Whether you’re just starting or scaling, you need software to support your ambitions as a founder or entrepreneur. With so many different platforms to choose from, it can be an incredible challenge to find the software you need, let alone what’s beneficial for your company; we’ve shortlisted 4 platforms in this post to help you run lean while focusing on growing your company.
We’ll expand on each in separate posts to give you a more in-depth review, but for now, we’ve kept it simple and focused on what we’ve seen as the most critical to get right from day one. In this post, we’ll be looking at Sales, Support and Accounting software for startups.
When it comes to CRMs we’ve had a love-hate relationship with trying to find a near-perfect solution for Helm. The platforms we’ve used have either been outdated, over-complicated or simply not geared to the deal structure or processes that we use internally. In the end, we went back to using a custom spreadsheet and our support desk software (Help Scout – listed below). As we started scaling back out though this just became unmanageable and absurd…it was a complete pain to update and track; we’d avoid trying!
Pipedrive at its heart is a CRM and enablement tool. It allows you to create custom sales pipelines that look easy on the eye and suit your company. The platform is super intuitive, easy to use and the automated tasks help you focus on the important work. You can create custom reports and public stats dashboards (helpful if you want to share your performance in an office or to shareholders). Within Pipedrive you can:
Create custom emails and automation to help deals move through the funnel
Use one-click contact data collection (a super useful feature that finds relevant public details about your prospects)
Create custom views
Add all different activities such as calls/meetings/tasks/email follow-ups
Create templated emails and cadences
Create revenue projections and custom sales dashboards
Use the caller function – allows you to call and record calls directly from the prospect dashboard
Integrate with third-party platforms like Help Scout (see more below)
If you’re selling products as part of your workflow you can create custom assets that can be added to each deal quickly, creating custom quotes and invoices that can be sent straight to your client. If you’re looking for a little more then you can easily enable the call feature and live chat, which helps make your interactions with prospects a little more personal. On top of all the great features, the one thing our sales team have found most helpful is the mobile app. The App allows you to access info anywhere, take and add notes to deals, make calls, schedule activities and even plan your day.
Pricing for Pipedrive starts super low at only £15 per month and includes:
If you’re looking for a little more then Advanced is £29 and comes with full email sync, templates and scheduling, plus group emailing, open and click tracking; workflow builder and automation. Professional is £59 per month, comes with all of the above and one-click calling, eSign docs and contracts, plus revenue projections and forecasting.
As a startup, you should be all too familiar with Hubspot; their helpful articles, templates and posts are everywhere, guiding you on every topic, from marketing software to creating sales and support plans or even hiring executives. Here at Helm, we’ve been fans of Hubspot for many years. The Hubspot platform was one of the first third-party integrations we chose to build as we could sync attendee data straight into your CRM. You can see more on how Helm integrates with Hubspot here.
We’ve included Hubspot on our shortlist of the top software for your startup, not because we integrate with the platform, but because of the tools they provide…oh, and have I said that their basic plan is FREE! That’s right; you can get started for nothing, and included in the free plan is:
Contact management
Contact website activity
Company database
Drag and drop deal board
Task and activity tracker
If you’re looking for a little more, their paid plans start from $50 p/m (or £42 p/m if you’re in the UK). This gives you up to 2 users in the account and all of the core sales functions you need to close more deals faster. The Starter plan is excellent for a small team that needs more valuable features, such as:
Removal of Hubspot branding on your live chat, meetings and documents
B2B payments (U.S. only at the moment but fingers crossed it’s rolling out worldwide)
Custom conversion routing based on your own processes
Schedule repeat tasks to save time!
Quote and bill in multiple currencies; perfect if you are growing internationally!
Stripe integration ?
If you’re a more established team with more “butts on seats”, then you’ll be looking at their Professional plan starting at $500 p/m, including 5 paid seats. Included in the Professional plan is:
Everything in Starter
In-depth sales analytics
Team management
Automation tools for your sales workflow
Custom records
Create required fields for your team to complete
Create custom reporting and sales forecasting
Custom outreach sequences (or cadences depending on what you’re already used to)
1:1 video messaging
Configurable products, pricing and esignatures for quotes and invoices
With all plans, you can save more if you’re looking to commit to an annual plan, opting to pay upfront for a yearly commitment.
