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Adding a Social Media Plan

Jordan Schwartz, president of Pathable, has created a checklist for adding social media for your event.

Choose Your Tools

  • Define your goals- increasing attendance? Create buzz? The tools you use will depend upon your goals
  • If your attendees are business colleagues, set up a LinkedIn event page
  • If your attendees are related socially, set up a Facebook event page
  • If your attendees enjoy trying out new things, set up a Twitter account
  • If your attendees want to keep in touch after the event, set up a private social network
  • Blogs will help spread the word and information
  • Google Alerts can be used for notification

Promoting your Event

  • Choose a Twitter hashtag and put it on your website
  • Encourage attendees to retweet by offering Twitter-only discounts
  • Find LinkedIn groups relevant to your audience and join them
  • Invite Facebook friends and groups to join on Facebook event page
  • Help to build buzz by linking to the communities you have built
  • Use bit.ly and Google Analytics to find out what is working and what isn’t

Communicating with the Audience

  • Communicate as a person, not a corporation
  • Ask attendees questions through the online communities, get them inspired
  • Respond to your audience when they speak on your behalf

During the Event

  • Provide Wi-Fi and power so your attendees can communicate about your event (blogging, tweeting, etc)
  • Project Wiffiti on stage to attendees can see what is happening
  • Encourage bloggers to “live stream” your event by providing “extras”
  • Mobile friendly version of your website with access to schedules, maps, etc

After the Event

  • Publish photos of the event to Flickr
  • Encourage attendees to continue the dialogue started during the event
  • Use online surveys to collect feedback

 

Source: Meetings & Conventions, March 2010