Through the Looking Glass: Adventures in Social Media

Social Media has become a critical component for marketing an event. It has also proven to have great worth in providing real time feedback on the event. But even with these benefits it can feel overwhelming to manage all of the work and data resulting from social media. Without focus, it can turn into a never-ending quest with many distractions. Like Alice traveling through Wonderland to find the white rabbit, we can get distracted by all of the new and interesting things we see along our way.[Tweet "Through the Looking Glass: Adventures in Social Media #GovEventsBlog"]

To make social media management easier, we need to focus on the data that really matters. This means looking beyond likes and shares and really digging into what people's social activity is telling us. If you know what you are looking for, you'll have a better chance of finding it. There is a good deal of work and analysis involved, but there is also a valuable level of insight that can be gained if you put in the time.

Here's a quick list of what to spend time looking at within your social media strategies.[Tweet "Quick list of what to spend time looking at within your social media strategies. #GovEventsBlog"]

• Look for tools - Automate the collection of social media mentions through tools like Mention, Spredfast, and Brandwatch. By using technology to scour social networks for key influencers, mentions, and provide initial analysis, you can spend more time taking a strategic look at the data (rather then performing the searches yourself).

• Look at the value of the post -- Here it is not about numbers, but about what the post says. Having 50 people mention your event in a check-in on Facebook is great for name recognition, but it does nothing to show what your event is all about. The 10-20 posts of interesting insights from speakers are far more valuable to the brand. Concentrate on monitoring and following-up on those.

• Look for influencers - Who is posting about your event? Do they have a lot of followers themselves? Find the people that others want to follow and work to cultivate a relationship with them (either offline, online, or both). Frequently like and retweet their posts. Send them articles that you think they might be interested in based on past posts. Concentrate this one-on-one relationship with five to ten influencers instead of following everyone who has ever mentioned your event. GovEvents has an active Twitter and LinkedIn community - think about how to use our networks.

• Look for trends - Which posts-yours as well as others--are generating the most activity? Is there a common topic, person, or even word in that post? Look to expand the use of topics and themes on social media that get people talking. These may be different from the content that you have at the event, but as long as they drive eyes to your event they are valuable discussion points.[Tweet "Look for trends - Which posts are generating the most activity? #GovEventsBlog"]

• Look for activity - What time of year does activity--both yours and your followers--really pick up? Where are there big lags in mentions? Seeing the cyclical nature of people's interest in your content can help you better plan year-round marketing and encourage continual engagement of attendees.

With these areas of focus it should feel easier to get a handle on what social media means to and what it can do for your event and organization. If you are focused and still not getting the results you want, you may need to look beyond organic social media. Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter all offer sponsored content (essentially advertising) to boost viewership of key posts. You may also want to look for third parties who can distribute your message even further. At GovEvents, we work with event organizers to post information on their events on our social channels and on our site.

Social media management does not have to feel like a never-ending rabbit hole (though it is ok to click on a cat video now and again) if you know what you are looking for.