Bringing the sales in is all well and good but if you’re any type of service company, online shop or software platform you’ll always have to handle support. Many people scoff at the mere word support and have a strong want to ignore incoming customer issues. Here at Helm we built our platform around support and believe support should be prioritised above almost everything else. Support is the beating heart of win/loss and impacts everything from your reputation with new customers, your existing user retention rate and even helps craft your sales and marketing.
We’ve been using Help Scout since July 2018 and cannot help sign its praises. The support desk is simply amazing. It’s quick to get set up, simple to use and full of useful features to make life as simple as possible for you as a solopreneur through to an established team. One of the biggest positives with Help Scout is its intuitiveness – the team have delivered a product that’s so well thought through you’ll barely need to reach out to support.
Regardless of your use case, you’ll find exactly what you need with Help Scout, and pricing starts at $20 per user per month. For that you get all of the following:
2 mailboxes
1 docs site (to host all your FAQs)
Live chat
Beacon help widget
Custom reports
Automated workflows – a real timesaver!
Custom customer properties
API access
For only $15 more per month ($35 per user, per month), you get even more oomph to power your company, such as:
5 mailboxes
2 doc sites
Custom fields – a great use for this is setting a snooze reminder which changes the status of a message back to live on a certain date or sending a follow-up message to a customer automatically.
Create custom teams with advanced permissions
Unlimited reporting history
Advanced API access
Integration with leading 3rd party apps such as Hubspot, Salesforce and Jia
For bigger or more power-hungry teams you can go all out with the Company plan for $60 per user, per month which simply gives you unlimited access to the entire platform.
Although Help Scout is a dedicated support platform to manage customer queries, you can integrate with a host of other platforms like Pipedrive or Jira, which allows you to create custom trackable properties across platforms. Where integrating Pipedrive you’ll be able to add a customer within Help Scout to Pipedrive, and any new deal that’s created against that customer within Pipedrive automatically pulls through against their Help Scout profile so you’ve always got the latest information to hand. If you’re also integrating Jira you can assign new bugs or development tasks relating to a specific customer, which is perfect if you want to keep your customers updated as soon as your dev team have resolved a pesky bug! ?
There are a few easy to start accounting platforms, most notably Xero or Quickbooks. Both platforms have their pros and cons, but Quickbooks is a great choice for a number of reasons:
It’s for everyone – quite literally – with tools for any type of business
The platform is feature-packed – from bookkeeping, reporting and even payroll or tax submission
It integrates with payment gateways to automate invoice capture
You can get started almost instantly with Quickbooks, with three prices available – Simple, Essentials and Plus. Simple starts at £12 per month plus tax and includes:
VAT submissions
Income tax estimates
Send invoices straight from the app
Manage all of your income and expenses
Phone support
For £22 per month plus tax, you get all of the above features, plus:
Accept invoice payments online
up to 3 users
Track employee time
The plus plan comes in at £32 per month plus tax, but brings a little more functionality should you need it, which we’d highly recommend given its usefulness:
Manage stock inventory
Oversight of profitability on each job or project
Set smart budgets
5 user max
One annoying thing about Quickbooks is that you have to pay extra if you want to add payroll to your plan, which is either £4 per month for Standard, or £8 for advance. The core difference between the two payroll add-ons is that advanced allows you to pay employees using any pay frequency, submit pension information to 5 separate providers, includes a HR and employee portal and has a timesheets functionality.
We always recommend using a registered bookkeeper and accountant, but the great thing about Quickbooks is that there are specialists available across the world that can help give you guidance on setup and ongoing usage.
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Disclaimer: Helm has created this content based on our internal experience, reviews, or comparisons using the specified software. We may, at times, make referral income when you subscribe to a paid plan with third-party software providers. Although we may earn a small commission, we always provide unbiased content and provide honest reviews of software providers to help you make an informed decision about what is suitable for your company.
