12 Tips on Social Trends to Tap Into From Erik Qualman
Slideshare: Social Media and The Event Landscape with Erik Qualman from Eventbrite
By now we should all realize that social media is here to stay. Erik Qualman, author of Socialnomics, says, "We don't have a choice whether we do digital, the choice is how well we do it." Here are his tips for putting on a successful event:
1. Lasting Hashtag: Pick a hashtag that is short and tight but relevant and evergreen.
2. Promote the #: Start using the hashtag in the marketing process of the event. It should be in your event invite, reminder emails, social media posts, and PR & marketing efforts before, during and after the event.
3. Engage the External Audience: Encourage your networks to follow along live (via the hashtag) even if they can’t attend the event.
4. Pick a Socialization Point Person: Designate one person to manage all social regarding the event before, during and after the event. This can’t be the event organizer!
5. Livestream! If you don’t have the funds to livestream, provide real time updates (live-tweet) via your Socialization Point Person.
6. Curate and Repurpose Content. Don’t reinvent the wheel. Reformat and repurpose content you’ve already created throughout the event planning process. It’s ok to re-use things!
7. Have a Mobile App! Allow your attendees to find all event information in one place. A website for your event or conference is also a good option.
8. Provide Attendees with Photo Opportunities: Have a backdrop with your event name/company logo so people can take photos and share with their friends.
9. Leverage Speakers for Promotion. Ask your speakers to make themselves available for photos, interviews, after they speak and during the event. Also tweet at speakers during event promotion to encourage them to share and retweet the event information to their networks.
10. Offer Free WiFi: All of the above is enabled by WiFi, vital for a smooth event with lots of social sharing.
11. Collect Onstage Feedback. Use realtime Q&A with sli.do, conferences.io, or other polling apps to collect feedback during sessions as opposed to paper surveys post-event.
12. Finally….Watch Guy Kawasaki! Always pay attention to Guy Kawasaki. He’s a great resource in the event circuit-- always up on trends and doing cutting edge things.
See more about Erik Qualman at Eventbrite: http://blog.eventbrite.com/social-media-and-the-event-landscape-erik-qualman/#sthash.GuAL9vex.dpuf