How we achieved a trending hashtag in the USA during the event opening

When asked to highlight my biggest professional achievements, I cannot help but brag about that one time a hashtag got to the trending list on Twitter. I am a firm believer that making (quality) noise on social media is one of the best things you can do.

Unfortunately, there is no fixed formula that you can apply. In this text, I will share what we did, hoping it will help you achieve your goals.

It was the summer of 2016 and I was doing my best preparing for a global gathering of the company I was working for. It took place in Seattle, WA at the time of the biggest noise happening around presidential elections. We expected 500+ attendees from all over the world- entrepreneurs, government representatives, academia, you name it, were all invited. Here’s is what we did.

Choosing the hashtag

This is arguably the most important step. You need to choose something that is simple, fast to type and that makes sense. Going crazy with the creative solutions is not the best thing you can do. Shortening the name of the event by removing the vowels or using the event’s tagline might sound fun, but nobody will remember it. Short and simple (sexy, if you will) does the job.

An important thing to remember: you need to make sure the hashtag has not been used before. The last thing you want is for someone to browse the hashtag and find random things that are not relevant to your event. Needless to say, they can harm your company’s brand.

Before the event- The build-up

Months before the event, we created a hashtag that would represent the event. Of course, we implemented in smartly within our company’s network. We created a Facebook group with all the attendees and posted regularly about dates, useful information, things you can do it the city etc. We worked hard to motivate people to post, comment, ask questions- simply engage. We always used the hashtag in the posts. Little by little, people got familiar to it and it became an inevitable part of each post.

Parallel to that, we put the same hashtag on all visuals and official communication: emails, images, posters, flyers… This helped attendees to familiarise with it and feel connected. By the time the event came, everyone was on board with the hashtag and started using it in their online and offline conversations.

Using the event space as a reminder

One of our company’s goal was to use the event to put our brand on the map. It was a very competitive market, so we needed to make sure our noise was heard and the buzz was happening.

Onsite, we agreed to have a social media wall. You know, the screens that display the posts across social media channels that have a specific hashtag. Having them strategically placed in the room, where it’s not distracting but still visible at all times, does the job. Once that was in place, people were happy to share their excitement about the event. Everybody loves to see their post on those screens. As the excitement rose, people started sharing pictures of the attendees, space, their badges. Everything was working just as expected.

The grand opening- Making it a big deal

People love to feel like they belong to something, and we used that to make the event feel special. We were 500+ people in one room, from all across the world, coming together to make something great. In the opening, we used the data that was interesting and sharable. During the opening, we had the Mayor of Seattle come and address the crowd. The result? People were posting about it, happy that they were a part of something so special, where even the city’s mayor came to support.

The backstage work- The backbone of good engagement

As I was responsible for social media engagement, after taking a couple of pictures and videos, I moved to the back of the room where I spent the rest of the opening. Why? Because I needed to make sure the conversation was going. Juggling between Twitter, Facebook live and Instagram, I carefully crafted “the official posts”, coming from the company’s accounts. I did my best to source interesting quotes from the speakers, again paying attention to their “sharability”. An interesting sentence put under parenthesis with a name of the person who said it and posted on Twitter sounds smart and important. Naturally, the people were retweeting like crazy.

In the meantime, I had to make sure our social media communication is not one-way. Replying to the people mentioning you and/or using the hashtag is really important. A simple hi/welcome/enjoy the event will say a lot about your company. It will say that you truly care about the attendees and that you are actively participating in the conversation. If someone says “So excited to attend XYZ”, make sure to reply with something like “Welcome, we are happy to have you! What is the part you are most excited about?”. That will make the person feel special and 9/10 times they will be compelled to reply. That’s how you keep the conversation going.

Balancing the content- All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

You are at the event, and a lot of things are happening fast, so your social media activity should mirror that. Unless you have 10 people in your social media team focusing on creating super fancy content, you need to go with the flow and just do your best on the go. Don’t be afraid to post funny videos where you go around the room during a break and, let’s say, high five the attendees. Or ask them to say hello. Capitalise on your crowd- if they are coming from all over the world, ask them to introduce themselves, say something in their language… Use all the tools you can: Boomerang, slow-motion, filters… If you don’t end up posting it immediately, use the content afterward when you have more time to edit it.

Your crowd is not just onsite- Pay attention to the curious bystanders

Understanding who is following your event online is very important. Of course, you want to focus your attention on the attendees, but what about the ones who are curious about what is happening even if they are not present? You want to make sure to inform them and showcase the highlights of the event. That content needs to be informative and well-crafted, so it’s inclusive for everyone. If your event is open to the public, you want to demonstrate that it’s worthy of someone attention, money etc. Think of it as a promotion for the next time you organise the same event. If you do it well, you will get the right traction and get potential future attendees.

Here come the uninvited guests- The internet trolls

You know you are making noise when people start to use your hashtag for their own messaging. During the opening, we had such traction that people started posting their own (political) messages, simply piggybacking on the hashtag's popularity. This is, of course, annoying, and you need to be ready to take action and remove the unwanted posts from the social media wall. You cannot prevent people from doing it, but at least you can make sure the event attendees do not see the posts on the screens.

Conslusion- Always keep the end goal in mind

However you decide to run the event coverage on social media, keep in mind what the overall goal is. For us, it was putting our company in the spotlight and raising brand awareness. Of course, what we did will not and cannot work for everyone. Focus on what you want to say and to whom you are talking. That should be the base of all your efforts.

If you enjoyed this posts, please give it a clap and let me know in the comments what you did to make your social media event coverage successful

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