A social media toolkit for your event!

Do you have an event on the horizon and want to know how social media can add support both in the run up to and on the day itself? We’ve pulled together a handy social media toolkit to help you master social media for your event!

Your event is the perfect time and place to promote what you do. Like your event, social media is most successful when there’s a clear plan to follow – and our toolkit can help you out!

Promoting your event:

What is happening at your event? From keynote speakers to networking sessions, or even hands-on workshops, let your audience know beforehand all of the key highlights to entice them in to attending your event. You may also consider setting up a Facebook event, a LinkedIn event or even an Eventbrite, to help you gauge how many people will be in attendance and to promote your event to your audience. You should also think about making your event partners/organisations co-hosts on your Facebook event, which will help grow your reach and attract a bigger audience.

If you have speakers, sponsors or vendors attending your event, make sure to send them a digital copy of the poster beforehand, and encourage them to share within their own networks on their own social media channels (you should also make sure they have all of your social media channels and encourage them to tag you in their posts, to help direct their audience to you!)

Make a list of ‘Must-Have’ shots:

Looking at all the highlights of your event, create a list of all of the elements you’d like photos of (eg: your speakers, workshops, VIP guests, etc) and keep it with you at the event so you can tick it off as you go. If you know you are going to be particularly busy running your event then you might consider booking a professional photographer for the day, or alternatively allocate the ‘photographer’ role to another member of staff or trusted friend, who you know will get the shots you need.

Don’t forget to share these photos, and tag in the people/businesses featured in them as you go!

Create and use an event hashtag

Creating an event hashtag will help you keep track of content posted by all of the people attending your event. It should be unique to you and your event, and should be short enough so that your guests find it easy to use; for example, Holmfirth Food and Drink Festival use #HolmfirthFood, and the Kirklees Business Conference use #KirkleesConf – these hashtags tell you exactly what the event is, and can be used year-on-year by attendees and organisers alike.

Don’t forget to keep an eye on the hashtag in the run up to and on the day of your event, to repost the user generated content relating to your event.

Promote your social media at the event

Make sure to include your social media handles and event hashtag on all your promotional material, so people attending your event know who to tag in their posts. And don’t forget to have them displayed on a screen or a board during your event, so people can post as they go!

Consider using a social wall

With a live social media wall at your event, you can empower attendees to share their thoughts and images. The benefit for you? You can magnify the impact of your event. This brings real-time visibility to the activity around your event. Your hashtag comes in to play here, with everyone using your hashtag being displayed on screen during your event.

The good news is that we’ve developed a social media wall that’s easy to use and perfect for events. Take a look at Big Screen Social for more information.

We recommend setting aside time to think about all of this, and plan out each element of your event social media 6-8 weeks beforehand. As we know, planning makes perfect, and we hope your social media is as successful as your event is sure to be!

If you need further guidance with our social media toolkit or training on how to get the best out of your social media, get in touch with Social Progress on 01484 506336 or email info@socialprogress.co.uk and a member of our team will be happy to help!