Situated on the North Island of New Zealand, Auckland is a diverse and multicultural city. It’s known as the City of Sails. With its wealth of architectural landmarks and varied cultural institutions, it’s a centre for all events – cocktail parties, conferences, art performances, weddings, meetings, gala dinners, and so much more.
No matter how big or small your upcoming Auckland event is, you can find the perfect venue for your event in this colourful city, be it contemporary or traditional. And if you’re on a tight budget, we’ve listed down the best free and low-cost venues for hire in the City of Sails.
Location: 1st Floor, 53-57 Tamaki Drive, Mission Bay, Auckland Capacity: Contact venue Price: Free (Minimum order required) Nearest Bus: 1 minute from 29 Tamaki Dr
The Attic Bar & Restaurant provides an excellent free venue for hire for functions of all types and sizes. Perfect for dinner and drinks, engagement parties, birthdays, corporate functions, and any other celebration you can imagine, the venue can accommodate your event requirement for small or large functions.
It offers excellent food and bar options. You can choose from À la carte, set menu, platters, or canapés for food. And bar options range from regular service (cash bar), open bar, to champagne station on arrival. It offers an extensive choice to meet your taste, your guests, and your budget.
Location: 639 Great South RD Manukau City Auckland Capacity: 96 Price: Free (Minimum order required) Nearest Bus: 2 minutes from 18 Ronwood Ave
Woodside is a free venue hire gem in Manukau, Auckland.
It’s a modern Kiwi bar and restaurant offering its private upstairs venue for no cost with just a minimum spend on catering. This offer also comes with their team of professional event organizers doing all the work for you – so you can sit back and relax while the Woodside teams handle all the hassle.
Accommodating up to 96 people, the venue also comes with a state-of-the-art AV system, bathroom facilities, and a fully stocked bar all to yourself.
Location: 170 Vauxhall Road, Narrow Neck, Auckland 0624 Capacity: 20-50 Price: $19-24 Nearest Bus: 1 minute from Old Lake Rd/Handley Ave
Built initially as large open dormitories during World War II in 1939, The Fort Takapuna Barracks underwent a restoration project and was brought back to life for the community. It now serves as an event space for multiple occasions as the barracks feature three different large rooms.
You can hire The Barracks for a whole range of activities such as exercise classes, meetings, and often as a popular choice as wedding receptions as the reserve next to the venue offers stunning views of the Narrow Neck beach.
Location: 546 Mt Albert Road, Three Kings, Auckland 1042 Capacity: 10-80 Price: $24-110 Nearest Bus: 3 minutes from 471 Mt Albert Rd
Conveniently situated near the junction of Mt Albert Road and Mt Eden Road on Three Kings, the Fickling Convention Center offers many different function spaces perfect for a range of events.
You can book your wedding reception or conferences in the large spaces, while you can also hold small gatherings or meetings in the venue’s small bookable spaces. Prices range from $24 per hour on the small rooms and large halls up to $110.
Depending on your event and budget requirements, the Fickling Convention Center has something for you.
Location: Councillors Drive, Mt Albert, Auckland 1025 Capacity: 200-270 Price: $55-69 Nearest Bus: 2 minutes from Opp 790 New North Rd
The Mt Albert War Memorial Hall is a large venue situated next to Rocket Park and is popular for large exhibitions, events, and social functions.
The hall features a stage with an accessible toilet, podium, piano, and tables and chairs. It’s an airconditioned space with natural light beaming from its large windows, making it ideal for events requiring a spacious and light vibe.
Location: 11 Griffin Avenue, One Tree Hill, Auckland 1023 Capacity: 20-40 Price: $27-34 Nearest Bus: 4 minutes from Gillies Ave/Melville Park
With a maximum capacity of 40, the Athol Syms Hall is an intimate venue for hire made for meetings and small group activities.
It’s perfect for small celebrations. There’s also a kitchen available at the venue, which makes it ideal if you’re planning to host a small dinner or lunch party for your friends and family.
