Social Media for Event Marketing: Are You Ready for the Audience of Audiences?

Social media is changing the game for events and conferences. It seems like just yesterday conversations were limited to the stage, break out sessions and show floors. Now event organizers have the opportunity to almost immediately ignite community, inspire, delight and entertain audiences like never before.

You are serving an audience of audiences. Event conversations are now happening on every flavor of social network from Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, to Snapchat. Attendees are live streaming what they see, hear and experience via live streaming on their mobile devices. They are using mobile apps such as Periscope, Meerkat to give their audience a real-time behind the scenes and front row view into exactly what they are experiencing.

If you are a marketing or business leader planning an event in this ever changing social landscape, you better understand the social and digital landscape of today. There are tremendous opportunities to build community and increase overall business results and ROI if you integrate social media into your event with a well thought out, planned and organized approach.

Event organizers and business leaders must understand the opportunities as well as the associated risks.

What will you do if your hashtag gets spammed heavily?
How will you curate attendee and user generated content?
How will you organize your live stream video, audio, visual and other marketing assets to make it available pre, during and post show?
How will you maximize use of all investments and the content that others are creating on your behalf?
How will you handle wi-fi issues if too many attendees are live streaming?
How will you handle intellectual property if people want to live stream your event and you prefer they don't?
What is your plan B when something goes wrong with a social network?
How can you maximize the conversations with hashtags?
How will you maximize investment in paid speakers?
How will you ensure maximum value for sponsors, partners, speakers and attendees?

If you wait until the last minute to setup your Twitter account, choose a hashtag and jump on Periscope you are setting yourself up to fail. Marketers must educate themselves and truly understand both the art and science of inspiring and connecting with their audience. Even if you are brand new to social media, your audience and attendees are not.

Take a listen to the 181st episode of the Social Zoom Factor podcast and learn 25 tips and strategies to increase ROI at events and conferences by integrating social media. Learn how to plan, how to align to business goals, build community and more.

In person events are the perfect medium to fully embrace the power of social media and social business. Social media is really one big conversation.

Be sure to subscribe to our brand new series, “Welcome to The Inspiration Age. Are You Ready?” on iTunes, Stitcher or SoundCloud!

Episode Highlights

25 Tips to Increase ROI and build community at events and conferences
Pre and post show planning and integration
Considerations and planning for live streaming your own event
Considerations for attendees live streaming event via their mobile devices
Tapping into the power, reach and amplification of influencer marketing programs
How to properly use and integrate hashtags into conversation
Utilizing Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Periscope, Meerkat and more
Importance of creating a visual experience to engage attendees and humanize your brand
How to take the conversation outside of the event walls and venue
How to turn up the amplification with the right voices and influencers vs creating more noise
Importance of setting goals, objectives and key performance indicators from day one