Trade show events are places to meet, get introduced, reconnect, wine and dine, and hopefully, gather leads for your sales team. But they are also one of the most competitive situations in business. After all, where else are all the competitors in any one group lined up row after row, one after the other, competing for customers? A physical trade show presence and a virtual presence are not mutually exclusive, though; in fact, just the opposite. Ramping up your social media marketing, before and after a trade show is proving one of the most effective ways to drive traffic to your trade show exhibit and cement the relationships you’ve come there to forge. And when it comes to collecting those all-important leads, social media is helpful.
Here are some ways you can leverage social media to get the most out of your trade show presence:
- Build some momentum and awareness with a Face book business page.
- Create a Linked in account and join some groups for the show
- Develop a tweet account
- Post blogs about what you are doing at the show and where you will be
- Send out an email blast to your prospect and customers
Start with an email blast and development of your pages to introduce your audience to the fact that you will be at a trade show event. Work these like an advertisement, building momentum and a “buzz” about your presence leading up to the show. Then you can start posting to your blog, face book, and twitter, before and during trade shows with any updates. During the show, marketers are posting some pictures and status reports, updating show attendees from the trade show floor about upcoming presentations and any additional sessions or changes happening. If you are holding a contest, you can announce a daily winner via your social media accounts.
Whatever you do, keep the information light and informational. It can be fun, but you don’t want to create too much information so as to turn off your audience. Also, you need to make sure you understand your target market and what they are looking for when creating these venues. You market a lot differently to an engineer then a marketing manager, make sure you incorporate the difference.
Learn more about effective trade show marketing by reading our whitepaper!
