendly location-based services like Scvngr or Double Dutch.
Plan & hold mini-meetups & tweetups. These don’t have to be large, extravagent, intricately-planned shindigs at expensive venues with open bars and free food. Why not have mini-meetups and tweetups, planned and promoted ahead of time and taking place at a designated spot at the event, but held only for the purpose of getting people together to meet and converse. Maybe offer some freebies, hold a special giveaway or make it into a meet-and-greet for a speaker or esteemed guest – but it doesn’t have to be more than that.
Tip: Suzanne Carawan tweeted an excellent idea for an on-site meetup that I wanted to include:
