21 Ways Meeting Planners Can Use Social Media to Promote their Event

This post requires no major introduction.  I speak about social media at 30 – 40 events a year and have seen a lot of different ways to leverage social media to promote and event.  Here are 20 simple things that meeting planners, event planners and conference organizers can do to promote their event using social media.

How to use Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to Market and Promote a Conference, Event or Meeting

1. Twitter Hashtag – Create a hashtag for the event.  You don’t need permission.  Just create a simple short phrase that people can use on Twitter when they reference your event.  Keep it short and simple, and promote it in advance of and during your event.
2. Facebook Event – Create a Facebook event to drive awareness.  We did an entire post on how and why meeting planners should use Facebook events to drive awareness and attendance.
3. Post News On Social Networks – When you have news – new speakers, hotel discounts, early bird rate expirations – promote it on social networks.  People who are attending like to know and share this information with their networks.
4. Create Multi-Media – Create photos and videos that bloggers, speakers and sponsors can use to help you promote the event.  Blog posts and emails are more engaging with images – so make it easy for people to talk about you!
5. Ask Sponsors to Promote on Their Social Networks – The sponsors want the event to be bigger too, so ask them to promote the event through their channels (email, Facebook, Twitter, etc).  Offer to give them any multimedia that they may need to promote the event.
6. Integrate Social Media into the Registration – When someone registers ask them if they would like to share the event on Facebook or Twitter.  Eventbrite does this automatically.  The more people talk about the event the more buzz you build.
7. Encourage Speakers to Blog – Most speakers at events probably have a blog.  Encourage them to write a post on their blog about the event.  This can raise awareness, plus it makes them look good (they are speaking after all).
8. Twitter Lounge – Create a Twitter or Blogger lounge where those on social media can recharge.  As an added bonus you can specifically invite key influencers to be in the VIP lounge to drive buzz for the event.
9. Post on Pages of Speakers/Sponsors/Exhibitors – Where appropriate, post on their pages (as the fan page of the event).  This helps you reach their audience, who should be a great prospect for your event.
10. Twitter Board – At the conference or meeting have a screen that shows all the buzz from Twitter.  Everyone loves to see their name on the big screen so you can get more social media mentions by highlighting those who are talking about you.
11. LinkedIn Event – Create an event on LinkedIn to drive awareness on the biggest business social network.  Like Facebook, this can generate viral spread.
12. Blog for the Event – Create a blog for the event.  You can invite speakers to guest post to generate excitement in advance of the event.
13. Post Twitter IDs Everywhere – During and before the event, post Twitter IDs of attendees, speakers and exhibitors. People are more likely to Tweet about your event if they know how to reference the event and other participants. Post Twitter IDs on your website and on name tags.
14. Syndicate the Event – Many areas have free local event listings.  These help with SEO and general awareness.  We promote our social media workshops on Eventful and Cincinnati.com.  Find local event listings in your area that allow you to post for free!
15. Give Speakers a Discount Code – To share with their clients or on their social networks.  This can raise awareness for the event and it is a win-win.  The speaker is giving real value to their clients/fans/followers with an insider discount.
16. Email Marketing – Use email to promote discounts or any early bird specials. If your event is regular, make sure to capture email addresses of attendees to market future events to.
17. Create Badges – A badge is just an image on a website that links back to the conference page.  Create badges that say “I’m speaking at CONFERENCE NAME” for speakers, exhibitors and attendees.  Encourage all of them to put the badge on their site.
18. Engage Speakers and Exhibitors on Twitter – Start direct conversations with speakers and exhibitors on social networks to promote the event and the hashtag in advance.  For example “@kristaneher – We are excited about your presentation… someone just asked today about how they can get started on Twitter”
19. Engage Influencers – Create a win-win opportunity for influencers to promote your event.  You can consider giving them press passes or special treatment at the event.
20. Encourage Speakers to Tweet – Send out emails to your speakers in advance of the event asking for their help promoting it. Most speakers have big networks, so you can generate a lot of buzz.  Tell them exactly what you want them to do, and you can even provide a sample tweet that they can use or edit.
21. Leverage Your Facebook Fan Page – If you have a fan page, be sure to create the Facebook event through the fan page.  Also, promote the event to your fans as much as possible (without taking over the entire page).

Anyone else have ideas?