8 Social Media Marketing Tips for Trade Shows and Conferences
Even in this day and age Trade Shows are a critical component of any B2B company’s marketing mix, however they involve considerable marketing investments by companies; booth space, design and fabrication of displays, travel, accommodations and marketing collateral and interactive content. It’s little wonder then why more and more cities are offering more and more incentives to attract more trade shows and conferences to their cities to fuel economic development
To help maximize ROI and create awareness many companies and organizations are turning to social media to improve their success at trade shows. Below are eight tips that can help your marketing team have a successful trade show experience.
1) Make Sure Your Brand is Discoverable on Social Media.
Long before you start your trade show awareness campaign, you have to have an established presence on social media set up and ready to go. No one likes to be the first guests at a party and the same goes for fans connecting with brands on social media.
In 2013, platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and LinkedIn are still dominating social media marketing but newer entires like Instagram and Pinterest are fast becoming popular due to the visual nature of their platforms and shifting trends in how users are spending their time online.
2) Make Sure Your Social Profiles are Up to Date.
For trade shows, conferences and general event marketing, you need to put your best foot forward. Directing people to your social channels only to have them find the most recent post was six months ago does your company a huge disservice. Having an up-to-date profile not only makes your company look more professional, it helps bridge the gap between the real-world touch points and your brand’s online presence helping facilitate a seamless conversation between your prospects and your company.
3) Use Social Media to Create Pre-show Buzz.
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube and Instagram are currently the top tools to get the word about about your trade show. The key is to move beyond the general announcement and standard issue press release and showcase who will be there, free giveaways, and what attendees can hope to learn when they stop by your booth. The goal here is to generate foot traffic.
One good tactic is to take the press release of the event and break it up into small chunks that can be spread out across your social calendar. Create teaser campaigns where you dole out information in small amounts to pique interest and drive engagement. Make the information valuable and exciting so that it incentivizes people to share your posts with their immediate network. In this sense, it’s the 2nd degree connections that is really the most valuable asset of your social presence, often increasing the reach of your content by an order of a magnitude or more.
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