Hashtags are used to catalogue content on all social platforms and help users discover content that is relevant to them.
So, you should be using a social hashtag (or two!) at your next event. If you’re wondering – How do I pick a hashtag? Or, how do I get buy-in from my delegates? – we’ve got your answer here.
How to choose your event’s hashtag:
• Keep it simple
Keep your hashtag short, sweet, and to-the-point. Doing this will allow users to relate to it and type it themselves. For instance, our annual event is called CventCONNECT, and our social hashtag was: #CventCONNECT – and it stays the same from year to year!
• Keep it relevant
Keeping with our example above, we wouldn’t want our conference’s hashtag to be #CventEventManagement or #CventLondon. Even though both of those are very relevant to our company (one of our products & our branch city), they’re not appropriate to our conference. Therefore, CventCONNECT delegates wouldn’t use them!
• Do your research!
Type the hashtags you’re thinking about into the search bars for Twitter, Facebook, Instagram – whichever social channels you use. It is especially important if you’re going to use your event’s hashtag to track metrics. Make sure your hashtag isn’t being used by competing groups and isn’t anything you wouldn’t want to be associated with your event (i.e. something embarrassing).
How to leverage your hashtag for attendee engagement:
• Before the event
When you’re still pre-event, create some buzz around your hashtag! Use it to push messages about your event on your social channels, and invite users to get in on the conversation.
• At the event
Make sure your event’s hashtag is visible EVERYWHERE – on speaker slide decks, at networking events and in your mobile app. One thing that delegates actually respond to is social wall – a huge screen that projects their social posts that includes the event hashtags. Social walls encourage social engagement between delegates and your hashtag – and your event!
• After the event
Post-event, attendees still have the warm-fuzzies from your event and want to share their experience. Encourage this! Invite your social channels to “tweet us your favourite memory from #yourevent.”
That’s all there is to it!
Now, you might be wondering what hashtags you should be following to get content relative to your industry – check out the top hashtags for event planners here.
