Ten Tips for Using Social Media for Conferences

Social media has changed the way we communicate and, used effectively, it can be a tremendous tool for meeting and event planners to enhance the on-site experience. One of the biggest benefits of using social media at a conference is that it gives you a direct connection with your attendees. You can monitor how they're engaging with the event and get a good feel for all manner of things, from how your speakers are being received to whether the meeting room is too hot or too cold.

Rachel Greiner, Marketing & Social Media Marketing Manager for Experience Grand Rapids, shared these 10 tips for effectively using social media before, during and after conferences.

Understand your audience.

Understanding your audience – and concentrating on the social media channels they use –is a key element of effectiveness. Presumably, you’ll have been communicating with attendees via social media all year long, so you’ll know where they are and how they like to interact with you. LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok tend to be the most frequently used platforms by groups Grand Rapids hosts, but you have to know the composition of your audience. For example, TikTok tends to appeal to a younger crowd. 

The bottom line is you have to know your audience. You can do all the social media you want, but if you choose the wrong channels you’re talking to no one.

Choose a succinct #hashtag.

A concise yet catchy hashtag will “brand” your conference virtually and make it easier for attendees to find you. For conferences that have an easily recognizable acronym, it's popular to use the acronym followed by the year. By doing so, you've created a hashtag that's easy to update annually and easy for attendees to recognize.

Publicize the hashtag everywhere you can – add it to printed materials, announce it from the podium, flash it on screens up on the stage and anything else you can think of. A recent conference held here gave aways prizes to attendees using their hashtag, which provide very effective way to get attendees to use it.

Limit your channels.

 You don’t need to be on every single platform. Better to pick one or two platforms and focus your energy there rather than spreading yourself too thin. Limiting channels is easier on your audience and also allows you to stay on top of things. Whichever platforms you choose, be sure to cross-promote your content. For example, if you post a video or an interview with speakers on Facebook, be sure to let attendees on LinkedIn know to check out your Facebook page. Be as specific as possible, letting them know what kind of valuable content they’ll find, and be sure to use your events hashtag.

Employ Speaker Power.

Your speakers are a key part of your conference and they should be a key part of your social media strategy, too. Speakers can build interest in your conference by letting fans know they'll be speaking there, and by participating in your social media strategy. You can add speakers as collaborators on Facebook and Instagram, and your posts will show up on their profiles, too. You can extend your reach further by collaborating with event sponsors and partners. Collaborators must accept your invitation to participate, so it’s a good idea to approach them in advance. Collaborative posts will share analytics and engagement across profiles.

Create a social media calendar.

It’s important and effective to have a social media plan, or calendar, outlining how you’ll be communicating with conference attendees through social media. A calendar forces you to think strategically about the platforms you’ll use and the content you’ll distribute. Advance planning also enables you to enlist collaborating speakers, sponsors and partners at an early stage, when you can better coordinate your promotional campaign. Knowing who’s doing what, what their posts will be about and when they’ll be posting ensures that information will be shared in a timely organized way. There are a number of software tools available to create your calendar, including Sprout Social, Hootsuite, Metrocool and Planable.

Help attendees tag themselves.

One of the many benefits of social media is that it helps attendees engage with one another and your conference, while allowing you to spread the word about your event. Encouraging attendees to share photos and videos is a great way to get them to interact virtually, with each other and with people you want to come to your next event. A lot of groups assign an event photographer to capture high-quality images and invite attendees to tag themselves when the photos get posted. When they do, the photos are shared with their own social media connections.

Focus on content.

No one wants to read posts that seem self-serving, even from a conference, so make sure you’re sharing material that will engage, educate, inspire and/or entertain. That covers everything from announcing agenda changes to clipping presentation snippets to answering attendee questions. Behind-the-scenes content – such as workers setting up the stage and speakers getting ready – is effective because makes attendees feel more connected to the event and builds anticipation. Videos typically score the most engagement on social media, so make them a part of your strategy if you can.

Be the first to share.

At the conference, it's important to stay on top of the social media channels you're using and share key material promptly. You want to be first to disseminate that information so attendees following the hashtag can simply re-tweet the information rather than having to type it out themselves. (Of course, this also helps you control the message.) Ask speakers to share the key points they'll be communicating so you can prepare tweets ahead of time. Then, you can get the tweet out immediately after the speaker makes the point on stage.

Help attendees connect online and off.

Social media is a great way to get attendees to engage with one another inside and outside the meeting. By setting up your hashtag, providing attendees with information and asking questions, you can encourage attendees to engage both with you and with each other.

Attendees can also use social media to plan outside activities during the conference, where they can connect in real life. Encourage attendees to post about their off-hours plans – like exploring the breweries of Beer City USA (aka Grand Rapids), hitting a local hiking or biking trail, or visiting Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, voted America’s #1 sculpture park. Other attendees might ask to join them, forging real-life connections that can last into the future – and spur annual meetups at subsequent conferences.

Monitor your performance.

Another great advantage of social media is that it brings with it a wealth of analytics – data you can use to determine which parts of your social media strategy worked best. You can monitor your hashtag to gauge audience sentiment in real time and identify attendees that are engaging most actively, so you can build relationships with them and tap them as influencers for future events. You can also track metrics like engagement rate, reach, impressions, likes and shares to help refine your approach for next year’s conference.

Speaking of next year’s conference, check out our recommendations for using content captured at this year’s event to build buzz for your next conference.