Tips and Strategies for Using Social Media Live at Large Events

September 28, 2014

Timothy Carter

Timothy Carter is the Director of Business Development for the Seattle-based content marketing & social media agency AudienceBloom. When Timothy isn't telling the world about the great work his company does, he's planning his next trip to Hawaii while drinking some Kona coffee.

There was a time when any kind of promotion or advertisement was only done by professionals. It was a time when Don Draper of Mad Men spent hours brainstorming with his team to come up with one perfect catchphrase to promote a singular product. While certainly there are still plenty of pros in publicity and advertising, social media – including blogging, Facebook, Twitter, etc. – has changed the game of this kind of work.

You no longer necessarily need a seasoned expert to promote your product or event; you only need an Internet connection and a webpage. This is great news for some businesses that perhaps could not afford to hire the big guns, but now can run their own social media campaigns.

Instead of waxing poetic to get to one great catchphrase line they spitfire funny jokes in 140 characters or less. Especially if you are trying to promote an event, using social media is a must. Below are some tips and strategies to get the most out of your live blogging, Twitter feed, and Facebook page.

#1 – Use a consistent voice. Not everyone is blessed with the perfect writing voice for blogging or using social media, so take the time to figure out who the best person on your team for the job is. Try to avoid mixing up the voices – it can be confusing for your readers and fans who can’t tell if your company is a funny one or a serious one, a sophisticated one or a childish one.

#2 – If live blogging, make sure you don’t miss the event itself! Live blogging from an event is a great way to build publicity for it. It is also a great way to draw attention to your blog, if that is your goal. Choose an event that you are actually interested in attending so that you can write excitedly about it. (If you are a car fanatic, live blog a car show, not a flower show.) But don’t let yourself become too absorbed in your computer screen or you will miss the event itself! Pay attention to what is happening around you and focus on writing about the best parts.

#3 – Link within your own social media accounts. If you are live blogging from an event, and also using Twitter and Facebook, make sure you use your Twitter feed and Facebook page to bring readers, followers, and fans back to your live blog. Link the blog with an inviting tag line, like: “You’ll never believe what I just saw at the 2014 [conference you’re attending] – out of this world!!” A little teaser can go a long way.

#4 – Use a lot of pictures whenever possible. If you are trying to give your readers a feeling for what it would be like to be at the event you are blogging or tweeting from, then make sure you provide visual cues as well as just written ones. Don’t just tell your readers about the “insanely inventive cupcakes” at the giant bake-a-thon. Take some pictures and upload them to the live blog.

#5 – Have fun and be yourself. The key to a successful live blog is making it a better source of information about the event than a standard or typical newspaper article. That is when it helps to keep it fun and to maintain your personal perspective. Everyone else is gathered around Exhibit A? Why not check out Exhibit Q and blog about that?

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