In the networked age that we live in, live-tweeting has become an important part of having an integrated presence at events and conferences.
When done right, live-tweeting can prove to be a great way to not just engage your target audiences at the event; but also effectively communicate your brand personality, beliefs, and build the image of a proactive organization that knows its business well.
However, while at an event, the on-ground management and activities can often leave you with hardly any time for social media managing and live-tweeting.
Here are some tips to make the process easier as well as effective.
Pre-Event Preparation:
Make sure you are equipped with the latest agenda and schedule of activities for the event. Get in touch with the speakers or the presenters in advance; and see if they are willing to share details of the topics they are covering, some key insights, etc. This will give you a better idea of what you will be tweeting about.
If possible, prepare tweets in advance according to the topics in the agenda. This can save a lot of your time while you are at the event because you won’t waste time be searching for details and data at the last minute.
Follow relevant individuals, companies, guests, and speakers participating in the event. They are more likely to be involved in a conversation with you.
#Hashtags, @Mentions, and Links
Most conferences and events nowadays have their own official hashtag. A hashtag is a term that is searchable on Twitter and is an aggregation of all the tweets which have the hashtag. Use the official hashtag of the event in all your tweets.
Hashtag all relevant words and use the ‘@’ symbol to mention the twitter handles of the people you converse with through your tweets. If you want to use your own hashtag for the event, decide it in advance. Remember to keep it short and simple.
Include links to interesting articles as well as products and services that are relevant to the conversation. This is the best way to drive relevant traffic to your business and get the most from your social media marketing.
Alert Your Followers:
Post announcement tweets a few days prior to the event and also a few hours before the event begins. This will give your interested followers time to plan their activities accordingly, and join you in the Twitter conversation if they want to.
Build up the excitement by posting a countdown to the starting time. Every few hours, tweet something like, “just x hours until we’re tweeting live from today’s event!” The sense of anticipation you build up is likely to increase the number of tweets because once people get excited about something, they are bound to respond.
Make similar announcements on all your other social media presences too.
Capture the Essence of the Event
While you tweet about things that are happening at the event, look for sound bites that really hit the nail on the head when it comes to making a point. Tweet those parts of the speech or presentation that get maximum response from the audience at the event.
Share your own comments and takeaways – retweet and reply to other attendees to get the most from the conversation.
Take Pictures:
A picture speaks a thousand words. Photos resonate better on Twitter, especially those which let people get an experience of actually being at the event without really being there. So behind-the-scenes photographs, photographs of activities happening live, interactions among people at the event, food, etc. are the kind of pictures that will get shared and talked about online.
Track the Conversation:
While live-tweeting at an event, don’t stop at making conversation. You are likely to receive questions and comments from curious viewers. Use third party apps like TweetDeck or HootSuite to keep a track of the conversation and mentions. Make sure you respond to the relevant ones.
The Time is Now:
Events are often fast-paced and offer a lot of information and interactions in a relatively short period of time.
The wonderful thing about tweeting is the very fact that it’s done LIVE. And there is nothing like living in the present!
The above suggestions will definitely help make the live-tweeting process a lot easier and more fun; and also ensure that you achieve what you have set out to.
Happy Tweeting!
Is live-tweeting a part of your digital marketing strategy for events? Do you use any specific tools or techniques? Is it a good idea to let your social media agency handle live-tweeting at events?
Do share your thoughts and queries in the comments.
Abhishek is a part of the Ethinos search team and helps client with various search techniques.