Location: 35 St George Street, Papatoetoe Capacity: 300-350 Price: $47-59 Nearest Bus: 1minute from Papatoetoe
This heritage hall, built in 1917, is a popular venue for dance parties and cinema events. A century later, this place is still popular for large functions, events, and community gatherings.
The main hall and supper room can be booked off-peak at $47.20 and $59 per hour for peak times.
If you want your event to have a touch of the traditional and cultural side, the Papatoetoe Town Hall will surely hit the spot.
Location: 37 Fred Thomas Drive, Takapuna, Auckland Capacity: 12-60 Price: $20-57 Nearest Bus: 1minute from 4 Fred Thomas Dr
The Lake House Arts Centre is composed of seven different beautiful spaces that you can hire for a whole host of occasions and needs. It’s a unique venue for meetings, training, art workshops, small conferences, and product launches.
With its stunning gardens, free parking, and accessibility to Auckland City, Lake House Arts Centre is an ideal venue that makes the loveliest setting for an indoor or outdoor function.
Location: Shop 2F, 22 Emily Place, Auckland City Centre AUK 1010 Capacity: 40 Price: $10-70 Nearest Bus: 1 minute from 80 Queen St
If you’re looking for an intimate workshop space, The Aaiotanga Community Space is a warm and comfortable venue that nicely holds groups from 4 to 40. While it’s perfect for workshops, it’s also ideal as shared office space and can have up to six desks.
All venue hire options include power and access to WIFI, digital projector, and whiteboards.
Known for its eclectic live-music scene, Austin, Texas’s state capital, is a vibrant metropolitan area offering entertainment, art and culture, great outdoors, and exceptional food. This historically rich city started as a post for Spanish colonists and is now thriving and known as the fastest-growing large city in the US in recent years.
With such a diverse and dynamic background, Austin hosts a wide array of venues for different events. If you are an event planner trying to look for the best places to hire in Austin, you’re in luck. We’ve listed down 9 beautiful and budget-friendly venues for hire in Austin, Texas:
Location: 4002 E. Hwy 290 @ Sunset Canyon Drive, Dripping Springs, TX 78620 Capacity: 40 Price: $65/hour (Minimum of 1 hour) Nearest Bus: 12 minutes from Scenic Brook/Kirkham
Constructed as one of the first green buildings in Dripping Springs, the Sententia Vera Cultural Hub features 1.5 wooded acres, 5000 sq. ft. of coworking, shared flex space, a training reception room, and a coffee lounge and bar.
The Training Reception Room is approximately 600 sq. ft. and can hold up to 40 people. It’s perfect for corporate meetings, training, and workshops. In booking this space, you’ll have access to the outdoor backyard patio for every event break. It also comes with Smart TV, projector, and screen. You can book other areas in this venue depending on your needs.
Location: South Austin, Austin, TX Capacity: 35 Price: $ 75/hour (Minimum of 2 hours) Nearest Bus: 1 minute from 8116 S 1st/Mairo
This beautiful living room space features cathedral ceilings and tons of natural light. It’s the ideal space for booking photoshoots, intimate gatherings, meetings, or even a peaceful retreat.
The BohoHouse has a full modern kitchen with plenty of counter space for cooking and preparing food. You’re welcome to use the space’s WiFi, Smart TV, speakers, and record player. With its .4 acres of fenced space, the backyard comes with natural foliage, cedar trees, a fire pit, and a hammock. It’s perfect for pet parties and retreats!
Location: 3823 Airport Blvd. Suite D, Austin, TX 78722 Capacity: 12 Price: $ 50/hour (Minimum of 1 hour) Nearest Bus: 1 minute from 1906 38th Half/Airport
This brand new studio near the Mueller area in Austin is a 1000-square ft. of dance space and lobby area. With adjustable lighting, three overhead fans, and Marley flooring, it’s paired with big, white concrete walls perfect for projections.
The yoga/dance studio is perfect for fitness events and ideal for small-sized events like romantic date surprises, baby showers, rehearsals, and photoshoot sessions.
