Social Media for Speaking Events

Ashley Chimal | @prodbychim

So you’ve just confirmed a wonderful speaker for an upcoming event and have no idea how to generate buzz for it. You have gone mountains and want to let the world know how important/awesome/serious this event will be. Fortunately, there are several ways to use social media to help with this.

The first thing you need to do on your end is plan and organize. Understand who your target audience is for the speaking event, have specific goals you’d like to meet, and be ready to adapt to change as the event plans finalize.

Spread information across all of your social media platforms. If you’re able to touch base with a potential attendee across several social media channels, the individual is more likely to remember the event’s details, thus more likely to attend. At the same time, make sure to mix up your information and keep things fresh so you’re not repeating yourself and don’t become a source of annoyance.

When it comes to Twitter, a guide to event tweet frequency can be found here.

While creating content to relay to your target audience, define your speaker(s). After all, they are the reason the event is taking place. Instead of assuming everyone has an understanding of who the featured speaker(s) is/are, provide a brief overview of the person’s background, credibility, and how they are vital to the event. In addition, include what attendees will gain from attending. For example, if the featured speaker is an expert in your target audience’s career field, provide discussion topics that will be found useful.

Remember the importance of the hashtag #

Designate one or two specific hashtags for the speaking event beforehand and encourage people to generate conversation this way. This is a great starting point for Twitter, and also a great way to generate buzz. Not to mention, you can also see who is tracking with you through the Twitter trend.

Blog about it

Get out as much information about the event as possible. Be sure to include the 5 W’s of the speaking event- who, what, when, where, why - but don’t stop there, include extra information. Does your audience need to dress to impress? Make sure everyone is informed.

Utilize visuals to your advantage

Many people are visual learners, and have to SEE things to remember them. A lot of people will remember video and photographs in place of writing. Video is a great way to show sneak peeks of what’s to come in the speaking event, and also a great way to give a glimpse of behind the scenes footage. If possible, you could also show a brief video of the speaker and have those who have RSVP’ed create videos of their own, talking about what they are looking forward to. You can use this information when you blog as well.

Creating events has never been so useful. Invite people to the event on Facebook and LinkedIn, and encourage them to RSVP on Facebook. The invited can also link the event to their LinkedIn profile. Also remember that most people are constantly pluggedin to their phones, and will receive reminders leading up to the event. In addition, apps are so user friendly now that they will sync with mobile smartphones. Another great way is to create a registration link where people can register online. Having a link to direct event traffic to is a great way to keep tabs on the audience.

Most importantly, get creative

People want reasons to attend your event. Time is a person’s most valuable resource. What will make your speaking event stand out from anything else they can do that night? Of course, there are multiple ways to go about promoting the event depending on the size and scale of the event plans.