Live-tweeting an event allows your followers to attend and stay informed about events they’d like to attend in person, but may not be able to attend for some reason.

Think of it as a news report of an event. As a “reporter” you have the power to convey all the information your followers want to hear.

And when you do this at an event related to them, you’ll find that they engage more with you.

They may even start to see you as a source for industry news.

Whether you’re hosting or going to an event, we want to help you.

Below we’ve included our top tips for live-tweeting an event, including examples and best practices.

Why should you live tweet?

Live tweeting can help businesses increase brand awareness, increase engagement, or draw attention to an event or campaign in real time.

Why? Simple: People turn to Twitter for big events.

From breaking news about natural disasters to the finale of an epic television show, we tweet things to experience with someone else.

But it wasn’t just House Stark enthusiasts who were live-tweeting about Game of Thrones. Brands from around the world participated with witty anecdotes, reaction GIFs and original content.

This has helped capture the attention of new audiences while providing fun, engaging content for their existing followers.

Doing the same for your brand increases engagement and attracts new followers. And when you live-tweet an event you produce, you have the opportunity to promote your brand like never before and bring more awareness to your brand.

How to live tweeting an event: 6 tips for success

Whether it’s a conference you attend or the halftime show of a major sporting event, live tweeting takes as much strategy and expertise as your long-term social media plans.

To help, here are 6 tips for successfully live-tweeting an event.

1. Prepare before the event

A lot happens in even the smallest of events, and it’s your job to keep up with it all.

Fortunately, Twitter is a great platform to document breaking news and events in real time. But that also means you have to keep up or risk being left behind.

Prepare ahead of time to make sure you’re ready to act fast and stay relevant as you live-tweet your event. This will help you stay organized as the event progresses and help you get overwhelmed and turn into a pile of tears and anxiety (we’ve all been there).

Here are some tips to help you prepare:

  • Do your research. Make sure you know the names (and how to spell correctly) and Twitter usernames of everyone involved in the event. Think about any questions your target audience might have about the event and prepare their answers if any.
  • Create image templates. These allow you to rotate the content in the event as quickly as possible. Make templates for images (876 x 438 pixels) containing the event hashtag, your logo or other visual assets and use them to create content based on photos or quotes from the event.
  • Set up separate streams. If you use a social media management tool like Moyens I/O, you can set up two streams in your control panel. One will be for any content that uses the official hashtag of the event you’re live-tweeting (more on that later), and the second will be for a Twitter list you’ve created of all the people involved in the event. Whether it’s the nominees and performers of an awards ceremony or speakers at a conference, creating a feed for this list will ensure you never miss a Tweet from the most important people at the event.
  • Compose a few tweets before the event. If you already know the schedule of events, create a few tweets about what you know will happen. Will a famous speaker continue at 3 o’clock? Create a tweet for it. Will they announce the release of a product in the morning? Create a tweet for that too!
In relation :  How to Add Work and School Details to Tinder

Live tweeting can be intense. Make it less fussy by preparing ahead of time.

2. Be prepared to react

As he said, “The best plans of rats and humans often go awry.”

You may have planned everything meticulously, but unexpected things happen.

Live events always have moments that no one can predict. When this happens, you may have to forget about some pre-scheduled tweets and images and run with something else.

Lean into the chaos. Take advantage of this when you live-tweet and keep your audience informed about what’s going on. They will love you for this.

You can even do this with events that have absolutely nothing to do with your brand.

A great example of a live tweet event comes from No Name Brands. Even though they provide generic grocery and household products for their customers, they decided to live-tweet the Emmy awards—which everyone enjoyed.

Check out the wacky tweet stream below.

His reactions and comments on the events of the night were unwritten, funny and all written with bold, unique brand voices.

All this despite not knowing what will happen at the Emmy Awards.

3. Create a hashtag

Creating a branded hashtag will allow your followers to easily follow and stay up to date with your live tweets.

For example, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences uses the hashtag #oscar for its annual Academy Awards show.

Also, if you’re live-tweeting an event that you haven’t edited, you can interact using the event’s hashtag.

Here is an example of Olympian Usain Bolt tweeting using the hashtag #Rio2016 during the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio De Janeiro.

If you go the second route, make sure you know what the official hashtag is, as well as any other hashtags that might come into play.

If you’re creating a hashtag for an event you’re holding, remember to keep it short. Make it easy to remember and be sure to check if anyone is already using it.

Pro tip: To watch the hashtag, create a stream in Moyens I/O and make sure to use it in every Tweet you post. Watch out for emerging hashtags that are starting to gain popularity during the event and may be relevant to your brand getting started.

In relation :  NYT Games’ Connections Puzzle: Tips, Themes, Hints, and Answers

4. Stir

Of course, you can post a photo of your event here or there. You can even add a bit of commentary to a speaker’s speech. But wouldn’t it be more interesting if you changed some things?

Different types of content better engage and entertain your followers.

Here are some good examples of the types of tweets you can do:

  • Quotes from speakers or presenters.
  • Answers to questions people may have asked using your event hashtag
  • Questions or polls about an event-related topic
  • Photos from the event using your image templates
  • Videos of behind the scenes footage or updates from the event
  • Retweets by event speakers, presenters, or artist
  • Retweets of humorous or insightful comments from other Twitter users about the event.

Note: If you plan to post photos or videos from the event, make sure you have the appropriate permission and authority to do so.

If you need more help with tweets, check out our content idea cheat sheet for inspiration.

5. Count every tweet

Always be sensible when tweeting, even if things move fast.

It can be easy to compromise on quality to get content out as fast as possible. Fight that sentiment and make sure you only tweet what your followers care about.

Be selective about the quotes or information you choose to tweet, and only post high-quality photos and videos.

Nobody wants to see a blurry photo of a speaker in a dark room or a video with terrible sound quality. Remember: You are trying to help people feel like they are attending the event with you.

Cision did a good job choosing a strong image when live-tweeting at a social media conference hosted by Ragan.

Be sure to add plenty of context to what you tweet. For example, specify the speaker’s name when adding a photo or video of it. Maybe even add a link to their bio page or website.

Making sure every Tweet you post is useful, entertaining, educational or valuable can also help you gain new followers. As people search for the event hashtag, they find your content and may choose to follow you if they find it interesting and valuable enough.

6. Pack and reuse

One of the great things about live tweeting is the sheer amount of content it can provide you with once the event is over.

When you’re done, collect your best tweets from the event in a blog post and share them with your followers. Or repost the screenshots to your Instagram Stories.

You can also use videos of speakers as content to promote on places like YouTube or Facebook.

Photos of the event or an image with a quote from a speaker are also great for platforms like Facebook or Instagram.

Equip yourself with the right tools before you live-tweet. Organize content into streams, compose and post Tweets, and monitor engagement in one place, the Moyens I/O dashboard. today!

To start