Events provide a unique opportunity to create content. Whether doing it live or storing it for future use, events are not to be ignored as a fertile ground for great content. Events generally involve many stakeholders – employees, customers, partners and sometimes competitors – getting together in one place at one time. This interaction lends itself to countless opportunities for cultivating and capturing memorable moments that, when shared, perform well on social media.
Leveraging events for social media opens the door to many different content types, which can amplify reach and build credibility and community even more. They also make the job easier because, if done right, the chance to get everyone involved in the creative creation process and gain user-generated content and engagement is enormous. However, creating a strategy for your event content is critical for social media success. Here are a few concepts to consider incorporating into your action plan.
event marketing strategies
Leverage the full event lifecycle
The opportunity for content creation exists throughout the lifecycle of an event, so don’t forget to include generation activities before and after. In the run-up to the event these could include countdown posts, ticket giveaway campaigns or behind-the-scenes sneak peeks into event preparation and setup. After the event, recap videos, attendee appreciation campaigns and teasing future events are optimal content ideas.
User Generated Content
Nothing is as powerful as the real-life recommendations you get from your customers and business partners, as well as trusted influencers in your industry. These individuals often have the far more influence than your traditional marketing campaigns, so it’s important to consider how you’ll encourage them to make content on your behalf. This could include the oft-used and highly attractive photo wall, live polls or Q&As, interactive photo booths or takeovers.
Branded-Hashtags
Another great way to encourage and capture content is to create a branded hashtag for your event. This also facilitates the existence of a social wall at your event, where attendees can see their posts live on the big screen in front of all your other guests – another great activation idea that drives content easily. Using the same branded hashtag for future events allows you to tap into your library of past content too, any time you’re looking to promote something upcoming.
Testimonials
We all know the importance of getting testimonials from your biggest supporters – whether that’s your customers, your own team or your partners and suppliers. Events offer you an opportunity to gain testimonials that are even more convincing than your average written review. Use these in-person (or even on-camera) chances to get your shoutouts on video for maximum impact on social media.
Challenges & Awards
Setting up challenges for attendees at your event is the perfect way to generate interesting and engaging content that you can use on social media, either live or later. This could include challenges to actually create content for social, activities related to your business like sales challenges or employee awards, or event challenges like karaoke, games and races or pub quizzes. These can be related to any of the activities you already have planned for your event – all you need to do is add an element of competition to encourage even more engagement that will spark great content for social.
conclusion
Social media is one of the fastest-moving mediums in marketing, where timing is everything. Some of the most powerful social media strategies involve posting live or as close to real-time as possible, allowing brands to stay relevant and up to date with everything that’s trending. But future planning is also very important and keeping up long-term is hard to do; many marketers experience creative burnout at some point. Events could be the answer to both challenges!
