POV: You’re unable to attend an event so you watch it through the lens of the organization’s social media pages.
Let’s press the ⏪ button and take a peek into how the business made this possible by outlining its content ideas for the day of. We can start with how to create a successful event strategy template based on what we know about the event. The importance of these items may ebb and flow depending on the client’s needs and requests, but here are the basic headers to create a rough draft:
- Event Name and Date
- Overview of the Event
- Event Hashtags and Social Media Handles
- Link to Creative Assets (provided by client)
- Outline of Instagram/Facebook Story Shot List
- Outline of Video Content Shot List
- Outline of Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram Feed Shot List
Now that we’ve identified the fundamentals of an event strategy, let’s get into the nitty-gritty details.
Obtain Event Details and Schedule
To put together a comprehensive event strategy, the most important element you’ll need is the event’s schedule or run of show. This will help plan in advance where you need to be at what time and what content needs to be collected at each location or activation.
It’s important to check in with the client to identify key individuals, featured partners, sponsors and advertisers that need to be highlighted throughout the day. Gathering their social media handles beforehand will ensure you don’t miss any of the requests coming down the pipeline from the business development or marketing teams.
Breaking down each event activation into its own header with the operating hours, location and a time stamp of when you will arrive will help create a better flow in the strategy.
Build a Content Shot List
After utilizing the schedule to build out the bones of the event strategy, we move into the meat and potatoes: the shot list. Identifying the content needed will serve as a checklist and help create a seamless execution during the event.
To create an organized shot list, separate what will be shared to the Instagram/Facebook Story and what content will need to be captured to create Instagram Reels and/or TikToks.
Story Content: Leverage the run of show and venue details to think through what would translate best on the Instagram/Facebook Story. This could include a walkthrough of the designated space, highlighting signage, guest participation of various activations, clips of the event(s), sponsorship callouts, etc.
Video Content: Pinpoint what current trends or viral audio could be applicable to the brand and event. List out what content will be needed and how many clips are required to complete the video. Under each idea, link out to the trending audio for easy reference. For quick editing, our team utilizes the app CapCut to create short-form video content for our clients.
Feed Content: Connect with your client to determine if there will be a live link to the photo library provided by the photographers. Plan to share photos and/or videos to the Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram feeds by leveraging professional photography and the photos you captured. This will provide additional amplification of the event and will boost engagement with your target audience.
As you brainstorm content ideas, envision yourself in the viewer’s shoes. What content would you like to see if you were unable to make it to the event? You are the eyes and ears of those at home watching from a social media perspective. Share content that is going to exude energy!
Bonus tip: Pre-draft captions and save them in the notes app on your phone for quicker posting in real-time.
Provide On-Site Support
Time to generate the buzz! Before the event, familiarize yourself with the shot list to help create a streamlined approach for the day. Event days can feel… chaotic. It’s imperative that you have the event strategy easily accessible at all times to keep you on schedule. As you go through the content shot list, mark out what has been captured and what video has been created to keep track of what photo and video are still needed.
There can be many moving parts when covering an event for social media, but creating a comprehensive event strategy chock-full of details and ideas can help make the day run smoothly.
Have an event coming up? Get in touch today to see how Dittoe PR can spread the word, capture day-of content and seamlessly pull it all together on social media.
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