Imagine if eight years ago someone had suggested to you that the best way to promote upcoming events, as a business, would be via Twitter? They would have thought it nonsense!
But in this day and age that is exactly the way to do promotion! Businesses can now simply 'tweet' all of the information for an event they are hosting and can reach hundreds (if not thousands) of people!
The new way of incorporating social media into events and exhibitions is via 'live tweeting'.
This is a new term given to Twitter usage at events - i.e. live updates, photographs of what is going on, who is there, what you can learn etc.
You could even go as far as tweeting another business (gaining their audience as well as yours) letting them know how great it is to see them at the event.
How about posting pictures? Quoting the speakers? Sharing invaluable stats from presentations?
Some may be of the opinion that spending time tweeting at an event is pointless and a waste of time, but many are really grasping how to benefit from Twitter now.
Many of you will already have Twitter in your social media strategy and will be keen to put live tweeting to the test. Why? Because you already know that you can gain quality information, customers and business contacts via Twitter.
The fact is we are in the 21st century and as marketing and communication evolves, whether companies have yet adopted these methods or not, more and more are interacting through Twitter - which means Event Marketing will adopt this method too.
If you're like us and love live tweeting from events or you are interested in giving it a try, here are some tips to hit the ground running with live tweeting for the year ahead:
1. Find out if the event has a #hashtag
The best way to interact online with other people attending the event is to use the hashtag and tweet anyone else who is.
2. Is there a speaker? Are they fellow tweeters?
Find out the Twitter handle of any of the speakers at the event so you can interact with them. Don't forget if you quote a speaker to make sure you tweet what they said correctly!
3. Take loads of pictures!
It's no secret that pictures catch the eyes of people scrolling down their news feed, so make sure tweet photos of the venue, the speakers and stalls (if there is any).
