Reasons to Use Social Media to Engage Conference Attendees

As an event planner, it is typical to have a one track mind. Upfront, you may care about one detail more than the rest: getting people through the door.

Of course, meeting your attendance goals is only half the battle. From there, it is your job, along with the help of your team, to ensure that every attendee is treated well and getting what they want from the event.

There are many things you can do to engage with conference attendees, with the use of social media at the top of the list.

Here is something to chew on: even though Twitter user growth has slowed down, it is still picking up new users at a solid pace. The Wall Street Journal examined this in greater detail, noting the following last month (February 2015):

“The company said it gained a net total of 4 million users in the period, giving it 288 million at year-end.”

The point of this statistic is to prove that social media use is more prevalent than ever before.

Here are three reasons to use social media to engage conference attendees:

1. Keep them interested in the event. It is easy for people to get bored at a conference, particularly one that lasts several days. Through the use of social media, you can keep a large number of people engaged and interested.

Share content on which speakers are drawing the biggest crowds. Run contests via Twitter and Facebook. Anything you can do to keep people interested is something you should consider.

2. Show them you care. The last thing you want is for people to look at your event as nothing more than a money grab. If the event gets this reputation, you will have a difficult time attracting attendees in the future.

Through social media, you can show people that you care about them. Ask and answer questions, address concerns, and share advice. Content is king so be sure to be sharing things that your followers will not only read but also want to share.

3. Take care of problems before they grow. There used to be a time when the only way for a conference attendee to complain was to personally contact the person in charge. Those days have come and gone. Now, people use the power of social media to elicit a response. Make sure you monitor all social media outlets, Twitter in particular, for anybody who may be dissatisfied with their experience.

Can you think of any other ways to use social media to engage conference attendees?