Is your association gearing up for your next conference? Are you looking for ways to curate events while increasing engagement and awareness?

In this post, you’ll discover some creative ways to utilize social media marketing for your next conference.

1. Create your Social Strategy

The earlier your association can create a basic social marketing blueprint the better. Plot out your target audience and identify the best social platforms to promote your conference.

2. The Power of a Hashtag

Did you know that tweets with hashtags get twice the engagement? Creating a conference hashtag is a great way to create social buzz, bolster attendance and monitor the conference campaign across social channels.

A good hashtag is unique, short and memorable. Once the conference hashtag has been created, promote on all social channels, in marketing materials and on the conference webpage.

3. Mix up your Content

Social media is a perfect medium to reach out to attendees, speakers and prospective event-goers. Studies have shown that adding an image to a piece of information can increase memory up to 65%. Curate engaging content by asking questions as well as posting pictures and videos.

4. Find Influencers to Spread the Word

90% of consumers trust peer recommendations, according to a Nielsen study. Social influencers help drive awareness for your conference, build credibility and engage new attendees.

Reach out to speakers at your conference and ask them to promote your conference to their personal networks

5. Create a Twitter List

One trick, when curating live events for your association, is to create a Twitter list. Find and follow Twitter handles for the conference speakers and sponsors and set up a Twitter list. Having these handles handy will make it easier when you are live tweeting onsite, since some Twitter handles can be hard to find.

6. Schedule Content with a Social Calendar

If your company is using a social media tool to schedule social outreach, go ahead and pre-load a few teasers about the conference. This helps alleviate some of the stress when arriving and setting up for the conference or, worse, finding out that the Wi-Fi is not working. (This happens more often than you would think.)

7. Event Day: Keep the Content Flowing

The big day has arrived. Encourage attendees to capture snippets of conference sessions by offering free Wi-Fi, posting conference hashtags and reminding attendees throughout the conference through onsite marketing.

Focus on what your audience is posting and share this content. Highlight the conference by sharing photos, videos and memorable quotes. Remember to include the unique hashtag.

8. After the Event

Provide a post-conference summary on your blog, newsletter, etc. Take the time to gather all the conference photos and video content and share in one place. This will allow attendees to share this content and keep the conversation going after the conference.

And, if your association hosts a yearly conference, this content is very valuable for the next campaign.

Utilizing live social media for your association conferences can be a fun and engaging way to spread the word as well as connect with new attendees and build your online community.

How does your association use social media for conferences?