Wilson | Buzz: Social Media & Event Marketing Series

By wilson | Event Marketing, social listening, social media, social media strategy, Virtual Conference

KEEP THE LOVE ALIVE – POST EVENT SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

The crowds have come and gone. You’ve shared a moment and they’ve shared the love. But before the dust from the event settles, you need to keep the momentum. This is not the time to rest. Right now you still have the attention of your audience—DON’T LET IT GO TO WASTE! This is a critical opportunity to keep the conversation going and start building buzz for your next event.

The last two posts in this series covered leveraging social media before and during your event, but post event marketing is critical in keeping your audience engaged and connected, looking forward to next year’s big event. So how do you engage with your audience post event and reach new potential followers? Here are few tactics we’ve used successfully.

Reel’em In With Highlights

Social people love to relive and share the experience they just had, almost as much as the initial experience itself. You can help them do that. Whether photos, tweet recaps or even a video reel, share the best moments of your event with your audience. They can relive the positive experience they just had, strengthening your brand and good will. It’s also another opportunity for prospects to find your event and realize what they have been missing. New attendees will likely start with examples of previous events to make their decision and a great highlight can start them on the path.

Here is how the National Retail Foundation recapped their event, the NRF Big Show 2015.

Remember that hashtag? The one you so carefully crafted so that you could enter into the real-time conversation? Now you can use it to curate the most talked about topics and happenings from your event. List posts are a great way to combine all of the best from your event into logical jumping off points to go deeper into your content.

She Said What?!

Unless your event only has one stage, everyone in your audience is missing something. During the actual event, they are likely to be completely focused on what’s happening in front to them. Sharing comments from other parts of the event afterwards enables those that didn’t actually attend that particular session to catch up on things that might interest them. Quoting your resident experts and presenters gives attendees an idea of who they would like to see next time and gives outsiders a glimpse into what they missed. It also helps spread the recognition for your presenters, making them more valuable to your event. Recapping a list of quotes from experts at the event and about your event can send a powerful message.

Follow Up!

Now is the time to get feedback to plan your event. Not only will you receive input that is fresh and top of mind in your audience, but it shows that you care and are invested in trying to improve your event. This could take any number of forms, from personal emails to anonymous surveys to crowd-sourcing ideas on social. Or all of them. The important thing is that you’re reengaging with your audience for yet another touchpoint. Linkedin groups can be a great venue for conversations, and by all means, keep that hashtag going. Consistent, genuine communication is the key to building an audience.

Tease’em Just A Little Bit

Hopefully planning for your next event was well under way before this event started. Before the current event ends you should have at least basic information about the next one ready to go. This keeps the excitement and anticipation going from one to the next. Highlight the location if it is different from this year. Talk about speakers and other entertainment if it’s known and applicable. And don’t forget, it should never be to early for registration and to connect with your audience.

Here is a teaser video we created for the close of the Teradata PARTNERS Conference in Anaheim. It was shown at the conclusion of the final keynote address.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EotIvksX2Gk

The Conversation Never Stops

Social media is a conversation. As a two-way interaction, it’s up to both parties to keep thing moving, to fulfill their end of the bargain. But that doesn’t mean it’s equal lifting. Speaking from the event side, you have to work harder to make sure that you keep things relevant and interesting to your audience. Don’t push your agenda, but listen to your audience and give them information that entertains and is useful. Make them feel good about attending your event before, during and afterwards. That will keep the buzz and share the love.