By Abbie Peterson and Monica Roos
Non-profit professionals are notoriously known for wearing many hats. You must be social media savvy, a fundraising expert and an event planner extraordinaire — all wrapped up in one. When it comes down to giving each aspect of your job the time it deserves, how can you possibly do it all? Where do we find more time? Are we sure we have the same amount of time in a day that Beyoncé has? (We’re not convinced we do!)
Throughout the event planning process, logistics and fundraising can take precedence over your social media pages. But in reality, creating a robust online participant experience in social media can lead to even more engaging conversations between participants and donors (resulting in higher fundraising totals) and a memorable event day for all!
Now, you’re probably reading this and saying to yourself, “Yeah, that sounds great! But how can I possibly make that happen in the time I have?” In fact you probably wish someone would just tell you what to focus on. Well friends, that’s what we’re going to do for you today. As the social media folks for Event 360, here are our top tips for keeping your to-do list short while keeping your social channels on fire.
Utilize your Participants
Do you have 2-3 trusted participants who seem to always be on social media? Ask them to be your online ambassadors. If your event has a participant Facebook group, task them with occasionally posting questions and comments in the group to get others excited and engaged. They can also answer easy questions and bring to your attention questions that need extra help.
Capture Content EVERYWHERE
And we mean everywhere. Photos, quotes, videos, etc. Capture moments big and small leading up to the event. If you’re at committee meetings, going through storage, buying supplies, at your in-office event kick-off, or experiencing other mission moments. When you take a moment to snap a photo or video you will have a lot of content to work with, which will make posting feel a lot less difficult! You’ll be surprised at what people engage with, they like to see the behind the scenes stuff, and how an event comes together.
Post More Than Photos
Features like Instagram Reels and Boomerangs are a super-fast and trendy way to show event setup, tent build, signage going up, etc. Utilize video trends like this while being time-conscious to keep your social media presence alive and to update your followers on the progress of the event. Depending on your brand’s personality, you may also want to engage with trending gifs and memes.
Utilize Hashtags
Encourage participants and staff to post on social media and use the hashtag for your event. Then you can search the hashtag and repost other people’s photos. This is a great way to get content not just because it saves you time, but also because participants love when you share their photos on your social platforms. Sharing other’s photos also helps extend your reach!
Extra tip: Add sending in photos as part of a challenge! For example, teams who raise $XX and send in a team photo win a prize.
Make a Photo Shot List for Your Event
Include pictures at the start and finish, along the route, major sites or tourist attractions in the area. But remember to be flexible. You may go into the event with a plan that ends up not working at all, so adjust and check as many boxes as possible to increase efficiency. Set alarms every hour to remember to take pictures and post your progress of either set-up or the start/middle/end of the actual event.
At the end of the day, social media surrounding your event should be an interactive way to connect to your participants and share more about your mission. Having a plan saves time and energy, while saving room for spontaneous moments that deserve to shine! How do you make room for social media in your role? Share with us!
