We’ve gathered together tips to make your social media stand out during your event.
It is no longer a question of whether to have social media for your medical event. The medical community is using social media as much as many other communities, and it is important to make sure that your event is tracking, and participating in, the conversation surrounding it. The question is how to use social media to its full advantage to benefit meeting participants.
”In 2016, a Pew Research Center survey found that two-thirds of people worldwide used the Internet. …Finally, 90% of physicians are social media consumers. These individuals use the Internet and social media to find and read relevant information related to their patients and practice.”[1]
It is no longer a question of whether to have social media for your medical event. The medical community is using social media as much as many other communities, and it is important to make sure that your event is tracking, and participating in, the conversation surrounding it. The question is how to use social media to its full advantage to benefit meeting participants.
We’ve gathered together 5 tips to make your social media stand out during your event.
- Build a community
- Engage with leaders in the field
- Create an event-specific hashtag
- Live social media at the event
- Engage with attendees during the event
BUILD A COMMUNITY
“Use of professional social networks affords researchers and professionals the opportunity to share their work across larger audiences of like-minded professionals, fosters the development of new collaboration, and offers a forum for online dialogue among remote colleagues”.[2]
Using social media during an event is important, but it’s not effective unless a community already exists. It’s important to build up your community before the event so that they are active and engaged.
Share posts throughout the year on scientific advancements, organise Twitter Q&A on a hot topic or set up a Facebook Live interview with a Key Opinion Leader (KOL). Draw them to your page and keep them there with engaging content. Exclusivity is always a draw. Consider opening a group on Facebook just for event participants or create a closed channel on. As your event draws closer, provide opportunities for participants to engage with each other using contests, meetup opportunities and encourage local participants to share about the venue city.
ENGAGE WITH LEADERS IN THE FIELD
People are more likely to listen to those they admire. Look at your list of speakers and find out who is active on social media. Ask them to do your Q&A or your live interview. Send them interview questions and create a blog post or divide the answers and use in several posts. Pull it all together at the event by featuring their lecture or do a quick interview before or after about their main takeaways.
CREATE AN EVENT-SPECIFIC HASHTAG
Everyone loves a good acronym and everyone needs to stand out. Find one that works for you and check online to make sure no one else is using it. You can use keywords in your hashtag, but it should be short and sweet. Register your hashtag on a website like symplur.com to see its full impact including impressions, influencers, and activity.
LIVE SOCIAL MEDIA
Live tweeting, Facebook Live, daily photo albums, daily moments on Twitter, video compilations, photo booths with a social share function, are only some of the many activities that create a virtual event within an event. Your onsite social media will help participants network, see content for sessions they couldn’t attend, promote collaboration and entice possible future attendees. Your visibility will be at its peak during the event.
The content you create during the event can be curated for use during the year to create ongoing engagement.
ENGAGE WITH ATTENDEES DURING THE EVENT
During your event, you have created the social media perfect storm. Your target audience is all there. They are in their professional groove. They want to network with their colleagues. Your social media is the tool that brings it all together.
If they ask a question, answer it. Be proactive, let participants know about programme changes, additions or other extras. When the WI-FI was spotty at one of our events, I knew who to contact and momentarily became a hero to perennially connected participants. Tweet important presentations; engaged users will pick it up and run with it. Ask for pictures of a certain event and include a special hashtag to go along with the regular one. Take videos of participants talking about their experience and share it with your network. All this will make participants feel that you are real, available and responsive.
Don’t lose your momentum when an event is over. See numbers 1-5. Rinse and Repeat.
By Hillary Gordon, Social Media Specialist
[1] https://www.pm360online.com/examining-physician-use-of-social-media-in-2017
[2] https://www.acog.org/Resources-And-Publications/Committee-Opinions/Committee-on-Professional-Liability/Professional-Use-of-Digital-and-Social-Media/
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