There is no doubt how important it is to use social media to promote your events and create buzz. Whether using paid or organic reach, you should be able to keep top of mind with your desired audience while boosting registrations. Here are some tips to make the most out of your event’s social media strategy.

Even if you are selling tickets on a different platform, such as your own website or an event website hosted by an event management platform like Attendease, you may still consider creating an event on Facebook to help you spread the word. 

Here are some of the benefits of creating a Facebook event:

Pro Tip: While there are many benefits to creating a Facebook event, this may not be a great idea if you are planning a private event.

From your Facebook Page, click “create event”.

Add your event information:

Pro Tip: In order to increase your reach, don’t forget to add a category, add as many relevant keywords as you can. This will help you get more exposure to people who may be interested in the topics and keywords you use. Don’t forget to add a link to the official event website, where prospects can buy their tickets.

Once you create your event, you are able to boost it by creating a Facebook sponsored post to promote the event. Just hit the “boost” button on the post (or create it from the Facebook for Business Dashboard) and then choose an image, audience, budget, and duration for the ads to run and you’re all set. 

Pro Tip: Pay special attention to the audience, as reaching the right one is crucial for the success of your campaign. Here are a few segments you should consider:

Imagine other people can promote your event for you, and not charge you anything for it. That is possible through UGC – User Generated Content. That means your audience will be sharing posts about the event and reaching their networks. Here are some ideas to inspire users to share your content:

For larger events, consider creating a Facebook avatar filter or a story frame. This will only work if you have enough volume of people and if people are genuinely excited to share with their network that they will be joining you. Here’s an example of a frame Social Media World used for their conference.

Pro Tip: Keep in mind that Facebook has some policies that you must follow when submitting your frame for approval. That includes the size of your frame (it can’t take the entire screen) and restrictions for use of logos. Once your frame is ready to be used, make sure to promote it so people start using it! Make a post about your frame, use it yourself, and remind users to create content with the frame on the days leading up to the event and during the event itself.

Want to create even more buzz during your event? Create a geotag with your event name, so attendees can easily check-in and share on social channels. Here’s an example from SXSW tag being used on Instagram Stories.

How to create a Facebook and Instagram geotag?

1- Go to Facebook and click to create a post. Among the post options, choose “check-in”.

2- Type the name of your event. If it shows on the list of options, then you are all set. If not, you will need to click Add Place in order to add it to the list. (If you don’t see the Add Place option on a desktop computer, try doing it from a mobile device)

3- Follow the prompts to include information about your location

After contacts have registered for your event, add social share buttons so they can easily share with their network that they will be joining your event.

Give speakers, sponsors, and exhibitors a series of blurbs for easy sharing on social media, including tweet-worthy text, event hashtag(s), sponsor handles, and ticket purchase links, as well as image banners for each social media channel. They’ll be more likely to share if the posts are pre-written and easily shareable. 

Here are the banner sizes for the most popular social channels (all image dimensions below are in pixels, width x height):

Having a unique hashtag for your event will make it easier to track and share content relevant to your event. To make this happen, make sure to check online first to confirm that no one else is using the hashtag of your choosing, use the same hashtag across all social channels, make it short, and make it easy to type in order to avoid typos. You can also use tools like Hashtagfy to help you track and measure mentions and conversations around your event.

Contests, draws, and influencers can be a good strategy for B2C events. Here are some ideas to leverage the power of social to create more buzz and spread the word:

Here’s an example of an Instagram post from an influencer helping to promote an event to their audience:

It’s not because the registrations are closed that you should stop caring about your event’s social media. The buzz generated during the event can be your best tactic to show the world how great your event is and to boost sales for upcoming events. Here are some tactics to help you with that.

Whether you pick a special area for a photo wall, or you have your entire event space as an amazing showroom, make sure to have dedicated spaces that are cool enough to motivate people to take a photo and share.

Here’s a photo wall example from Rise Above Signs:

And an interactive photo-worthy area designed by Elegant Design Events Ltd.:

Increase your online social interactions and conversations by displaying a live social wall at your events. This will not only motivate attendees to share, but will also boost interaction between attendees, engage guests, and generate social buzz. Here’s a sample from Dialogfeed:

Building social buzz before and during your event can help you boost registrations and increase attendees overall impression of the event. Make sure not to overlook the role that social media can play in your next event.

Want to learn more about event management tactics and ideas? Make sure to subscribe to our emails so you don’t miss a thing!

No matter what kind of event you’re running, how many attendees you’re expecting, or what industry you operate in, something will go wrong with your event day management. Outside of a one-in-a-million (and probably mythical) “unicorn” event, some unexpected contingency or unlikely eventuality is going to throw you off your carefully-laid plans.

