Ever thought of attending a live event where the energy is palpable, the content is compelling, and your smartphone is buzzing with real-time updates, interactive polls, and exclusive behind-the-scenes content? It's the present reality of event planning.​Moreover, 77% of event marketers use social media as a primary engagement strategy before an event, highlighting its role in building anticipation and community.

But the impact doesn't stop there. ​The fusion of social media and event technology is revolutionizing the way we experience events. But how can you integrate social Media and event technology for better engagement to elevate your events? Let's explore the strategies that can transform your next gathering into an unforgettable, digitally immersive experience.

I) What to Do Before the Event

​Effectively promoting your event begins well before the doors open. If you want massive engagement, implementing strategic actions in the pre-event phase is all you need. Here's how to set the stage for a successful event:​

1) Create and Promote a Branded Hashtag

Developing a unique, memorable hashtag is essential for consolidating event-related conversations and enhancing visibility.​

• Keep it Relevant and Concise: Ensure the hashtag reflects your event's theme or name and is easy to remember.​

• Encourage Usage: Motivate attendees, speakers, and partners to use the hashtag in their posts to amplify reach and foster a sense of community.​

• Promote Consistently: Include the hashtag in all marketing materials, such as invitations, flyers, banners, your website, and social media posts.
  

2) Link Your Registration Platform to Social Media

Here are some useful ways to use social media platforms to enhance your event visibility. 

• Direct Sharing: After registration, allow attendees to share their participation on social platforms like Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, increasing event visibility.​
  

• Unified Messaging: Ensure event details are consistent across your registration page and social media profiles to avoid confusion.​
  

• Utilize Platform Features: Many registration tools offer built-in social media integrations; use these to simplify the sharing process.​
  

3) Schedule Teaser Posts and Announcements

This is how you can showcase your event’s post and teaser:

• Countdowns: Initiate countdown posts as the event approaches to maintain excitement.​
  

• Speaker and Agenda Reveals: Gradually introduce key speakers, sessions, or special activities to keep your audience engaged. ​
  

• Visual Content: Utilize engaging visuals and videos to make announcements more captivating and shareable.​ Such as using Motion Graphics to Captivate Your Audience.
  

4) Encourage Early Promotion from Speakers and Partners

Your event's stakeholders can be powerful allies in extending your promotional reach.​

• Provide Shareable Content: Equip speakers and partners with branded graphics, sample posts, and messaging to ensure consistent and easy sharing. ​Also, feature them in your promotional materials
  

• Set Clear Expectations: Communicate the importance of their promotional efforts and provide timelines to coordinate effectively.​
  

5) Add Social Share Buttons to Event Pages

Make it easy for attendees to share your event by adding social share buttons in all the right places. It can be your website, confirmation pages, and emails. Focus on platforms where your audience is most active. Then, monitor engagement to see what’s working and adjust your strategy for even better results next time.

II) How to Engage During the Event

Engaging attendees during your event is a tricky part of creating a memorable experience, yet important. Here are five effective strategies to enhance engagement:

• Live Stream Key Sessions to Social Channels: Don’t limit your content to the venue. Go live on platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, or YouTube to draw in virtual attendees and boost your event’s exposure.

• Display Social Media Walls at the Venue: Turn attendees into contributors by projecting live posts that use your hashtag. It’s community-building in action, and adds a sense of digital excitement to the room. Events using integrated social walls see an average 35% increase in attendee social media engagement, with peaks reaching up to 50% during keynote moments.

• Run Interactive Polls, Q&As, and Contests: Real-time participation tools like Slido, Mentimeter, or even Instagram polls help your audience feel heard. Offer small rewards to incentivize engagement. Approximately 63% of individuals aged 18-34 watch live streaming content regularly. It means a huge audience preference for real-time interaction. ​

• Add Branded Photo Booths with Instant Sharing: Let attendees capture the moment with fun, customized photo booths. Incorporate trends like 360-degree capture and augmented reality (AR), enabling direct uploads to Instagram or LinkedIn for better engagement. 

• Encourage Story Posts, Hashtag Use, and Check-Ins: This is your moment to bring that pre-event hashtag to life. Set up visually attractive, “Instagrammable” moments, and ask attendees to tag your brand and share stories

III) What to Do After the Event

An event's true impact often happens after the lights dim and attendees head home. This is your chance to keep the conversation going and measure success. Here's how to make the most of that post-event window:

1) Post Recap Videos and Highlights

Short highlight reels or session recaps can breathe new life into your event content. Did you know 91% of businesses use video for marketing, and 87% say it drives website traffic?

• Tip: Keep videos under 2 minutes for social platforms. Use captions, appealing thumbnails, and a call to action for replay or next steps.

2) Share Speaker Slides and Memorable Quotes

Turn powerful presentations into bite-sized insights that can be shared across your channels. Visual content is more likely to be shared on social media than text-only content 

• Tip: Break down longer presentations into individual slides or quote cards. Plus, tag your speakers for amplified reach.

3) Encourage Attendees to Post Takeaways

Invite attendees to reflect on and share what they found most valuable. People usually like user-generated content, and it highly impacts their purchasing decisions. Repost meaningful takeaways and thank contributors. This validates their voice and keeps your brand visible in more feeds.

4) Send Follow-Ups with Social Content

A timely follow-up email can keep your event top-of-mind and encourage long-term engagement. According to Litmus, the 2023 State of Email Report, email marketing offers a median ROI of $42 for every $1 spent. Includes recap videos, speaker links, social shares, and a prompt to register interest for your next event or access extended content.

IV) Essential Tools to Connect Event Tech and Social Media

The right tools can make your event planning flawless, boost engagement, and extend your social reach. Here’s a breakdown of top choices:

1. For Event Platforms: Cvent, Hopin, Whova

   1. Whova is known for ease of use and community-building.In fact, Whova holds a 4.8/5 rating on G2 (2024) for user-friendly features.
      Hopin supports hybrid and virtual events with built-in streaming.

   2. Cvent offers powerful data tracking and CRM integration.
      

2. Social Scheduling: Hootsuite, Buffer, Sprout Social

Plan, schedule, and monitor content across platforms. Tools like Sprout add advanced analytics; another option is Buffer is great for small teams.

3. Engagement Tools: Slido, Mentimeter, Kahoot

Run live polls, quizzes, and Q&As to boost interaction. Slido integrates smoothly with Zoom and Teams. You can also use Mentimeter, Kahoot for increased engagement.

How DXG Helps You Do It All

Bringing your event and social strategy under one roof shouldn’t feel like a juggling act, and with DXG, it doesn’t. We make the process of integrating social media with event technology in a simple yet effective way.. From registration to real-time engagement to post-event insights, DXG brings all the tools you need into one simple, powerful platform. Want to run a poll mid-session? Or throw audience posts on a social wall, or go live with just a few clicks? We can make it easy to stay connected with your audience in the moment.

Even after the event ends, DXG helps you share highlights, track engagement, and stay top of mind. Schedule a consultation with us to discuss your concern. With us, it’s like having an extra team member who’s really good at keeping people engaged.