As promised, even though it has been a while, here is the second installment of “How to use social media to your advantage for an event.”

Sure you could always take the lazy easy way out and just show up hoping everything goes well, but would you really plan a wedding without sending out invitations?  Well, you might, if you don’t want anyone to come.

The same goes for utilizing social media for your business’s event, trade show, benefit or conference.  Nowadays, if you don’t at LEAST announce it to your following on Twitter, it is just like not sending out invites to a wedding or a birthday party.  Unless you want to be the sad kid that cries on their birthday, I would highly recommend NOT doing that.

As important as adequately preparing for your event using social media is; it’s equally important to use it during your event.

AV equipment? That is soooo 2000.

In the old days (i.e. 10 years ago), you needed a huge piece of luggage to haul around all of your AV equipment.  Now there is one magical device that can do all those functions.  I’m sure you are eagerly wondering what this device could be.  What if I said, “you probably already own one?”  Craziness! Well, yes it is crazy; crazy AWESOME!  Look no further than your smartphone; i.e., iPhone, Android, Blackberry etc…

With your smartphone, you can take pictures or video during the event, upload them directly to your social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and YouTube, then share them with all of your amazing followers and fans!  It really is that easy.  With applications such as Twitmic, you can record testimonials or participant reactions, upload them, and post them directly to your Twitter account.  1-2-3 DONE.  Your tweets will be more interactive than those that are just trying TOO hard.

Capture your fans!

As a vendor at a trade show, you have a prime opportunity to capture your audience… in the digital sense.  What will set you apart from the hundreds of other vendors there?  What if you are handing out trade show keepsakes goodies?  Why not take pictures of people receiving their giveaway?  Then give them one of your connect with me cards and say, “I’ll be posting this picture tomorrow on our Facebook. Be sure to stop by and tag yourself or leave a comment.”  Not only will these pictures look great on your business’s site, but this will give these people a reason to connect with you and hopefully learn more about your company.

What’s in a status?

Remember those networks and people that you started to follow and connect with before the event?  Now is the time to bring these followers to you!  People are forgetful, so you need to remind them where you are at the event; booth/tent number, unmarked white van, wherever it is that you are.  You also need to remind them what you are giving away.  Not only are people forgetful, they LOVE freebies.  Oprah [don't judge] did a study one time on what people would take if it was free.  She put out a huge pile of random, non-matching pairs of shoes and people took them!  What was their reasoning?  It was free!  Ok, while I don’t suggest you giving away non-matching used footware, if you give away something — anything — announce it on your social networks.  “Stop by booth number 55 for this ridiculously awesome thingamajig!!  They are going like hotcakes.  If you are our 100th person to stop by, you get an extra thingamajig!”  Who wouldn’t want to make more of an effort for a bonus thingamajig?  No one… that’s who!

Tag! You’re it!

Use. Your. Hashtag.  Remember to tag your tweets and updates with the event’s hashtag.  Look for others using this hashtag too.  Reach out to these people specifically and encourage them to come to your booth.  This is SO important for people looking for info about the event who are not there, since folks may still want to see what is going on at the event and read what is being said.  If you want people to read your tweets for this event, make sure to use the hashtag.  This is also important for following up after the event, but I will expand on that in my next post.

Did you check-In?

Geolocation is the hot, new, trendy movement in social media with apps like FourSquare, Gowalla and MyTown on the forefront.  Shama Kabani of Marketing Zen Group and the author of The Zen of Social Media Marketing, suggests creating an entry in these apps for your event, party, conference or booth.  This will help you track your traffic and can be fun for your event-goers, if you involve “checking in” with a contest.  Think about it.  If you tell your attendees there will be a prize for checking in, don’t you think that people will be more likely to come by your booth?  You betcha!

Connection is still key

Events are important because you get to talk face-to-face with your fans, customers, potential clients and followers.  The whole point of social media in business, and in general, is to bring your community closer and for them to learn more about you.  Be sure to interact with the people that come to you.  What a wonderful way to make new customers, connect with existing clients and spread the word about your business.  So go out there and network it up… the social media way!

There is so much you can do for events using social media marketing that I know I’m sure I didn’t mention all of them.  Any other suggestions? Comments? Questions?

Be sure to watch out for the next entree on this topic: Taking Advantage of Social Media After an Event.