Every event planner knows the value of social media before, during, and after a big event. Yet, many still don’t use social media, particularly Twitter, to its full potential. Twitter is succinct, search friendly, and networking friendly – you don’t have to be “friends” to connect on Twitter.

Planners who do not use Twitter to expand an event’s reach and connect both with those who are able to attend, those who aren’t, could miss out on valuable connection opportunities. Twitter has around 313 million active monthly users and around 82% of active users login through mobile devices. At events, these statistics translate to increased reach, audience engagement, and feedback.

Use these Twitter-specific tips to fully leverage the massive social media platform at your next event:

1. Create Twitter polls. Presenters may use various polling applications during presentations, but Twitter polls can reveal insights before, during, and after an event. Consider creating Twitter polls to gauge attendee satisfaction, compare session success, and understand attendee demographics. Entertaining polls can also generate buzz about an upcoming event and help organizers learn more about audience expectations.

2. Optimize and promote hashtags. Hashtags are organizational tools that make conversations searchable. Without them, a tweet could end up lost in the noise of millions of other tweets. Instead of using the first tag that comes to mind, research and carefully choose hashtags before an event. Adoptable hashtags are short and feature memorable keywords. Conduct a quick search to ensure the hashtag is unique before promoting it. Consider the merits of making hashtags location-specific or date-specific to differentiate from similar tags.

With the right hashtag in play, audience members may still need a push to start tagging their posts. Include the hashtag on all invites, communications, websites, and mobile messaging. Hashtags also work on Facebook and Instagram, so use them liberally.

3. Hold a contest. Consider giving away free event tickets or a VIP swag bag as part of a Twitter event marketing campaign. Everyone loves a giveaway, and the contest will encourage invitees to interact with event organizers, sponsors, and presenters.

4. Work with influencers. Event planners alone may not have enough social reach to engage all prospective invitees on Twitter. Expand marketing reach with key industry influencers. Tap into the brand power of well-known speakers, sponsors, and prominent attendees who can keep the conversation rolling and encourage engagement.

5. Take advantage of automation. Event organization involves many moving parts. Take some of the stress out of content campaigns with marketing automation. Create, upload, and schedule social media posts to go out at strategic times around the event to generate buzz. Hootsuite, Buffer, and others offer varying levels of support for social media automation. 

6. Social media sites contain event-relevant information if you have the time and the tools to tease insights out of the noisy platform. Research trends, follow account holders who use branded hashtags, and consider signing up for a Twitter-monitoring tool to find brand mentions, URL shares, and other valuable pieces of information.