Over the years I’ve had the pleasure of Live tweeting for a range of different clients for various events: International Sporting Events, National TV Shows, Concerts, Economic Conferences, Road Safety Conferences, Radio Sponsorships and Awards Shows. And even when I’m attending these events as a spectator I can’t help but check in and view the event through the eyes of Twitter. With this in mind I thought I’d put a few tips which may be helpful for your next live tweeting event.
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Define the role of your voice in the wider conversation
As I have noted before, like all communication, Social Media needs an objective to be effective. While planning your event assign a role for Social Media to play when live tweeting.
- Am I assisting the event with directions or agendas?
- Am I adding additional information not available anywhere else?
- Am I highlighting a Sponsorship?
- Am I speaking exclusively to those at the event or to an audience at home or both?
An example of an internal mission statement could be:
“At this conference my live tweets will inform my followers of the latest trends from international speakers with direct quotes, high quality images and links to further information.”
or
“I am live tweeting to bring my company’s sponsorship to life online.”
Your Live Tweeting content should support your mission statement and not stray from your original objective.
2. Add value with your contribution
One mistake that is commonly made with Live Tweeting is joining the conversation with nothing in particular to say. I’ve often seen Live Tweets from an event that added nothing to my Twitter newsfeed as a hashtag follower.
Compare the value adding content of these two tweets:
Looking forward to speaking at @RadicalDublin‘s #smwdublin event tonight! pic.twitter.com/siKKixUDyG
— Cian Corbett (@Cian_Corbett) May 24, 2016
or
Think less about #AdBlocking & more creating rich and immersive native formats that consumers want says @Cian_Corbett. #SMWDublin
— Mediaworks (@MediaworksIre) May 24, 2016
Which of these two tweets would you prefer to see in your timeline?
The second tweet contributes to the conversation and adds value for those following at home and maybe for those at the conference who missed that quote. (I used my own tweet as a bad example as I’m too nice to insult someone else!)
3. High Quality Imagery is Key
This echoes my second point about adding value but is almost certainly the most common offender in Live Tweeting. How many times have you seen a poor quality grainy image distorted by fast moving lighting taken with a shaky hand and a blurry lens?
Even Apple CEO, Tim Cook, fell victim to this at the Superbowl where he rushed to take part in the conversation but his blurry image reflected his companies image taking abilities in a very poor light (pardon the pun!)
Tim Cooke’s Twitter Image
And the Twitterati were quick to point this out!
@tim_cook @Broncos bruh that’s the best photo you could take?
— Joe Eich (@joeeichinger) February 8, 2016
@tim_cook @Broncos was that taken from an iphone? Jeez I hope not Tim.
— Mark Freeman (@markfreeman) February 8, 2016
Resist the urge to share a poor quality image and try taking your time to wait for the perfect shot. You might get lucky by timing the perfect pic and you’ll be rewarded with retweets. If the lighting or bustling crowd has hindered you then ask yourself does your sub-par image add anything to the conversation other than proving you were there. Perhaps scanning the Hashtag for a great image and retweeting that pic would be more appropriate? It will add more value for your followers and the pic-taker will appreciate the retweet.
4. Research and use the appropriate Hashtag
This will be obvious to most but it’s a common occurrence for users to make a presumption on the relevant hashtag rather than checking first. Using the right Hashtag will add context to your tweet and allow you to join the current conversation. This has always been the true gift of Twitter wherein a hashtag will unite a community of interested parties even though they’re not following each other or may not have an existing relationship, yet here they are joined in conversation.
Twitter Saved Searches
Save the Hashtag as a saved search in your Twitter profile and interact with the conversation:
- Retweet the best content
- Favourite the tweets you like most
- Follow or reply to the best contributors
5. Don’t clutter your followers’ newsfeed with too many tweets
The previous points have focused on creating value for your followers so ask yourself “is this event relevant to my followers?”
Your company may only be associated with this event through a sponsorship deal or you may be branching out from your area of speciality (the area your followers followed you for). Either reason could lead you to be sharing information with your followers who have no interest in the content.
Ensure you do not clutter your followers’ newsfeed with content they never asked for with the following two tips:
- Take note of your follower count before the event and monitor for unfollows.
- Aim for engagement – retweets, replies, favourites
Ideally the event will be an appropriate match for your followers and the content will be welcomed with engagement and your followers will grow through retweet-exposure and fellow Hashtag contributors. However, if the event is a departure from the your followers’ interests and you notice a few unfollows and a distinct lack of engagement then place a cap on your tweets.
I hope you found these tips helpful! If you have any others feel free to tweet me at @Cian_Corbett
