Live TV presents a huge opportunity as well as a challenge for social media. Last week’s episode of The Last Leg featured Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg going head to head with Alex Brooker in an attempt to persuade him to vote.

With huge anticipation around the DPM’s appearance, Liberty842 ramped up the excitement posting photos and a video of Adam Hills and Josh Widdicombe from the dressing room at ITV Studios, reminding viewers to send in their questions and tag them with the #cleggleg hashtag. If we just look at Twitter, there were over 8,600 @TheLastLeg mentions on Friday, over 5,000 tweets tagged #cleggleg. That’s a lot to manage!

We had two people manning social media on the night, keeping an eye on sentiment and notable comments – many of the UK press were watching and commenting online as the show aired. The Last Leg incorporates Twitter into the show with its audience tweeting questions to us using the hashtag #isitok.

When it comes to live events, you need to be able to trust your social media manager. Whilst some content planning can be prepared in advance, there’s no time for every post to be signed off. Try that and you’ll miss the moment!

The person entrusted with your social accounts needs to understand your brand and your audience implicitly. They should be able to converse with your audience in-the-moment; to speak with authority and be knowledgable about your product, whether that’s a TV show, a bottle of rum or a historical novel.

Adam Hills and Josh Widdicombe in The Last Leg dressing room at London Studios