How you respond to issues that arise influences how successful your event will be. To help you be as prepared as possible, we’ve rounded up seven possible issues you’re likely to face – as well as how to respond to limit their potential or lessen their impact.

To keep this list as relevant as possible, we’re not going to talk about acts of god or catastrophic weather that could shut down your event (though you should certainly still have contingency plans for those). We’re also going to skip mostly avoidable circumstances, such as choosing the wrong venue size or underselling your event.

With that in mind, we’ll start with parking, as parking problems abound at major events:

To a certain degree, you can limit potential problems by visiting potential venues in person before signing your contract to get a complete understanding of their parking situations. As National Event Pros explains, “If your event space only has an entrance on one side of the building, and the parking structure sends pedestrians in the other direction, your ‘one block away’ assumption could actually be more like three or four.”

However, taking this step won’t prevent all possible parking problems. Limit the potential disruption caused by others through clear communication. Over-communicate what options attendees will have for parking at and getting to your venue. Then, watch the news. If any issues arise that impact the information you’ve shared, notify attendees using every channel at your disposal.

Even the most efficiently-designed on-site registration flows will hit roadblocks. Some of these, you can account for with advance preparation by using a central event management system like Attendease together with an on-site check-in tool, like Boomset. That will help you to design a seamless check-in experience. However, no event management system can fully eliminate user error.

Users will arrive on-site without the registration information needed for check-in, slowing the process down. They’ll try to proceed directly to sessions or presentations without registering first. Your best move here is to make sure you have the right technology while accounting for enough staff to support the check-in process. Having extra team members at the ready may seem unnecessary, but remember that even small issues have the potential to grind registration to a halt.

You’ve signed on a high-profile keynote speaker. You’ve plastered their name and face all over your event’s promotional materials. And then, on the day of the event, they’re sick. Or stuck in traffic. Or unable to get to your event at all due to weather and/or transportation closures.

It isn’t only speakers whose no-shows can disrupt your event. The absence of a featured exhibitor could leave a major gap in your floor plan. A key attendee being unable to make it could mean their entire staff stays home as well.

Since there’s no real way to avoid this issue, your best move is contingency planning. Who could you tap last minute if your lead speaker bails? How else could you fill the floor space from a missing exhibitor? If attendance dropped unexpectedly, should you combine sessions so that the remaining slots don’t feel sparsely attended?

Communication is also critical here, especially in the case of an absent speaker. Use every tool at your disposal – from social media, to monitors, to print signage and more – to inform attendees about the change of plans as soon as you’re able to. Surprising guests with the change of plans when they arrive for the session could cause negative feelings – especially if they attended specifically to see the speaker.

No venue is perfect – and the cracks in your plans may not show through until your venue is stress-tested by the actual event. It might only be after you arrive that you notice:

Planning ahead only gets you so far in the case of “unknown unknowns.” Think through as many circumstances as you can, then prioritize making it clear to attendees who they should contact in the event of an issue.

Short of assigning one-to-one guides to every individual attendee, there’s almost no way to prevent some participants from getting lost at your event.

No matter how many maps you’ve passed out or how clearly you’ve given directions, keep in mind that attendees are out of their comfort zone and often juggling multiple priorities. As much as they may want to be fully focused on your event, they’re likely also juggling the need to stay in-the-loop with what’s happening at the office or at home.

Mobile event apps can help lost attendees regain their bearings, as can frequent signage. Posting staff members or volunteers at key points around the venue provides a helpful touchpoint for those who can’t find their way, if you have the extra manpower available.

Whether you plan to pass out boxed lunches, make use of convenience store kiosk style setups or simply set out a continental buffet, something can always go wrong with your refreshments.

Drawing on past experience can minimize issues at your future events. If, for example, you ran short of coffee at a similar event last year, you can minimize the chances of repeating the same mistake by increasing your order.

If you’re planning a new event, however, the venue’s staff are your best allies in avoiding refreshment-related problems. At larger events, catering and facilities staff may be invaluable in helping you plan not just the appropriate amount of refreshments, but also how to distribute them throughout the event to ensure the best possible coverage.

At the risk of sounding redundant, communication is your friend here as well. Beginning as early as possible in the registration process (depending on when you confirm your catering order or purchasing plans), inform guests clearly what they can expect to be on-site in terms of food and drinks. If you’re able to support attendees with dietary preferences or requirements outside of your planned refreshments, make the process for requesting and picking up these items clear.

