5 Tips To Build an Engaged Online Community for B2B Events

Business-to business events, whether held in-person, hybrid or virtual, provide a strong foundation for a thriving community of like-minded industry professionals. Even before the event starts, organisers can leverage the power of social media to establish community groups on platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook. Aside from creating pre-event buzz and helping with post-event activity, these groups allow participants to interact, learn, network and add value to the event.

To maximise business opportunities and derive real value from such groups, here are some simple steps to build an engaged social media community for B2B events:

Share content that interests and engages your audience

While LinkedIn and Facebook groups are an effective way to communicate details about your event (dates, timings, venue, speakers), they can also be used to publish content of interest to the broader community. You can post links to website resources including eBooks, white papers, how-to guides, product videos, blog posts and recordings of the presentations during the event. Other ways to engage participants include highlighting the ‘virtual experience of the day’, ‘most popular exhibit’, or posting short videos to promote speakers and sessions. Make sure to use a dedicated and popular event hashtag in all your posts. Learn more on how you can improve your content strategy for virtual and hybrid events. 

Share customer success stories and testimonials

Nothing establishes your credibility more firmly than receiving positive feedback from customers. A glowing review from a delighted attendee or an exhibitor who had a great experience at a virtual exhibition can do wonders for your event. These successes can be turned into shareable moments on your social media groups, putting your customers – real people – in the limelight and attracting prospects interested in what you have to offer. Remember – attendees will have a delightful experience at your event if you play it smart and avoid some common mistakes while organising one.

Ask your audience for help

Make your group members feel they matter. Ask for their opinion on a blog post or report you have been working on. Take their inputs on various aspects of your event, for example how it could be improved, what they would like to see in the next edition and the ways in which it may be able to provide more value. You can also co-create resources with attendees and exhibitors, perhaps crowdsourcing an event tech manual on best practice, or what participants should be doing to get the most from a virtual trade show.

Organise giveaways and contests

Sponsored contests and giveaways are a great way to engage your community. They provide enough eyeballs for your sponsors before the event gets underway and increase audience interest and participation in your event. You can have quizzes, photo contests, guessing games, caption contests, tag-a-friend or repost giveaways and many others. You can also rope in a social media influencer to promote your contests and reach out to a wider audience.

Humanise your event

Social media communities can also be used to humanise your event. Showcase the inner workings of your event; the people who are working behind the scenes to get it all done. A short video or dedicated post of your team members highlighting their background, hobbies and interests can help create a personal connection with your audience and put a friendly face on your business.

Conclusion:

Social media groups can be effectively leveraged to promote your event and foster community engagement, whether you are hosting a conference, exhibition or trade show. An engaged community will encourage conversations towards more value-driven topics, boosting collaboration and ultimately improving business outcomes.