
Brands are becoming more sophisticated in their use of social media at face-to-face events. It’s no longer enough to create an event hashtag and then observe the online conversations; now brands are creating entire systems to monitor, respond, engage, and analyze social activity. Sprinklr works with large companies such as Samsung, Sears, Virgin America, and Dell to manage their social media conversations and achieve what it calls being "social at scale." Sprinklr's director of strategy, Esteban Contreras, shared his thoughts on what brands and planners should be doing before, during, and after their events.
When you work with clients, what is your overall message about social media strategy for face-to-face events?
The pre-, during, and post-[event]—it’s essential that all three of those are considered and that there is activity at each of those points. It’s important that you don’t see social as a separate channel, but that it is integrated with everything you are doing. The lines are blurred. If your strategy is to ignore social media—some companies will end up doing that—that will show. And then there are companies that put too much emphasis on social media when the emphasis should be at the event, that will show.
In the weeks and months leading up to an event, what decisions need to be made in relation to social media?
In terms of the pre-[event], it’s essential to have clear objectives that align to a clear strategy for the event. What does the business want to get out of the event? You should be able to summarize your strategy in one sentence, and you should know how you are going to measure your success for each activity, including social media. You need clear metrics. If you are looking to get awareness about the brand or a product, or if you are seeking to measure whether a sponsorship has any impact on things like preference, maybe you are looking for large volumes of conversation or high testament, or maybe it’s share of voice. Make sure you are ready to measure each of those things way ahead of time. There is nothing worse than saying we’re going to do ‘X’ and then months later not knowing how you are supposed to measure that. Second, you have to make sure everyone on the team understands their roles. Decide how you will listen, how you will publish, how you will engage, how you will measure. And then setting the right access and permissions so everyone is prepared should the event be a major success and you get an overwhelming volume of incoming messages and questions, or should the event for some reason turn to the worst and become an unexpected crisis. You should have a team that knows how to leverage up-to-the-minute changes so they are able to respond to issues and promote the event in a different manner should it not turn out the way they expected. And also to take advantage of opportunities that maybe they didn’t see coming their way.
Do you recommend creating a list of anticipated topics and questions that might come in through social channels?
Yes, I would do a little scenario role-playing. The way social media is so real time, you will never know what will make people nervous or uncomfortable. It’s important to think about questions around marketing, around customer service, around your product. And be ready to talk about issues and topics that have nothing to do with the event—world and local events. It’s incredibly important to be in context and to remember you are not the center of the world. During the event your entire team will feel like they are in the center of the world, but you are not, and that’s just something that needs to be acknowledged and understood. I remember during South by Southwest one year there was a tragedy in Japan and all the brands had to decide how to respond to this. For most events this doesn’t happen, but you have to have a clear path of how to respond. You can’t build an F.A.Q. for a tragedy, but you need to know how to tackle something that is unexpected.
Does that also include an escalation plan, knowing who the appropriate people are to address various issues?
Yes. Think of it this way. If a celebrity came to your booth, for example, who would that celebrity be sent to? In the same way, when messages come in to social media, you need to be able to route them correctly. Definitely have a clear path of, "Here are the 20 types of conversations we might get in, and here is how they’ll be routed to specific groups or teams or regions so we can respond in real time."
When it comes to determining what to share from an event on social media, what is your advice?
You need to add value or create utility. This is the most difficult thing for companies. The question is, how does this enhance the conference or the event experience for those attending? How does it make their life easier or more enjoyable? In the physical space there are many things you can do like [smartphone] charging stations or foods or interactive maps. Online you can also leverage social media to do things like daily summaries and real-time updates and live-streaming and live tweets. And having Facebook tabs and microsites and blogs that people actually find valuable. So it’s important to bridge the gap between how have we added value offline and now how can we also add it online for those that are experiencing these events on a global scale from afar. Think of your event in a social-by-design approach. Try to think why anyone would care what you are doing and why they would share what you are doing. There is only so much your company can do on social media from your point of view. But there is the whole other side when something resonates with your audience and they start talking about you. There is a potential to go viral. So I think focusing on the audience and what may be relevant to them and the kind of story you are telling and giving people a reason to talk about you without forcing that.
Another thing is to make sure you are amplifying. The important part of amplifying is not just a paid piece and it’s not just an owned piece—it’s the earned piece. Earning respect, appreciation, relevance. Earning the opportunity to build relationships beyond the event. I really think companies need to think of events as how they are doing a unique and clever mix of owned, paid, and earned. And finally give people a reason to come back. Focus on the first impression but make sure there is a second one.
What are your thoughts on displaying social conversations at an event, for example, a Twitter stream?
If there is a reason and it adds value, then it might be worth an investment in how does data visualization add to the event. You should either do it very, very well or perhaps not do it at all. If you just have a feed, you may show something you didn’t intend to show. So make sure you are curating content. That may be showing selected Instagram photos or check-ins that show where people are and where they are going. It shows you are looking at what is happening beyond yourself.
As an event is taking place and questions and comments are coming in through social media, how quickly do you advise your clients to respond?
I don’t think there is a standard time for responding, but I do think it is very important that when you are at the event that you are focused not just on what you are publishing and sharing but how you are engaging. Follow back, engage. Even lightweight interactions—such as liking a comment, or favoriting a tweet, or acknowledging a check-in—are important. And how you are tagging information and messages that are coming in so you can have a better understanding of what happened and how you can follow up later. Knowing who is an advocate, who is an influencer, who is a potential customer. Technology is one piece, but there is also the human element of understanding the context of where messages are coming from and evaluating each and every one. And then you become more inclined toward responding quickly and making sure that you don’t leave any meaningful conversations behind.
Once the face-to-face event is over, what does social media strategy look like?
The first one is making sure you turn the momentary event into a springboard for sustainable relationships. You have this spike that may happen from a press conference, or a product announcement, or a cool booth or party. But these usually don’t last, and that’s okay. It builds some extra buzz and excitement, but it’s important to think how these conversations can keep going both offline and online. Remember that whatever the purpose of the event, that keeps going. That never ends. There’s a broader strategy that the event aligns to, so make sure you don’t just go home and then the brand goes quiet. Make sure your approach is evergreen.
The second part is what you do internally. How do you evangelize the impact all the way to the C-suite. That could be the C.M.O. or the C.E.O. Make sure you are reporting on the value created. You may need to provide the context and, dare I say, some education around what these new technologies did for you. This is the true test. The C-suite will not be as excited about something that seems gimmicky. Provide the correct context so they understand the meaning and the value created. And with that, it’s important to share what are the lessons learned and what are the plans for what you are doing next.
From a more tactical perspective, for some brands it may make sense to create content post-event, whether that’s videos or infographics or a [compilation of] animated GIFs from the event. Provide an easy way for people to gain access to content that you may have captured. Once you have an event, it’s like a whole new way in which people can experience your brand. So whatever good came from it, you want them to continue to experience it afterward.
What do you say to companies that are concerned because they can’t control what is being said about them on social networks?
They have to acknowledge [loss of control]. Those that embrace it will probably thrive a little more, but at the very minimum understand it and know that there’s no going back.