Event Marketing (pre, during & post)

This document has the details of how to market on organic and owned digital platforms an event/meet-up/conference. It details the roles and responsibilities of people, links to templates for planning, visuals & copy.

The below roles are to be identified/filled for marketing an event:
Editor: to understand the theme, talk, and who the event is to be marketed to. The editor will also help identify what people will gain from attending the event, and will point towards people who this event will be useful for.
Social Media volunteer: This person is responsible for understanding the intended speakers & audience of an event from the editors and it should be reflected in the creation of social media assets (including telegram & WhatsApp group posting, and updates on the event page), tagging speakers & writing template copies for the speakers to share on their socials. Most of the leads for memberships and ticket sales come from social media & groups, this person will have to promote the event to the right target audience.
Speakers: they play an active role in promoting their talks & recruiting people from their organisations to come & attend
Speaker Co-ordinator: This person identifies speakers & acts as the liaison between the roles defined above. This person is in charge of getting speaker names, social media handles & images for promotions.
Logistics: in-charge of live streaming setup, event venue & F&B.

An event consists of the following stages:

1. Editor & theme confirmation
2. Call for Proposals (Cfp)
3. Review & selection process
4. Confirmation of speakers & tracks
5. Venue & time and date confirmation
6. Event Day Coverage
7. Post-event coverage

Event Copy template can be found here

Editor & theme confirmation:
The theme is decided by the editorial team (consisting of the editor & the speaker co-ordinator).
Editor to share in detail the relevancy of the theme, who it is important for, and how it will impact an organisation. It is also good to highlight what type of organisations can benefit from this.

Announcing Event Theme & editors:
Creative template: This link can be used to promote the event theme or used as guidance to create something similar for the community.
Copy Template: This link can be used to curate copy for the event.
Minimum number of posts: 3 per week, till submissions are complete

Event Relevancy (defined by Editor):
Identify who the event is for (designation) and what are the common problems it will solve. Tech news often covers these problems & public numbers & facts can be quoted for this
Identify which companies will benefit from this and how it will benefit them. Often larger companies have press releases and blogs talking about similar problems - these can be quoted.
Minimum number of posts: 1 per week, till submissions are complete

Call for Proposals:
Call for proposals should be detailed by identifying who should be sharing, what industries they are working in, and what the editorial and rehearsal process is like (this is to be decided between the editorial team and the social media manager). It is good to incentivize proposals by sharing that an honorarium (if any) will be given to the speakers, what past speakers have had to say about the experience & if there are any major stories of people having landed new jobs, been funded, etc after having spoken at a past event.
Announcing CFP:

1. The template for the same is here. It can be shared with the copy as templated here.
2. CFPs should also be circulated in groups and marginalized identities should be encouraged to apply to ensure representation at the event.
3. Should be posted thrice a week - can cite submissions of others - till the date of submission.

Review & selection process:
Though covered in brief earlier, the review and selection process needs to be highlighted and showcased in detail - as it reinforces the unbiased and “non-paid” nature of the event. The social media manager should aim to make a video of the editors and reviewers walking people through the process.
Editorial & review process:

1. A video like this can be made to talk about the review process
2. Reviewers and editors should be called out on social media and in the community - so people are aware of their past work
3. Video snippets from a rehearsal session can be recorded with consent and shared
4. Editors and reviewers should be encouraged to post about the process & the hours going into it
5. Event handle to reshare and comment on every editor and reviewer post
6. Should be posted twice a week till the date of submission is complete

Confirmation of Speakers & Tracks:
As speakers get confirmed their speaker posts should be made and circulated along with their topics. It is also important to ensure that this is circulated within their organizations.

Speaker posts to be posted by event handle:

1. Template from images can be viewed here.
2. Speakers and organizations are to be tagged on all posts
3. To be shared twice till the day of the event

Speaker posts by speakers:

1. The image will be the same as above
2. Template is shared above at the start
3. Event handle to reshare and comment on every speaker post

Speaker Org comms:
Speaking and presenting work at a conference is of great employer branding value to the org. A mailer should be sent to the speaker org - by the speaker.
Ask (Social media volunteer or speaker co-ordinator) the speaker to connect you to their HR or comms team - to ensure the org shares the post.
Reshare of these posts and engagement on them is mandatory

Tracks:

1. Editors and reviewers can make a video of the tracks and what will be covered in it. Which companies are coming to speak? Example.
2. It is also important to cover the speakers under each track and the companies sharing.

Popularising tracks and panels:
Highlight tracks that people shouldn’t miss and what are the takeaways from the event. Template.

Venue, time & Date confirmation:
When the logistics are confirmed, the same needs to be communicated to people. Key factors to consider while writing these posts is accessibility, traffic, ease of access, parking spaces, F&B availability, venue size, and streaming availability.

Venue confirmation & announcement:

1. The images from the venue can be shared with details of which room with google map link.
2. This is to be posted thrice on the week leading up to the event, and on the day before and the day of the event compulsorily

Event Day Coverage:
It is ideal to have event day posts written in advance so they can be posted with the image of the ongoing talk. The social media manager will write the same & take images and post in real time. All posts can be found here.

Day of event, Schedule & venue:

1. Welcome/inaugural post should be shared with timing & venue
2. Schedule to be shared so people can prepare
3. Online streaming links and venues should also be shared.
4. Tracks should be reintroduced
5. Sponsors should be tagged with photos from their kiosks
6. Photos should be taken in a 4:3 or 1:1 ratio, framed well with the speaker’s face and the projector behind them showing
7. Attendees should be encouraged to live tweet sessions and the event page should retweet them.

Post-Event coverage:
Post-event people are keen to know what happened, how many people attended, how many people spoke.
Post-event coverage posts can be made like this. The same can be made as an image post as well.
Video links of talks with snippets should be posted like this.
Social media templates can be found here

The examples and templates shared as indicative only, please use what you know of the speakers, and the event from your own discussion and research while working on content & copy.