Tips to Improve Event Social Media Coverage

Recently, I've had the pleasure of attending several events and covering them via social media. However, I've also had the displeasure of attending several events and covering them via social media.  While I enjoy my job, it can sometimes be difficult to keep up, keep track, and keep within your data limit. Here are a few quick tips that I've adopted to help me while I'm updating social networks during events.

• Keep Up | Sometimes the pace at which you have to send updates to social media can be pretty overwhelming. The best way to combat this is to use a scheduling application like Hootsuite or Buffer. They allow you have regular content posted during the event so you have an opportunity to actually enjoy being present. However, you should still continue to check each network to make sure that all updates are going up on time and without any grammatical errors. If something noteworthy happens that you didn't plan for, make sure to account for that and post content on that as well.
• Keep Track | A great way to know everything that has been posted to each social network is to develop a spreadsheet. A spreadsheet can serve as a visual aid to ensure accountability and make sure every necessary topic is covered. It helps to break it down by social network so you know exactly what needs to be posted on which platform. It eliminates confusion and checking tasks off your list makes live updates much less daunting.
• Keep Within Your Data Limit | Lately, I've been running into the problem of going over my monthly data allowance. During these events I'm expected to cover, I find myself in areas with either poor wifi service or none at all. The best thing to do is to arrive to the venue early to sort everything out ahead of time. If you discover the venue does not have wifi you have access to, take time to find a "safe place," like a nearby cafe, to plan all of your posts ahead of time as mentioned before. If that's not an option, you might just have to bite the bullet this time around. We're public relations students so we'll have to get used to it!

Have you had to create social media content during an event? What was your experience like? Let us know in the comments below!