An event social media plan: before, on the day, after

Key takeaways

An event social media plan has three phases: about four weeks of posts before, live coverage on the day, and a week of follow-up after. For your own event, the before phase sells places. For a trade show you attend, it books meetings. Most businesses put all their effort into the day and lose the follow-up, which is where the leads are.

• 4 weeks before, 1 day live, 1 week after.
• Before: 4 to 6 posts that give people a reason to come or meet.
• On the day: one person posts, the rest talk to people.
• After: thank, recap and follow up within a week.

What goes in the four weeks before?

Plan four to six posts: the announcement with date, place and how to book or find you; a post on what people will get from it; a speaker, product or team introduction; a practical post on timings and travel; and reminders in the final week. For a trade show, add 'book a meeting with us' posts with a direct link or message prompt.

• How to build a monthly social media content calendar
• Best social media platform for promoting an event

How do you cover the day itself?

Give one person the job of posting, with a short shot list: the setup, the stand or room filling up, a speaker or demo, and a team photo. Stories suit the day well because they are quick and informal. Everyone else should talk to visitors, because the people in the room matter more than the people online.

• A monthly shot list for social media photos and video
• Plan Stories as well as feed posts

What should happen after the event?

Within a day, post a thank-you with the best photos and tag the organisers. Within a week, post a recap of what you learned or showed, and a follow-up offer or next step for people who could not attend. Message the people you met directly; a public post is not a follow-up.

• Trade shows vs social media: where B2B leads come from

How do you fit an event into the monthly calendar?

Add the event dates at step 2 of the monthly session, then replace some normal slots with event posts rather than adding extra ones. An event month might have half its posts about the event. If the event falls early in the month, the before posts belong in the previous month's plan.

• The five steps that turn a blank month into a schedule

When is a full event plan overkill?

A full plan is overkill for a small event with a fixed guest list, such as a private client lunch, where direct invitations do the work. One post before and one after is enough. It is also wasted if the event is not open to the people who follow you.

What does this look like in practice?

A pattern with trade shows: a busy day of live posts, then silence, and the contacts collected are followed up weeks later. Planning the follow-up posts and messages before the show, so they go out within a week, usually turns more of those conversations into meetings.

• See client work
• Social Media Marketing for UK businesses

Event plan checklist

• Announce four weeks before with date, place and how to book.
• Plan four to six before posts.
• Name one person to post on the day.
• Post a thank-you within a day.
• Recap and follow up within a week.
• Message contacts directly.

• Business milestones and anniversaries as content
• Big sporting events: content without breaking rules

Next step

Put your next event on the calendar and count back four weeks. That date is when the first post goes out, so it belongs in the planning session before it.