If you have ever attended a large conference or smaller scale event where the event host encouraged sharing photos on social media with a specific event hashtag, there is a reason for it. It is a good marketing strategy for the host, but it also helps the event attendees make the most of their event experience. By creating a unique hashtag specific to the event, all posts that use that unique hashtag can be found by searching the hashtag or clicking on it in someone’s post. This is important for a few reasons:
Yes, one way to gather User Generated Content (UGC) is by looking at posts that tag your brand or business on Instagram, for example. But, by only searching in the tagged section on your IG page, you are going to find posts from every time someone has posted about your brand. By creating a specific event hashtag, you will be able to filter all tags and content that is relevant to one specific event.
For example, the Social Media Examiner hosts a large conference every year called “Social Media Marketing World” where guests come to San Diego to learn about social media marketing strategy. Attendees are encouraged to post about the conference on social media (not a tough task for a bunch of marketers) and use the hashtag #SMMW20 on all posts. The Social Media Examiner gets many IG tags weekly, so using a specific hashtag narrows down all posts specific to the 2020 conference. By clicking on the tag #SMMW20, it is possible for everyone to see the 1000+ posts that use the tag, and view content from the conference. This could be a great way for the Social Media Examiner to find testimonials, event feedback, photos, videos, and future conference topics by seeing what is posted from the attendees themselves.
Locating UGC is not only important to use in future event marketing, but it is also cool to share live during the event. It is possible to locate and filter posts that use your specific hashtag on the main screen at the event in order to provide live updates in real-time. This creates a sense of community among event-goers who will probably enjoy seeing live updates from their peers at the booth across the conference hall. Sharing live posts during the event gives instant recognition to how many fun guests are having and may even help a guest find a booth or activity he or she has not yet seen. And of course, who wouldn’t love to see their own IG post featured on the big screen?! This live feed, led by the unique hashtag, lets the host recognize attendees’ posts in real-time and give that instant gratification in order to enhance the attendee experience.
Now that you have your event attendees posting with a specific hashtag, the benefits do not stop with UGC. Those attendees have followers of their own, many of whom may also be colleagues or friends with similar interests. As a marketer, if I saw my colleague tagging an informative looking conference, I would definitely be the first to click on the event hashtag in order to learn about it. This would lead me to look at the event website, sharing it with my own marketing team, and potentially booking a ticket for a future conference. And this all happened because my fellow Instagram friend posted with a unique hashtag at an event!
Now that you understand the importance of creating a unique hashtag for your event, it is time to determine what the hashtag should be. Here are a few things to keep in mind when creating your event hashtag:
The hashtag should make sense for the event you are hosting. Weddings are known for using event hashtags which is fun for those attending the wedding, but also a way for the wedding venue to gather any feedback about the guest experience. If given permission, these photos could be used for future venue marketing purposes.
Make the hashtag concise enough so it is easy to remember and simple to type out. Think about the event name, event name abbreviated, event year, or a fun term that has to do with the event.
When choosing an event hashtag, you want it to stand out uniquely from past events or similar events. In the previous example, Social Media Examiner did not simply use #socialmediaconference because that is too generic. Instead, they used the known abbreviation of SMMW for the full name Social Media Marketing World. If you have a hashtag idea but are not sure if it is unique enough, type it into the search bar on Instagram to see if any other posts use that hashtag.
In conclusion, it is important to note that a unique event hashtag can just as easily happen on a smaller scale. No matter the size of the event, if there are just a handful of posts associated with the tag, it is worth it. Those could be the best three testimonials you ever received! Event venues can even create their own unique hashtags using the tips above when posting generally about events or activities at their venue, such as #CelesteEvents #CelesteCocktails or #CelesteWeddings. The point of a unique hashtag is to find content in order to create content, so get to thinking about a hashtag and then get to creating content!