Location: Terrace Mountain, West Lake Hills, TX 78746 Capacity: 15 Price: $ 150/hour (Minimum of 3 hours) Nearest Bus: 8 minutes from 3825 Lake Austin/Enfield
Hill Country Home sports stunning hill country views with abundant natural light coming through its large windows. It’s a modern home with mid-century décor that is cantilevered from the hillside centered in a heavily wooded area.
If you want a beautiful location for your next video or photoshoot, the Hill Country Home is an ideal option as every single corner of this space is just simply stunning. It’s also a perfect venue for team offsites and intimate parties, with add-ons available to suit your event needs.
Location: 2309 Thornton Rd UNIT M, Austin, TX 78704 Capacity: 15 Price: $ 90/hour (Minimum of 3 hours) Nearest Bus: 5 minutes from Broken Spoke Station (NB)
Gusto Studios is a newly re-purposed studio in the Thornton Road Studios Complex sitting at South Austin’s heart. It’s an old-school space with Greg Davis’s works, a National Geographic Image Collection Photographer, adorning its walls.
If you’re looking for unconventional and beautiful space, this studio can host small to medium-sized events, including celebrations, meetings, workshops, and fundraisers. Hiring this space comes with a kitchen, bathroom, WiFi, and hi-definition projector/screen with surround sound.
If you want to host a unique event, the Game Plan offers a one-of-a-kind experience. You can book this space that comes with arcade games, table games, VR and video games, as well as a yard for over-sized games. Whether you’re planning to host a big corporate event or a child’s birthday party, hiring this space is sure to deliver excitement to your guests.
Location: 10621 Pioneer Farms Drive, Austin, TX 78754 Capacity: 250 Price: $ 250/hour (Minimum of 4 hours) Nearest Bus: 15 minutes from Crossroads Station (SB)
Experience the colorful past of Texas at Pioneer Farms. If you’re looking for a beautiful venue for weddings, special occasions, business or family affairs, or filmmaking projects – this historical space is ideal and set at competitive prices.
Pioneer Farms offers turn-key services to accommodate your event needs from tents, chairs, lighting, and linens. As a history museum offering a large backdrop set in unique wooded acres, you can design the perfect occasion fit for you and your guests.
Location: 417 Red River St. Austin, TX. 78701 Capacity: 85 Price: $ 125/hour (Minimum of 4 hours) Nearest Bus: 2 minutes from 515 Cesar Chavez/Red River
If you’re looking for a fun and hip atmosphere for your private party or corporate event, Central District is a beautiful event space that can meet your event needs.
Located in the heart of downtown, close to Austin’s busiest districts. With a seating capacity of 85 and plenty of standing room, it’s a perfect place to host large events. The venue offers craft beer made on-site and other beverages at standard menu pricing. A full-service caterer is required for table service, large groups buffet service, or passed appetizers. Space rental includes picnic table seating with benches, projector with screen, and microphone.
Home to the Golden Gate Bridge and famous for its Bay Area, San Francisco is one of the most famous cities globally. It’s a cultural and financial center – offering the pleasures of music, art, and good food as well as the urban side of commercial business.
San Francisco is a popular tourist attraction known for its famous landmarks and eclectic mix of architecture, making it a thriving place of diverse and colorful events. If you are an event planner looking for budget-friendly venues in San Francisco, here’s a guide to help you.
Location: 3079 16th Street, San Francisco, CA 94110 Capacity: 200 Price: $50/hour (Minimum of 2 hours) Nearest Bus: 1 minute from 16th St & Valencia St
Located at the heart of The Mission on 16th Street, Bond Bar is a craft cocktail bar providing delicious beverages and a chilled-out atmosphere in the middle of a busy neighborhood. The Bond Bar sits on a property built in the 1800s and has since been rebuilt and remodelled over the years, adding to its rich architectural history.
You can book the entire space exclusively or the semi-private room, inclusive of a bartender and staff service. Included also in booking this place are a mounted projector, sound systems with aux jack for music, and WIFI access.
Location: 1255 Battery Street, Suite 200, San Francisco, CA 94111 Capacity: 36 Price: $82/hour or $650/day Nearest Bus: 2 minutes from Sansome St & Filbert St
If you’re looking for the perfect spot to host your company offsite or small conference events and presentations, then this Neyborly meeting space is the one you need.
