Social media is becoming a popular way for customers and businesses to interact. If you’re not using social media to its full potential, you’re missing out on a world of promotional possibilities.
Incorporate social media into your next trade show and you’ll find that it can boost trade show success in many ways.
5 Ways Social Media Can Lead To Trade Show Success
Social Media is Easily Integrated into Your Contests
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Giveaways are standard at trade show booths, but you don’t have to stick with boring swag. Include a few big-ticket items that will draw more interest to your booth.
To snag these top prizes, visitors must interact with your social media sites.
There are lots of creative options. Tweet that the first person to come to the booth and share your code word will get the prize.
Allow prize entries for a brief period for each item. Post the schedule on Facebook.
You Can Continue Promotions Beyond the Trade Show
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Encourage trade show visitors to follow your social media sites by letting them know that you’ll run a whole week of special promotions after the trade show. Each day offer a new deal such as 25% off certain services, free upgrades, BOGO offers, and more.
This strategy will keep your potential customers involved long after your booth’s dismantled.
Social Sites Offer a Powerful Destination for QR Codes
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If your trade show booth space gets swamped with visitors, passers-by may not want to stop and wait for personal attention or push through the crowd to peruse your giveaway pens and notepads (after all, the next table has similar stuff.) Include a large QR code on your booth that makes it easy for visitors to snap and move on.
Make sure the page you direct them to has easy links for following all your social media sites. In the days and weeks after the event, direct your posts to your new and hopefully curious followers who want to get to know who you are.
Include lots of features that will help them find out what you’re about.
Event Pages Hype the Event
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Set up an event page on Facebook that’s focused on the event alone. This is a great way to get attendees excited and promote the many activities that will be going on. Interacting with customers before the show will give you a better idea of what they want to see.
Don’t waste time lugging all your multimedia equipment along if a survey shows that they’re most interested in one-on-one conversations with sales reps. Use the funds to take more people along with you instead.
Blogs go In-Depth Where your Booth Can’t
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Trade show attendees want to hit a lot of stops in a limited amount of time. You can send them home with a pile of literature, but it’s likely to get lost in the cavernous swag bag. Instead, blog about common questions before and after the event and direct your leads to this resource as an informative way of getting to know you better.
Integrate your social media marketing strategy and your trade show event for a seamless promotion that will draw in lots of new customers. Never underestimate the power of a well-managed social site.
Did you create a social media campaign for your recent trade show event that brought the attendees to your booth? Or have you seen some great uses of social media at recent conference or convention? Would love to read it.
Great information. This is all very helpful and definitely makes sense. It’s amazing how much businesses can do with social media, when most people just use it for chatting with old friends.
+1 for mentioning QR Codes. There’s no easier way for customers to quickly get to your content, especially in a situation like a trade show where they are several feet away and short on time.
Hi Steve,
QR codes are better than lugging around heavy paper brochures.
I remember the first time I saw a QR code on a popup vertical banner at a trade show. I was intrigued but a bit baffled.
The good news is, I think QR codes are slowly making their way into the mainstream. That’s mainly because you see them in ads and on product tags. Not long ago I bought an orchid and the tag had a QR code with information on how to care for it it. What better way for people to get to know them.
– Anita
Social media is a great blessing for modern civilization. If properly utilized, it can cause great waves of change on business horizons. Just like that it will leave good positive impacts on your tradeshow success.