Social Media: 5 basic ingredients for your business events

The use of social media in the event industry has become a must. However, many companies are still in the early stages of using these powerful media tools or are still hesitant to associate them with their event. Here's a little back-to-basics to remind ourselves of the usefulness of social media and how to use them.

1. The power of images

In life, as in social media, you rarely get a second chance to make a good impression. Our advice: show yourself at your best! Using authentic, high-quality photos greatly increases the chances of being seen, responded to and shared. Humanize your organization, too, by asking your team members to interact on its behalf, and by posting photos and videos that tell the story of their personal experience at the heart of your event.

2. Every event has its story

Another good way to humanize your social media presence is to dedicate several posts to the story of your event, the stories that shaped its organization and execution, and the memories it left behind. Before, during or after your event, you will certainly have plenty of anecdotes to tell. Before, you can bring back memories to your attendees by posting pictures of the best moments of the previous edition or informing them of the progress of the last preparations. Share photos of your participants in action during workshops, meetings or other activities. Afterwards, highlight comments or quotes made by participants during the event, making sure to identify them. Also, thank your partners and sponsors for their contribution to the success of your event, always putting people first.

3. Community manager to the rescue

Your presence on social media must be planned and coordinated with rigour and tact and always be in line with the image you wish to convey. To do this, designate the ball carrier of your social media strategy, ideally one person who will always have answers to everything! Your community manager can take care of :

• Find the right communication angle to generate maximum interaction.
• Convey to team members the right messages to convey or responses to give in different situations.
• Broadcast events in a timely manner and inform attendees of changes or breaking news.
• Manage live comments and answer questions
• Ensure interaction with attendees
• And much more

4. From real to virtual

Communication is about sharing, no matter how it is conveyed. To encourage your attendees to join the conversation, whether they are sponsors, speakers, exhibitors or delegates, you can start the dialogue by "liking", "following", or "adding" your partners' social media accounts. However, avoid making automatic add requests or with prefabricated messages and focus on personalized communications with the right people.

Relevance, repetition and regularity, this is a simple recipe that allows you to multiply your chances to shine on social media.

5. Social media are everywhere

With relevance, repetition and regularity, this simple recipe allows you to multiply your chances to shine on social media and maximize the impact. Every opportunity is good to remind attendees of your presence on the various social networks and give them opportunities to interact with you. Once you have chosen your hashtag, don't hesitate to use it in all your communication tools, such as :

• Various speeches (opening, coffee break, presentation, etc.)
• Signage and promotional items
• Introducing your speakers
• Programming
• Email signature
• Registration form and satisfaction survey
• Etc.