It’s a flexible space nestled below the iconic Coit Tower and next to Levi’s headquarters. It features a kitchenette, heating and AC, tons of power outlets, and large whiteboards. Space rental also comes with a 75” monitor with connectivity available via Bluetooth, Apple TV, and HDMI.
Neyborly also offers other meeting space options, retail pop-up venues, and production spaces, depending on your event or budget requirements. You can check out their website if you want to see more short-term rental spaces.
Location: Mission District, San Francisco, CA Capacity: 18 Price: $195/hr Nearest Bus: 1 minute from Bryant St & Mariposa St
This loft-space features high ceilings and windows, giving it abundant natural light and an excellent flow of fresh air. Contemporary paintings surround the area with window and door access to the adjacent deck for viewing purposes, giving a visual feast for you and your guests.
This penthouse is ideal for summits, workshops, and collaborative and creative sessions. Hosting a corporate event here is also a great idea if you want your guests to be relaxed and feel the retreat this place offers.
Location: Potrero Hill, San Francisco, CA Capacity: 8 Price: $150/hr Nearest Bus: 6 minutes from Bryant St & 20th St
Are you a corporate event planner looking for a relaxing mini-retreat? Then book The Garden Pavilion.
It’s a comfortable and elegant business offsite space that is sure to meet your casual event requirement up to the most polished presentation needs. Booking this space, you’ll have the entire Pavilion and multiple decks all to you and your guests. You can also get to enjoy the view of the expansive garden. It’s business meeting nature – and it’s a sure way to get your guests feeling both relaxed and motivated.
Location: Lower Nob Hill, San Francisco, CA Capacity: 15 Price: $75/hr Nearest Bus: 3 minutes from Bush St & Hyde St
Studio 2 is a for-hire studio in San Francisco with lots of natural light. It’s great for private lessons, video shoots, small fitness events or workshops, or photoshoot needs. This space features a dance studio, various photography backgrounds, wall-to-wall mirrors, 2x speakers, great sound systems, and different light options. The studio is blocked out for weekly classes, so make sure to check availability first.
Location: 835 Larkin Street San Francisco, CA 94109 Capacity: 125 Price: $175/hr (Minimum of 4 hours) Nearest Bus: 4 minutes from Geary Blvd & Laguna St
RS94109 is an interesting event space in San Francisco. It’s a record store and café with an avant-garde venue for hire. It’s the perfect space for hosting wedding receptions, dinner parties, dance parties, album releases, or corporate mixers.
The space features a contemporary, industrial style with concrete, steel, and exposed brick adorning it. It sports a custom sound system with access to a range of DJs who can provide a full range of services for any event type. The RS94109 also offers full bar service for private rentals.
Location: 868 Kearny Street, San Francisco, CA 94108 Capacity: 75 Price: $75/hr (Minimum of 3 hours) Nearest Bus: 3 minutes from Pacific Ave & Grant Ave
The International Hotel Manilatown Center is a fluid and flexible space ideal if you’re hosting exhibits, performances, or film showings. It serves as a multipurpose community gathering space for creative expressions and a memorial of the historic Manilatown neighborhood. This space offers exhibit/display areas as well as a performance area. It’s an excellent backdrop for formal classes and informal encounters where guests can share stories, teach, and learn.
Location: 565 Green Street, San Francisco, CA 94133 Capacity: 75 Price: $200/hr (Minimum of 2 hours) Nearest Bus: 2 minutes from Union St & Columbus Ave
At the base of Telegraph Hill in North Beach is Belle Cora. It’s a cozy venue nodding to the city’s rich history. Belle Cora offers 30+ wines by the glass, six beers on tap, an eclectic option of bottled beers, and a kitchen serving small-plate fare, perfect for parties or events. With its warm red, tufted-cushion banquette seating area and a gleaming Redwood bar top, it offers a unique option for parties, anniversary celebrations, book signings, weddings, and even small jazz shows.
