If there's one thing we know for sure about hosting school events, it's that they're a goldmine for content opportunities. But, when you're caught up in the details of planning, implementing, and managing the event, it's easy to forget about how you plan to leverage and promote this content later.
You might have planned to share some photos or videos across your school's social media channels on the day, but what about the days, weeks, and months to come? Here's the good news: just because your event is over doesn't mean your content is too. In this post, we'll share five ways to promote your post-event content on social media without boring your audience.
Write a wrap-up for your school's blog
The best way to cover all aspects of your event is to write a post-event wrap-up for your school blog. Kick off the blog post with a thank you message for attendees, then pick out some of the top highlights from the event – including any great photos taken on the day. Try to keep your blog post concise, remember it's a recap, not a report! Check out our example of a recent wrap-up blog that we wrote for our Timely and Targeted virtual forum event, which was an effective way to provide attendee's with the key learnings and an overall recap of the event.
Don't forget about your SEO! Include any relevant internal or external links throughout our blog post to help support your text. Finally, you might like to consider adding a call to action at the end of your post, encouraging readers to register for future school events or sign up to your weekly email database.
Create a video highlight reel
Reviewing all of the footage captured at an event can be an overwhelming process. You'll probably find that there are a bunch of content ideas to choose from, but putting together a highlight reel is a great place to start. Video is a great way to engage your audience and showcase your event – even to those who couldn't make it.
Jump over to YouTube to take a look at our highlight reel video from Digistorm's Brisbane meet-up event last year for inspiration, but here are a few key shots to include in your video:
- Set up and pack down – this always looks great as a time-lapse video
- Attendees engaging and networking with each other
- Entertainment, catering, or guest speakers
For audio, think about including a combination of background music and sound bites from speeches and interviews. Once your video is ready, spread the work across all of your social media channels, and especially on Youtube or Vimeo. Don't feel like you have to stop there either, you can continue to repurpose the video reel by including it in your next newsletter or future event invitations.
Share user-generated content
User-generated content is a great way to reach prospective families over an extended period of time. In fact, 70% of consumers are now trusting their peer's online content over company-generated posts. So, what does this tell us? That your event should create organic opportunities for attendees to create user-generated content.
Whether this content is in the form of a photo, video, or a testimonial for your school, ensure that you're keeping an eye on your social media channels to re-share any content that your school is tagged in. Here are a few ideas for boosting opportunities for user-generated content at your event:
- Create an official hashtag for your event and encourage attendees to use it in their posts on social media.
- Host a “post to enter” competition that requires attendees to post their favorite photo from the event on social media and tag your school to win a prize.
- Create photo opportunities by providing branded merchandise, a photo booth, or a school-branded media wall.
Leverage your special guests
Did you invite any special guests to your event? If so, this is a great opportunity to collaborate with them on content. First, you'll want to make sure they're happy for you to use their name or image in any event promotion, then you can look at including some of the following ideas in your event content strategy:
- Ask your special guest to write a guest blog for your school website.
- Develop a series of posts for your guest to promote across their social media channels.
- Record their speech and share it on your school's LinkedIn to promote thought leadership.
Create a post-event survey
Another way to keep the conversation going after your event is by creating a post-event survey. Like any event, there are going to be aspects that your attendees loved, and other areas that need a little improvement - a survey is a great way to get your hands on this valuable feedback. Try to develop 10 - 15 specific survey questions, using a combination of likert scale, multiple-choice and rating style questions. There are a bunch of free tools out there like, Survey Monkey, that allow you to design and share your survey.
Implement the above techniques into your next event strategy to ensure that you're getting the most content opportunities out of your next event. Looking for more event tips and tricks? Check out our resources below:
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