How to cover an event on social media
Since the creation of social media giants Facebook and Twitter, brands and organizations have begun to embrace social media as a way to inform the rest of the world about important events. While using several social media platforms at once is daunting, planning ahead and keeping yourself organized can make your job much easier.
Set up expectations.
Before you go, know which platforms you will use for what. For example, Facebook is great for longer content than Twitter, but not as lengthy content as a blog. Use Twitter to connect and engage with people at the event, and people outside the event in the community. Facebook is great for longer content and profiles of guests at the event. Check out Humans of New York for a good model of mid-size content that is perfect for Facebook.
Note specific content targets.
Content targets are one-time events you want to be sure to cover and may include: Set-up for the event, a tour of the event facility, keynote speeches, etc. Come up with as many ideas for content as possible before you go. Do you want to write a blog post all about a certain workshop? Pre-write as many Tweets as possible before you go to lessen your work load during the event, when things tend to get hectic.
Create a spreadsheet.
I’m obsessed with Excel spreadsheets because I’m an embarrassing human. Make one tab for your event where you can write notes and sample posts, and another tab to keep track of a publishing schedule. Keeping yourself organized can make it much easier to handle several different social media platforms at once.
Push your content.
When you have published a piece of long-form content (like a blog post), use Hootsuite to schedule it three times that day on Twitter, and once or twice on Facebook. People need to see content an average of three times before they click on it, so don’t be shy with publishing pieces more than once!
Stock up on content.
When you meet with someone at the event, make sure to get their name, a quote, a picture, and any other information you can. You might not use bits from each person’s conversation, but it helps to have quotes or a picture on hand to post during a lull.
Understanding how to cover an event effectively on social media can help you build your personal brand. Covering events on social media displays marketable skills like organization and time management, and allows you to expand your network significantly.
