According to the 2017 Global NGO Technology Report, 52 percent of nonprofits worldwide have used social media to report live from an event. This trend has become increasingly popular with the inclusion of live broadcasting features across almost every social media platform. Insert the phrases “live from…”, ‘’breaking news”, “happening now” and people immediately pay more attention to your page activity. Modern live video streaming apps like Facebook Live, Instagram Live and Twitter’s Periscope make it possible to connect with audience in real-time. Nonprofits have taken notice of this and are utilizing most social networking sites to report on their live events. However, some miss the significant prep work and planning required to make these live events go viral. Based on a Webinar by Nonprofit Tech for Good, we share some quick tips on how to report live from a nonprofit event.
Pre-Event
- Make sure news about your event (date, time, and venue) are posted on all your social media platforms. Depending on the size of the event, it would help to circulate a press announcement.
- Delegate at least one staff to cover the event. If interviews are to be conducted, at least two staff should be delegated.
- Prepare standard posts such as posts introducing speakers and topics, call-to-action posts, posts on any facts and statistics related to the topic or event.
- Use your event name to form a hashtag and publicize it prior and during the event.
During Event
- Use event and topic-related hashtags to help archive your posts.
- Images attract a broader audience so use them when posting.
- Share biographies of speakers as they come on stage.
- Rather than share their entire speech, share impressive highlights, statistics and quotes from speakers.
- Post promotional tweets during breaks. People pull out their phones during the lull at events!
- Provide useful information like when the next session starts.
- Don’t make it a one man show; like, share and retweet posts by other attendees.
Post-Event
- Create images using quotes from speakers at the event.
- Use Instagram or Facebook Live to record feedback from attendees before they leave the event. First hand testimonials are really powerful.
- Use services like Storify to archive all the content from the event and share with your followers.
Have you been looking for ways to integrate social media into your events? We hope these tips will help you leverage the various social networking sites to create excitement and engagement during your next nonprofit event.
Have any questions? Send an email to: editor@philanthropycircuit.com