Don’t leave your guests wondering. There’s nothing worse than arriving to an early event on an empty stomach, only to discover that the promised refreshments won’t be rolled out until lunchtime.

Your budget is going to be off… and chances are you aren’t going to come in under budget. Cost overruns are par for the course in event management.

Certainly, being as diligent as possible in your planning process helps reduce the incidence of these and other events. However, since unanticipated expenses are virtually guaranteed when running events, it’s wise to build wiggle room into your budget. Geoff Beers, writing for The Balance, suggests adding a “buffer zone of 10% to avoid running out of funds.”

It’s not that we want this list to sound negative. Things will go wrong at your event, but that doesn’t mean the event is a failure. As long as you’ve accounted for as many issues as possible and invested in creating great programming for your attendees, most guests won’t notice the minor challenges that feel like major failures to you.

Prepare for as many possibilities as you can, and be proactive about responding to any that arise that you didn’t plan for. Focus on what goes well, and apply the lessons you’ve learned at past events to the next one you arrange.

Hosting a virtual event? Here are some things you can do to prepare for your virtual event day management.

Have you encountered these issues before? Or do you have another to add to our list? Leave us a note in the comments below:

Organizing one event is no minor feat, but what if you’re managing multiple events? To ensure each event is executed smoothly, you need an event management platform to simplify everything from scheduling and marketing to registration and measuring attendee experience.

Whether you’re in charge of managing hundreds of events like webinars and training sessions, or dozens of exhibitions and conferences, here are four critical reasons you need comprehensive event management software to make all of your events a success.

An essential aspect of organizing and managing events is effectively scheduling sessions and speakers. A powerful session slotter should let you create, edit, and manage multi-day and multi-session events easily. Moreover, a scheduling tool will allow you to assign speakers, and allocate time for speaker sessions, networking, breakout sessions, breaks, transition times, waitlists, and much more. Schedule visibility is another critical consideration. Integrating the event calendar with your event website will make it easier for you to share the event sessions with your attendees.

Technology can be extremely beneficial when it comes to organizing, managing and running events. However, if you are using tools which are completely separate from one another and don’t share data and information, you are probably making the work harder for yourself. To effectively manage events, the best option is to consolidate your marketing efforts. The most productive way to get the most out of your campaign is to select a technology stack that can be connected to one another.

For example, a practical approach to managing an event could incorporate an all-in-one event management platform, a project management tool, and a CRM system, such as EventUp Planner (formerly Attendease), Slack, HubSpot and Salesforce. EventUp Planner’s website builder allows you to easily set up and organize a well-structured website, including registration forms. Then, by connecting with Slack, you can receive constant updates on your event and keep your team up to date. Add SalesForce to bring in new contacts based on registrations and finally incorporate HubSpot to track attendee interactions and nurture leads.

Using your event management software, you can accurately measure the effect of your marketing on your sign ups, and also learn how to market more effectively in the future based on the attendee data you have.

Effective event marketing campaigns can drive stronger sales for your events, increase attendance, raise awareness, and strengthen brand affinity. Marketing events requires a multidisciplinary approach. Set goals as you start, and draw on your event-marketing tools to track performance.

Streamlining the registration process could drive higher attendee satisfaction for all your events. Your registration tool should make it easy for attendees to register, such as embedding the registration form on your event website, or adding a multi-step registration process to gather all the information you need from attendees.

It may be important to find an option that allows you to select different event passes, promo codes, and price levels. Waitlisting features allow you to auto-manage session capacities and registration updates, saving yourself from manual work.

So the event is over. Now what? When it comes to measuring attendee experience, you need to send out surveys and collect feedback. Using event management software can allow you to see aggregated survey analytics and integrate with other platforms like Sli.do for live polling and Q&A during the event.

Surveys allow you to collect both qualitative and quantitative data about your events for deeper insights. Your surveys can address the event experience as well as things like how likely attendees are to buy certain products, and net promoter scores.

Managing multiple events is a mammoth undertaking, and the better your tools, the more successful your events will turn out to be. From scheduling events and marketing them to registration for each event, you’ll need powerful tools to reach attendees and track progress while automating what you can.

Once events are over, you’ll want to track attendee experience and work out what went right and what can be improved on. With a powerful event-management tool designed for managing multiple events, you can streamline the long list of priorities and make every event a success.

If you manage multiple events, EventUp Planner (formerly Attendease) is the sophisticated, all-in-one enterprise platform you’ve been looking for. EventUp Planner is more than a platform; it’s a powerful engine for publishing entire event portfolios managed across different teams and business units. Find out more about EventUp Planner’s multi-event management capabilities here.