5 things to consider when live Tweeting

Written by Helena Martin, Content Manager

With BIBA just 3 weeks away, thoughts are turning to how to get the most out of attending and/or exhibiting at the conference. While many plan campaigns months in advance, if you’re guilty of leaving the social element to the last minute I can guarantee you won’t be the only one.

With an event hashtag that gets more popular each year and the inevitable Twitter wall in a prominent position, it would be a great missed opportunity to not join in the conversation after putting so much time, effort, and money into getting to Manchester.

If you’re thinking about live Tweeting at BIBA this year, here are my top 5 tips to make it look as though your Twitter strategy has been front-of-mind for months (your secret’s safe with us…):

1.     Drafting a Tweet, checking it twice

Always re-read your drafts to double check for any typos, errors or grammatical mistakes. In these scenarios, it’s all too easy to rush to get a message out. While it’s important to get timely content out ASAP, it’s more important that your brand looks competent and professional – so taking an extra minute to draft carefully and proofread meticulously is well worth it.

★Top tip★  If in doubt, get a colleague or friend to cast an eye over your Tweet before hitting ‘Tweet’ – fresh eyes can spot the subtlest of errors!

2.     Picture this

Take some good photos to make your Tweets come to life and really capture the ‘in-the-moment’ vibe of live Tweeting. Ensure they are clear and think about what they show. If you are taking a photo of your stand, make sure it is well-presented and looking busy. If you’re taking a photo of members of your team, make sure they look like they want to be there!

★Top tip★  Remember, you can include up to 4 photos in the same Tweet. Landscape works best on Twitter if posting 1 image per Tweet.

3.     Make sure you can handle it

Save yourself some time and stress by doing your research beforehand. Store all useful Twitter handles and hashtags somewhere easily accessible – whether this is for BIBA itself, brokers you want to engage with, or speakers at the fringe sessions, it helps to check these first to ensure they are the correct ones to use. I often find it helpful to have them all saved in a note on my phone so it’s quick and easy to copy and paste!

★Top tip★  Helpful handles and hashtags: #BIBA2018, @BIBAbroker, and of course @brandformula_uk to share your BIBA experience with us. We’ll be live Tweeting there too!

4.     Here’s one I did earlier…

Don’t be afraid to cheat a bit – Tweets can look ‘live’ without being physically Tweeted live. Using tools like Hootsuite or Buffer, you can invest the time in drafting your Tweets before the event itself and schedule them to go out live in the moment.

★Top tip★  When scheduling ‘live’ content, always check the times you’re planning your posts for – there’s nothing more embarrassing than Tweeting a ‘Day 1 of #BIBA2018’ post which accidentally goes out on Day 2 or ‘Ready for this afternoon’s 1:15 session at #BIBA2018’ which goes out at 1:15am.

5.    Don’t drink and Tweet

While the evenings of BIBA are all about the drinks receptions and networking parties, it’s important to switch off from Twitter once you’ve had a pint or two – or at least switch back to your personal Twitter account! Accidentally Tweeting while under the influence from a Twitter account associated with your company is not a wise move – and once it’s online, it’s out there forever. Deleting a Tweet won’t be enough if it’s been live long enough for someone to screenshot it.

★Top tip★  Log out of Twitter as soon as the work part of the day turns into socialising. If you have messaging that needs to go out during an evening where you will be drinking, that’s probably where you’ll want to revert to Tip Number 4!

Still got questions? We manage all levels of social campaigns for clients at events like BIBA and AIRMIC. Send me an email on [email protected] to discuss how we could help support you.