Events and social media: promoting before, during and after

March 6, 2024
Can you promote and communicate an event these days without using social media? Of course, because not every event needs to be communicated and promoted on channels with the characteristics of social media. Some events, though, cannot (and should not) do without it — because they have to reach large numbers of potential attendees, for instance, or because they need to lean heavily on community and engagement. In cases like these social media can still be formidable allies for reaching your objectives quickly and at costs that are, all things considered, contained, especially compared with other online and offline communication and promotion channels. Like every tool with great potential, though, social media needs to be used strategically if it is not to become an energy-devouring black hole that takes more resources than it brings to the event. Which is why we decided to write this short guide to “promoting and communicating an event effectively on social media”, and to organise it around the three main stages of any event: before, during and after. These are suggestions that obviously have to be adapted to each context, that should be part of a wider communication strategy, and that need to sit inside a communication plan strongly oriented towards synergy between the various tools (website, newsletter, push notifications, among the main ones). But we think they can be excellent starting points for building an editorial calendar for each event that avoids two things, both of them dreadful: horror vacui — which strikes when you do not know what to publish, have no plan and no calendar and risk doing things in a hurry and badly, with little strategy and therefore incapable of producing results — and the waste of resources that comes from producing content far too beautiful, elaborate and glossy to actually be effective.

1. Before the event: building anticipation

Communication before the event serves three main purposes:

  1. Making the event, and where appropriate the organisation behind it, known to the target audiences
  2. Waking up the audience you have already won over
  3. Creating anticipation and interest

This first phase of communication and promotion has to inform, attract and, ultimately, get people to register for the event or buy a ticket.

How?

We can use:

  • Event agendas or programme teasers
  • Introductions to speakers
  • Promotional video from the speakers
  • Testimonials from the previous event
  • Pre-event webinars on themes connected to the event, including ones led by the very speakers who will be taking part
  • Early bird announcements and offers (discounts or extras)
  • Highlights from the previous edition of the event
  • Infographics with data
  • Interviews with the speakers
  • Countdown graphics and videos
  • Preparations and behind the scenes
  • Surveys or quizzes about the event’s topics or speakers
  • Frequently asked questions and points of interest
  • Announcements of collaborations or partnerships
  • Interactive games or competitions
  • Previews of the event’s merchandise or giveaways

This is also a good moment to create and start circulating hashtags, templates and formats that prompt and encourage user generated content — material produced directly by attendees, speakers, exhibitors and so on, which can then be shared and circulated further to widen its reach.

2. During the event: involve and interact

During the event, social media can be a useful way of keeping interest alive and actively involving attendees, as well as helping them build community and develop relationships:

How?

We can use:

  • Live posting
  • Live streaming of key moments
  • Real-time quotations (including from speakers)
  • Live podcast recording
  • Interviews with attendees
  • Interviews with exhibitors
  • Real-time surveys
  • Highlights of the day’s key moments
  • “Behind the scenes”

And never forget that social media — along with every other communication channel you have opened — has to be staffed for the whole duration of the event, because you must always be ready to answer attendees’ comments, questions and feedback, and so show an active commitment to the online community.

3. After the event: consolidate and share

And after the event? Communication certainly does not stop. There is no better moment for capitalising on the energy generated and keeping attention alive:

How?

We can use:

  • Videos and photos of the most important moments
  • Quotations from presentations and speakers
  • The most moving moments (photos and video)
  • The most engaging moments (photos and video)
  • Event galleries
  • Infographics or graphics for individual sessions and pieces of content
  • Attendee testimonials
  • An announcement or teaser for the next event
  • Press coverage
  • Posts linking to articles with highlights and deeper analysis

Thank-you posts for attendees, speakers, sponsors and collaborators are generally much appreciated and hold real value, and should not be forgotten. Above all because nurturing customers and contacts with whom you have already opened a channel of communication is more effective and less costly than going out to acquire new ones later.

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