The one thing that has changed the most in my life since I entered the World of blogging is my social calendar. Used to be that the only events on my agenda were the ones that I was performing at. Oh how times have changed. Now I have as many tweetups as I do concerts. Go figure. But eventhough it’s nice to be the guest every now and then, it’s not always fun. “Why?” you ask. Because many brands still don’t know how to throw a good social media event. So I have dissected the seven most important factors in the anatomy of your social media event.
1. Know why you’re gathering
There is nothing more frustrating to me than to be unsure of why I am at an event. And I really hate it when I leave an event wondering why I was there in the first place. Because when I go to a nice social media affair it’s important to me to feel like I have done all I can for the host. Make sure your guests understand why they were invited, what attracted you to them, and what you expect/hope to gain from their attendance. Have an agenda. Be clear. Give your attendees something to tweet about beyond just a role call of who is in attendance and how fluffy the pastries are. (Unless you are the cook who baked them and that is in fact your business.) Remember a conversation has to be about something. “Let’s give em something to talk about!”
2. Know who your friends are
Let’s be clear, events these days are twofold; one part IRL and one part on line. If you want to get to know someone you tell them your name. But these days a name isn’t enough you also need a twitter id. Right at the door you need to collect your data. Have a business card jar, a sign in sheet, name/twitter id tags. (Oh, and don’t forget your video/photo release). But the two most important things you need are a hashtag poster, and a whiteboard with everyone’s twitter id on it; IE “Who’s here!” You want organic, authentic conversations to happen online. People saying hello to each other across the room digitally, commenting on the festivities and your brand prowess. Be sure to have someone from your camp monitoring the twitter feed, engaging with tweeters on your events’ behalf in real time. It doesn’t have to be non-stop like a traditional twitter party, just make sure you check in every now and then and stoke the fire. That’s the online portion, but don’t forget about your IRL responsibilities. Consider having a question card that guests need to fill out for prizes. The questions should be related to your product/campaign, as well as to key people you know will be in attendance. Questions that will encourage people to mingle and ask questions of each other in order to be able to fill out the card. This will help to promote conversation.
3. Be sure to have a parting gift.
No one should go home empty handed. Absolutely everyone should feel like a winner. Now some people might argue with me about this, but I feel that a thank you bag at the door on the way out is important. Note I didn’t say swag bag. I don’t think that it is absolutely necessary to send your guests away with lavish gift bags. I do think that it’s imperative that you send a smile home with all of your guests; a smile induced by your your product or campaign. Give them something to remember you by. Of course you should also include tweetable information about your company and any other participating companies or sponsors. Notice I said tweetable. Don’t send your regular monologuing brochure. Instead create a postcard with key messages or bullet points that get right to the heart of the matter. Make it easy on your social media active attendees to get your messages out to their communities. IE have some 120 character or less quotes that are easily tweetable. Respect their time and make it easy on them. “Edit your own schtick!” Tweet to be retweeted. (It’s a very simple idea that seems to get lost on many.)
4. Stream the dream
If you are going to bother to live stream make sure you are streaming something that is worth watching. No one likes to watch paint dry, so why would you stream people milling around at a party. Make sure that you are streaming an event that people will wish hat they were able to climb through the computer and attend. The content of your u-stream is a reflection of your brand. Make sure it’s the image and feel that you want associated with your product/campaign. And for goodness sake, if you are streaming with sound make sure your guests know that. You don’t want anyone to be unnecessarily offended or embarrassed. This is not hidden camera expose for 20/20, it’s a party where no one should be in the hot seat.
5. The way to a tweeters heart is through their stomach
Not everyone eats goat cheese. Not everyone eats meat. Many people have allergies. Give serious thought to your food choices. Go the extra mile-if you have servers on hand make sure they know what they are serving so they can answer guests’ questions about the food in real time. No servers, no problem. Just place nice little placards by the food listing all of the ingredients. Don’t just write the word sauce. Some people have allergies to spices that you might take for granted. Make the evening easy for your guests. Do the answering for them so they don’t even have to take the time to ask the questions. That way they can focus all of their energy on your product, mission, campaign or message.
6. Family friendly isn’t just a title.
Make sure that if you tell guests that their families are welcome that they truly are. I have been to events that were glorified press conferences. Loooong press conferences. You can’t expect small children to understand that the cameras are rolling and they have to give good face. Not only will the children start to run around but the parents will begin to look stressed and harried, worried about their free spirited kids. That won’t make for a stellar background shot. There’s nothing worse for a parent than bringing kids to an event labeled ‘family friendly” and having to spend the whole night listening to those children whine because there is nothing there for them to eat and nothing for them to do. So, have a small table to the side with some kid friendly finger foods, such as fruit or baby carrots. finger sandwiches. or cold cuts. And then a well placed crayon box and some paper also go a long way. So make sure that if kids are in attendance they have something to do. Otherwise their parents won’t be able to concentrate on what you brought them to the party for, and then what good is that? No one will be happy. Not the kids, not you, and definitely not your guests. And make no mistake, that feeling will color your guests’ tweets, their updates and their blogposts about your brand.
7. It’s not a party if no one can get there
Parking, parking, parking. Go the extra mile and provide parking. It really makes a difference. Time is of the essence for your party. Don’t lose valuable tweet time because people are struggling to find a place to stash their vehicles. But if it is completely outside your budget be sure to let your guests know ahead of time about the parking situation. Include details about parking options, as well as rates in your invite. Then make sure to do reminder parking tweets before your event starts. Don’t take it for granted that everyone knows the area that your event is being held in. If you are providing a parking pass that must be requested be sure to make announcements during your party to remind people of what they need to do to get their pass. Make it simple, make it easy and make it possible.
Let’s get this party started! What are your party must have’s? Get in on the conversation.
Eat, tweet and be merry!
SMILE On!
ML
Miss Lori can be found Musing from her Minivan at MissLori.TV , Wearetherealdeal.com , YoungChicagonista , ChicagoMomsBlog , and ChicagoMoms.com. She is the Chicago Family Entertainment Blogger for Examiner.com and a Discussion Leader for MomsLikeMeChicago. You can also see her Activating to Be Great at Miss Lori’s CAMPUS on Youtube, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
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