The biggest rookie mistake in social media for events is that the brand waits to begin social media postings (or doesn’t post often) until the event is almost there.

Social media has significant value for search engine optimization, it keeps your brand top of mind for festival goers, and begins building an audience that you can continuously market to. So, if you have an event in the next 6 months, stop reading this now and go set up your social accounts.

Here are 4 things you absolutely should be doing on social media way before you event starts:

1. Determine a hashtag to use it wisely: 
Create a hashtag that is short, easy to remember, and looks good when you put the words together in all lowercase. Twitter doesn’t distinguish between cases in searches, for example: #musiccreation vs #MusicCreation will return the same search results, but when it’s written using lowercase letters, it’s difficult to read. You won’t be able to control how people use it. Be sure to test out your hashtag and make sure it’s not overly utilized elsewhere – especially in a negative way. Then make sure your partners, artists, sponsors, etc. know what it is. 

TIP: Not sure what a hashtag is? Start here or email us at Pigtail Media so we can discuss how it can be best used for your brand.

2. Tease your event (and use your hashtag):
With each announcement you have, use social media to update your audience and keep your festival top of mind. It’s a no brainer for the big stuff, but keep in mind the small stuff can still create a story. 

You may think each announcement isn’t all that exciting. But it gives people a chance to get to know your brand, see it come to fruition, trust your brand, and follow along in your excitement. Finish your logo? Signed your first artist? Posters were just pressed? Your blog is live? Batch of tickets sent? Share it.

Tip: Don’t go overboard on Facebook posts. 1 post a day is sufficient and make it really good. Twitter is much more acceptable to post 5+ tweets a day, but make sure each tweet is not all about your event.

3. Let your partners know your event is on social media:

Email your sponsors, partners, artists, etc. with an overview about your social sites. Provide them with your hashtag, your social links, and simple messages they can share on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook that benefit your event.

Tip: The easier you make it for them, the more likely they will follow and share your event news.

4. Use Twitter to build influencer relationships – and take it outside of social.

Through Twitter, you can search, follow and put users into specific lists. Those lists can then be viewed independently of all the other accounts you follow. Think about it as a tool to clear out the clutter and only see the posts from the people who matter most to you.

For example, identify the media outlets that are fitting to your press and outreach strategy. See who the writers are and do your diligence and search for them on Twitter. Follow, engage 1-3 times with their content to put you on their radar and then compartmentalize them into your LIST of media.

Utilize this list in two ways: 1) Episodically visit that list and engage with the content to keep yourself top of mind. Don’t be afraid to tweet that person when there’s something you want to share, just don’t tweet the same message to multiple media outlets/writers at once. That’s visible for all to see and removes any personalization. 2) If you DON’T have a PR Team, consider digging deeper and finding the email address of this person. Introduce yourself via email in an authentic way – where you aren’t selling anything. Keep those emails contacts is a safe place. When you have a press release or announcement, those can be your source of press mentions.

Tip: One effective and efficient way to find a writer on Twitter is simply put in their name + “twitter” into a google search. Additionally, searching Twitter.com with the media’s twitter handle name. Many writers will include that in their bio.

Social media does take time, but give it the time that it deserves because it can easily become the leading referral source on your website, an “in” to media contacts and bloggers, and the biggest way to connect with an audience and have them fall in love with your event … before it even happens.

Whether it’s your first event or you’ve got years under your belt, it’s always good to be reminded of proper radio etiquette.   It’s something that is very simple, yet consistently eludes even the best of us, especially when we want something immediately.  

First, let’s have a quick primer on what etiquette means.  According to Wikipedia:

• Etiquette refers to conventional forms and usages: the rules of etiquette. Decorum suggests dignity and a sense of what is becoming or appropriate for a person of good breeding: a fine sense of decorum.

Easy enough.  So how does that translate into the event and festival world?  Pretty simple.   When using a two way radio to speak to someone, utilize the following as a guide – in this example, I, Mike, am going to ask to talk to Kara:

1. I press down on the proper button, and if it’s a digital radio I wait for a beep.   Then I say, “Mike for Kara”.   This properly identifies who I am and who I wish to speak with. 

   Note what I don’t say:  “Kara!”  “Hey Kara, you out there?” 
   Or even worse, I don’t even say her name:  “I really need that gaff tape delivered to the stage!” 

2. I wait until Kara replies.   Around 10-20 seconds is acceptable.   If I hear nothing, I try one more time:  “Mike for Kara”. If I don’t hear back, I either try to reach someone else that can help me, or I try texting or calling Kara on her phone.   
3. At the end of the conversation, it often makes sense to say “Copy”, “Good Copy”, “Copy That”, “10-4”, or some other form of acknowledgement, so they can carry on and you can, too.

In this example, I’m going to respond to someone calling me, in this case, Kara again:

1. I hear (ideally) “Kara for Mike” on the radio. 
2. If I am free to talk, I respond back with “Go for Mike”.  That way she knows it’s me responding back.
   If I am not free to talk, I respond back with “Standby for Mike.”  The word “standby” is preferred over “hold” because “hold” sounds very much like “go”, and you’ll often hear people try to continue the conversation when you aren’t ready for it. 

   After a while, or if they know the person well enough, they’ll simply say “Go”, “Send it”, or “Go for me”.   This is acceptable but ideally you would identify yourself by name, especially if it’s with a new team that doesn’t know each other that well yet. 

And that is it.   Some people like to do the reverse and say “Kara for Mike” instead of “Mike for Kara”, but I prefer the latter. Either way works fine, but it can be confusing at first so it’s best the entire event team stays consistent – pick one method or the other.

You’d be surprised by how many people don’t follow these sort of guidelines, and as a result, sometimes already busy channels will have even more traffic and noise, preventing those who have urgent and important requests from getting through.   So whenever possible, keep it simple, short, and use the above as a guide and that should keep everything running smooth – at least radio wise – at your event.