When social media is used as a broadcast or marketing tool alone, it can often just create noise that quickly becomes irrelevant when the event has finished. But it can also be used effectively before, during and after to not only organise, plan and promote your events, but, most importantly, to build up a long-lasting community 24/7.
Social media shouldn't be an afterthought palmed off to an intern. Someone absolutely has to be dedicated to the social media for your event, and they need to share your passion. Think about the community as the ever-lasting event and think of your social media as a virtual MC, curating, responding, nurturing and engaging with those talking about you.
Any event will most likely host two different characters and you will need to create social media content that appeals to each type. 'The Eager Ones' are the founding members of your community: they will definitely be there and buy tickets the moment you start selling them.
They need recognition and support to help them spread greater word of mouth, so don't mass contact them – take a personal approach and perhaps invite them to a launch event. They'll become your allies in converting 'The Wait and Sees'. This group has choices and they need convincing. So not only do you need to knock it out the park and give them something to talk about online, but as soon as the event is over, your social media should be targeting them with happy memories they might have had.
An easy way to create a community is to think like a TV show. Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones and Sherlock all have fan bases that don't die after the season finishes. This is because they create the right meaningful talking points beyond each of the episodes, poke the fire when needed and, quite simply, delight their fans. Also remember that a lot of your audience is going to be interacting using mobile, so use short-form content where possible. Keep things to the point and make it easily shareable. This is especially the case for video: unless you have a film budget, it may be better to post many brilliant Vines rather than a couple of boring YouTube videos.
It's also a good idea to create social media content for each social channel you use – don't just cut and paste the same content everywhere. Nobody on Twitter wants to know what you posted on Facebook and nobody on Instagram wants to see a piece of clipart that you found on Google images. If you're not so good on Photoshop, Canva.com is great for your graphics. Most importantly, make sure your content is relevant, short, sharp and sweet to keep current and potential guests excited about your brand.
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