5 Ways to Level-Up Your Live Event Social Media

Your event may be taking place in a ballroom or festival site, but it’s also happening online.

Just ask the Swifties. Every night, no matter where Taylor Swift performs her Eras Tour, thousands of fans flock to social media for a live glimpse at what songs she performs, what she’s wearing, and who’s there. Even halfway around the world, fans can feel the concert excitement as they connect with other fans and the music in new ways.

You might not be hosting the Eras Tour, but you can leverage the power of social media to maximize your reach and awareness while also boosting the experience for people there in person. For a tactical view into how to grow your post's reach, read our post about tackling social media algorithms.

Ready to take your live event to the next level? Here are five tips for live event social media.

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1. Livestream the Highlights of Your Event

People can be sitting at home and still join your event through a livestream. Streaming live on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, or YouTube expands your audience to people who can't be there in person. And as a bonus, algorithms prioritize Facebook Live for events and other live content, so you’ll have an even bigger reach. 

A livestream isn’t as polished as a produced video, so it gives an authentic view of your event's vibe and lets guests get a peek behind the curtain. Expand the experience with behind-the-scenes footage and exclusive content. Bring your guests along with you while setting up the event floor, interview the keynote speaker as they get ready, or take them on a backstage tour before the band hits the stage — using Instagram Live Broadcast, TikTok LIVE, and Facebook Live for events adds a new element to your event and can get people excited to come in-person to future events.

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2. Schedule Celebrity or Follower Takeovers

Every person at your event has a different experience depending on what sessions they attend, where they stay, and where their seats are. Hand over your account to showcase all the POVs with takeovers on your social channel. Depending on your event, you can have a celebrity or influencer take over your social channel for a day or night and share the event from their eyes. When hosting a home decor show, for example, you could have a home DIY influencer take over. For a country music festival, you could hand the social media control to a country-loving influencer or celebrity. As a bonus, you can tap into their existing network as they share the content with their followers to grow the audience of your accounts.

Not every event lends itself to a celebrity takeover, but you can still have various attendees share their experiences. You might alternate between a first-time attendee and someone who has come for years, or you could share the POV of a presenter and a general admission-attendee. The goal of a takeover is to show an authentic and natural view of the event in an Instagram live feed for events. It’s one thing to say your event is great as the organizer, but it’s another to have someone else share their experience and take people along for a day in their life.

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3. Share User-Generated Content

It’s impossible to be everywhere at once during an event and share everything happening. Have your attendees and followers do it for you with user-generated content or UGC.

UGC planning starts before the event by creating a unique hashtag as part of your live event social media plan. This tactic is how you’ll collect the content and be able to see what people are posting and sharing about your event. The hashtag should be succinct and simple, but not something that other events could easily replicate. For example, #conf2024 could be used by several events, making it confusing who is sharing content from your event. Other hashtags like #SXSW (South by Southwest) or #Brandweek for the annual Adweek conference are unique and easily show your unique event.

Once you’ve created a hashtag, put it everywhere — in the registration materials, online, and digital and physical signs around the venue. Encourage attendees to use the hashtag when they post or share about the event.

As people post about the event, re-share their posts. Think of it as a mini-takeover: followers will see the event from different points of view and get a look they might not have seen otherwise. 

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UGC gives credibility to your event because it isn’t filtered or sponsored but an authentic view of what it’s like to be there. Don’t be afraid to re-share a wide range of content, from posts about where guests are staying and what they’re eating to selfies at photo ops around the venue and performances or presentations. When something big happens, re-share it from multiple accounts to bring attention to it. UGC is a win-win: attendees will love the attention that comes from being re-shared, and you get lots of great content at no cost.

Keep the conversation going after the event by asking questions and encouraging feedback using the event hashtag.

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4. Host a Contest or Giveaway

Encourage attendees to interact with you on social media through a contest or giveaway. A social promotion enhances the guest experience and shares your event in a fun and engaging way for people who aren’t there in person. As a bonus, giveaways can grow your online reach, especially when they encourage tagging friends or sharing content for extra entries. 

Host a photo caption contest, ask trivia questions, or encourage guests to find a certain item or area of the event and post a picture — the possibilities are endless. A contest or giveaway doesn’t have to be expensive. Winners can receive bragging rights, a shout-out, VIP tickets to a performance, a chance to meet the performer or speaker, or anything else. Use your imagination to create a fun contest that gets attendees excited and engaged.

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5. Create Shareable Content

An event gives you content to fill your social media feed for months. Everything said, shared, or performed at your event can be its own post that brings attention back to your brand, even after the event is over.

The best shareable content is shared in nearly real-time during the event. But that requires work and preparation in advance to create branded templates to quickly insert quotes, photos, or videos as the event happens. You can even get talking points from presenters beforehand to have content ready to go as soon as they present. You can also encourage your team to snap and share photos of crowds, then encourage attendees to try to spot themselves for a re-share. 

The goal of sharable content isn’t just to showcase your event but to provide value to your followers. Did someone say something profound in a session? Are there key takeaways from a presentation? Is the event held at a beautiful venue with a home screen-worthy photo? Share it! These bite-sized pieces of content show the value of the event and encourage people to share — even those who aren’t there in person.

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Ready to level up your event? Jampack partners with live events to drive social media and spread the impact and reach of your event far beyond the venue’s walls. Check out our social channels or get in touch with our team for more ideas.

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