Event engagement can be a nasty beast to tackle, but a necessary evil for sponsor satisfaction, a plethora of free marketing, information sharing, and of course keeping attendees on their toes, hanging onto your every tweet. Hundreds of applications have been developed to help you manage many aspects of your event through tweets, and if you’re not integrating the 140-character sharing into your events, you’re way behind the curve. So create your event hashtag and check out these tips for driving event engagement through the wide and wonderful Twitterverse.
Pre-event: Building up the buzz for your event is not an easy task, and can often seem daunting amongst a generation of non-commitals. We’re all paying attention to what our networks are doing now, with less attention to what is coming along down the pike — and far less planning ahead. Driving ticket sales via social media can seem repetitive and annoying, but according to BizBash‘s Global Social Commerce Report, a tweet generates 33 visits to an event registration page on average.
While running a contest with a 140-character limit can be a challenge, this tactic can encourage attendees to commit early on, and tiered ticketing by offering early bird pricing can also help level out the registration curve. Take to Twitter to share these promotions and other event information, and you’ll boost your event engagement before the guests have even arrived. Don’t forget to share the hashtag on invitations, in promotional emails, and on the registration page to generate a following. Click here for tips on creating an effective hashtag, and check out Angela Maier’s 70-20-10 Twitter Engagement Formula for tips on creating purposeful and intentional tweets in addition to promotional chirps.
In-Event: Streaming tweets during an event in one of the oldest tricks in the book (or as old as Twitter is, at least) to encourage in-event social media engagement, but check out these other tools to stream tweets with a bit of style and flair. Tweetwall apps and services like Triqle can drive engagement through in-event polls, and the ability for sponsor branding is incorporated into a custom social media dashboard called Refynr. Apps like Twitterfall can integrate Twitter into Q&A sessions (check out more tips here), and HashChat creates a virtual chatroom out of tweets, hashtags and people talking about an event or conference. With hundreds of options and so many reasons to stream tweets in-event, there is no shortage of possibilities for any event, from fashion shows to conferences.
Post-event: Often the most overlooked in terms of value, Twitter’s post-event takeaway is arguably the most beneficial for attendees and hosts alike. Providing a way to search all hashtagged tweets, attendees can revisit content and check out what they may have missed after the last guests have left. Taking to Twitter after an event continues conversations and provides fodder for future marketing efforts, post-event coverage and follow-up, and more. Download an archive of the tweets from an application like WhattTheHashtag.com or Twapper Keeper, post it on a blog/website after the event, and share with sponsors to showcase how many times their brand was mentioned via Twitter.
So go ahead tweedos, fire up Tweetdeck and get to promoting your special event now!