Location: 1630 Stockton Street, San Francisco, CA 94133 Capacity: 350 Price: $500 Nearest Bus: 1 minute from Union St & Columbus Ave
If you’re looking for a low-cost venue, the San Francisco Italian Athletic Club’s historical building is an excellent hotel alternative at a good value.
Located just at North Beach’s heart, it’s a unique and ideal location for a city event. Your guests get to enjoy exquisite Italian food cooked in-house while you get to plan and customize your event just as you always wanted and imagined with a blank canvas. The venue also offers customizable menus that fit your appetite and budget.
Social media moves fast, but nowhere is it faster than on Twitter. If you’re promoting events on Twitter, it means your marketing strategy needs to evolve quickly too.
Twitter may be one of the most challenging networks for social media event marketing. Still, it’s also one of the most rewarding.
What makes Twitter a unique platform for events
Tweets may be short, but the Twitter community is large: the platform has 320 million monthly active users. Used by 21% of women and 24% of men, Twitter is most popular among high-income millennials: a prime ticket-buying demographic.
If your event draws a younger, tech-savvy crowd, Twitter should be a vital part of your promotion strategy. Michelle Manafy of Inc. calls Twitter users “information junkies,” referring to a wide variety of information: technology, news, sports, marketing, journalism etc.
Choosing an event hashtag and Twitter bio
The first step in promoting your event on Twitter is to create a hashtag and bio that embodies your event’s spirit.
Hashtags are one of the most effective ways to consolidate conversation about your event on Twitter. When choosing an event hashtag, you want to keep it concise and memorable. When in doubt, consider simply using your event name, its acronym, or even including a hashtag in your event’s official name. Also, be sure to double-check that the hashtag isn’t already being used. Before finalising your event hashtag, search Twitter to make sure it’s not already in use.
Your event’s Twitter bio is one of the first things people will see on your profile. As Google prioritises social media profiles, it’s likely your Twitter account will show up high in search results for your event.
Write a brief, catchy profile — ideally just one sentence — that describes your event and gives the date, location, and link to the next event’s ticketing page.
And don’t forget the value of images on social media. You’ll want to use your logo as the profile picture and a fun photo of a recent event for your banner photo that captures the excitement from a previous event. Your Twitter profile photo should be 400×400 pixels, and your header image should be 1500×1500 pixels.
Promoting your event on Twitter
Culturally relevant and timely posts work great on Twitter. Twitter users are usually most interested in news, quick tips, interesting articles, and trending topics. Use quick, witty, and eye-catching updates to engage them with your event.
Every social media platform is a bit different, but on Twitter, images are king. According to Twitter, posts with images are a third more likely to get retweeted than posts without them.
Beyond images, keep the post as concise (obviously) and eye-catching and to the point as possible. Send out news, tips, how-tos, interesting articles and trends. And ideally, you’ll want to keep them shorter than the 140 character limit. The ideal length depends on your audience, but in general, stick to a 70 to 100 character range. According to the social media management platform Buffer, tweets shorter than 100 characters have a 17% higher engagement rate.
Be aware that a tweet reaches its peak after 18 minutes, so you’ll want to post more frequently than on other networks!
The best time to tweet
Most tweets are sent between noon and 1pm in each time zone. This could be because many people are engaging with Twitter at that time, but it could not. You’ll need to run some tests to work out what times of day your particular audience is on Twitter.
You don’t need fancy analytics to find the best time to use Twitter for events. For a week, try posting once a day during that noon prime time and once during a less popular hour. Then look back on your tweet impressions for each post, which you can find in Twitter’s free analytics. See which time slot is getting your posts in front of the most eyes, and stick with that.
Using Twitter walls at the event
At the event, it’s worth showcasing a Twitter wall. These screens display tweets and images as they’re posted — if they’re tagged with your event’s hashtag. People love to be in the spotlight on these tweet walls, and your attendees are no exception.
To encourage use, make sure your hashtag is visible on displays and screens throughout the event, so people don’t forget it.
Twitter is face-paced. While that may seem intimidating, it offers various opportunities to get in front of your potential audience and become essential in your social media marketing toolbelt.
