Do’s and Don’t When Using Social Media for Your Event

It’s no secret that social media can have a serious impact on your event. But that impact can be negative for ill-informed or ill-prepared hosts. It’s not rocket science but it is an area that often deserves more respect and attention. If you’re new to social media, or if you’re more comfortable using it to share pictures of your food, these basic tips can help get your social media event campaign off the ground… or at least keep you from crashing.

For starters, create your event on SquadUP so you can easily share the event via Facebook, twitter, an email. That’s the easy part.

DO engage directly with your potential guests. Whether they’re sharing information about your event, asking questions, complaining, or just like the sound of their own twitter voice, respond to them quickly and appropriately. There will always be complaints from haters. DO NOT get into a social media brawl. Be courteous and help them as best you can. This is an opportunity not only to win their support but also that of anybody following the exchange.

DO NOT start by asking for a favor. Whether it’s asking them to attend, spread the word, or follow/like you, it’s best to first present your value-add. I would recommend against seeking follows/likes at all when you’re promoting your event. Attendance and sharing are significantly more meaningful and people will follow/like if they appreciate what you’re doing for them. Not if you ask. DO start by offering discounts or something in return for attendance. Your event itself should be an offer in the form of quality entertainment, education, charitable opportunity or a combination. The host should be the one doing the favor by giving people the chance to attend an amazing event… or at the very least it should appear that way.

DO personalize your invitations. Make guests feel special with the use of promo codes. You can even personalize promo codes to match the individual recipient.

DO NOT misuse hashtags. That means avoiding over hashtagging and creating too many obscure hashtags unique to your event and expecting everybody to use them, let alone remember. If you’re creating a unique hashtag to unify the social sharing before, during, and after your event make it simple and make it stick. Unless you’re promoting Coachella, you probably don’t need to include the year. People aren’t going to be talking about your event for 365 days until you provide them next year’s updated hashtag.

DO provide your followers with quality content and value, consistently. You can’t just dip into the well every time you need something. The idea is that there are benefits to paying attention to you on social media. If you’re constantly asking for favors without showing your followers why it’s in their best interest to listen to you, you’re going to struggle.

DO NOT be spammy. You’ve gotten spammed, so don’t pretend you don’t know how annoying it is. Strike a balance. Spreading quality content across email and social media platforms so that potential guests get the sense that your event is everywhere is good. But flooding their inbox or repeating information again and again will scare people away. And don’t get me started on auto DMs…

DO coordinate social media with the entertainment or main draw of the event. Whatever the form of entertainment is, they probably have a better social media presence than the event organizer. Musicians, charities, and speakers have dedicated supporters and won’t come off like they’re selling something. Use them!

If you have any follow up questions that may be more specific to your event, leave us a comment or tweet @SquadUP.