Think Before You Engage: 100 Questions to Ask Before Starting a Social Media Marketing Campaign

81. What Are Tips for Hosting a Successful Event?

As a brand, your purpose in hosting an event should be clearly identified internally. As with any other marketing effort, these purposes and goals must be used as a foundation to build your metrics on, to later determine ROI.

Incorporating your event into your overall social media campaign means that your event should be social to be successful. Following are a few tips that can help:

• Publicize your event with your social profiles. What's the purpose of having a social event if your networks don't know you're having it? The event should be posted on all your social accounts, your website, and possibly even your email signature.
• Consider the use of a hashtag when you have your event. That way, when people are there and start talking about it on Twitter, you (and everyone else) can track the conversation by searching the hashtag.
• Use geolocation for people to “check in” to the event. Offering specials through geo-location applications such as Foursquare can also help broaden the reach of your event to people who come near the location in the days leading up to it. When people check in to your location, Foursquare allows them to see Specials Nearby. People who may not have otherwise heard about your event can now learn about it just by virtue of being nearby.
• If possible, stream your event using a service such as Ustream.tv. People ...