How important is social media in the events industry?

To some, using social media to enhance events may be obvious, but many can fail to use social media to its full potential before and during events.

Social platforms can help to organise and plan events, allow attendees to communicate with one another, broaden and encourage participation and for them to share information with those at the event and those who aren’t. It can be a great way to create buzz around your event and help to promote it. With the power of sharing that social media has created, comes the ability to spread the word, increase awareness, and accomplish your goals.

Planning your event

The planning process goes beyond purely logistics, it’s about locations, agendas, and the people that will help you make it happen. Whether you’re inviting people over for a small BBQ or you’re planning a conference, social media tools are a valuable aid.

Use things like Skype, Facebook chat or Twitter to discuss and plan events and to brainstorming ideas. Social media platforms make this initial process much quicker and possible when face to face meetings aren’t.   

Who to invite?

Depending on the type of event you are planning, social media can play a role in deciding who to invite, and actually give you a platform to invite them. Just take Facebook’s event organiser, you can plan and invite guests through this facility, or if your event is for example a conference or exhibition and requires guests to purchase a ticket, you can publically promote it through social media channels.

After organising the event, social media can also play a large role during the event itself.

Helping attendees connect with each other

An important part of an event or conference is to network and connect with others. Whether it’s for the purpose of building contacts, business, making friends or building brand exposure networking is key. Using social platforms for events just enhances the way people already use social media, so is a familiar and easy way to connect your attendees.

This kind of networking during events can have a lasting effect and build relationships that will continue long after the event is over.

Broaden Participation

Social platforms provide a huge venue for the event to be recognised way past the physical venue itself. For those who may be unable to attend, it’s a great way for them to still be there without actually being there. Live streams, pictures and video updates of an event allow those who aren’t there to still connect with speakers and attendees, and still enable people to network on a huge scale.

Sharing information

A huge wealth of information can be gathered from social networks about an event. You will be able to find out what people think of the venue, the speakers, what they liked or didn’t like and even which areas of the event were the most popular.

You can gain a wealth of feedback on your event, which can prove very valuable when you are planning your next occasion.

Whether customising your conference to meet the needs of your audience, creating media buzz or engaging participants, one thing is notable: social media has revolutionised events. If you make the most of it, your events could become global.

Like every aspect of your event, event management services can advise or take care of your social media engagement so you can sit back, enjoy your event and network.