To Be or Not to Be… Social

As an exhibitor when it comes to marketing your next tradeshow there isn’t a better or faster way to announce your upcoming presence than social media. Done properly it is fast and efficient and can reach your intended public.

Set you goal for social media marketing

First do or continue your offline marketing activities, ignore the social media platforms for now. Don’t just get on all the different platforms and bombard people with your various company messages, you won’t get very far. Understand what you are trying to accomplish first and once you really have identified your goals with social media, then go ahead and choose a social media platform that would be best based on your goals for your company.

In social media consistency is always better than quantity, it is engagement remember, be aware that you are actually talking to individual people and not just blasting a message out the unknown masses. So, participate frequently, don’t make it look like you are just doing it because someone said it was necessary. Participate in conversations, listen to other conversation etc. be visible.

The downfall to doing social media marketing is when your company treats this unique marketing area like a bill board or a radio add. Social media is a two-way street, it is engagement and its story telling.

Story Telling

People want to hear your story, the better the story the more engaged your public will be.

Social media is not traditional advertising, people will ignore spam on social media, so when everything is a pitch, catchphrases, company slogans and me me me, your message will fall on deaf ears. You can think of it as a conversation, you have to catch a person’s interest, this is done by telling your companies story. If you tell an interesting story you will engage with your public, and they will respond (call to action taken).

This is the information age and its not just any information. Quality is key, content that has true value and its delivery system is a good story.

Don’t be left Out

Social media will continue to grow and as a company you cannot afford not to use these channels for dissemination. It can quite daunting to have a live feed, with your client base or potential clients while at your event, but the benefits by far out-way any trepidations you may have about having full engagement with your public. The information regardless is the outcome is priceless.

One has to understand that social media marketing is only part of the bigger marketing puzzle, one continues to use all the other marketing channels, just plug it in to your existing marketing endeavours and you will be way ahead of the game.

I have observed throughout the years that many clients at Trade Shows will walk down the aisle and shy away from looking at booths because they are afraid to be called over or be sold too. Here is a way to naturally engage your client.

ATTRACT

Sometimes it’s hard to compete with the major corporations and their vast pocketbooks, but not all that glitters is gold.

Far to often the consumer is enticed by the gadgetry and special effects of trade show exhibits, I know I have, but at the end of the day what do I remember? Usually, I remember they had a cool booth, which is ok if you’re selling booth design but not great if your selling company insurance.

Don’t get me wrong, a booth that has that kind of attraction can work if all the elements are in place like but you still can compete even without the special effects by having:

1. Well trained staff, that can engage the public and confidently and competently walk them through your product or services.
2. Letting the public see what under the hood, to see what you’re all about.
3. Keeping the interest there while they are waiting to be looked after.

The above points work with all exhibits and will enable you to compete with the big boys.

Let’s look at this a bit more. A tried and true way to attract a public into your booth is to have a place to sit and relax, add free coffee and wi-fi, an attractive and informative brochure or a video playing in plain view you are suddenly engaging that person. Then add competent staff for further engagement and you have a recipe for success.

Whether you are an experienced exhibitor or a novice looking to gain your footing in the trade show marketing world, trusting your smart marketer’s intuition is a great start. However, your smart marketer’s intuition will only carry you so far. Below, are tips for successfully navigating the pre-, in- and post-event stages of trade show planning, along with trade show marketing ideas to help prepare you for your next event.
pre-event marketing

The foundation of an effective trade show marketing campaign starts months before your event, so it is important to get a good head-start.

Pre-event marketing tips:

Sending engaging pre-event emails to clients and prospects is an effective way to generate buzz around your brand.
Building a landing page in support of your email campaign can help boost conversation and help you set meetings with prospects prior to your event.
Using your media contacts to publish press releases and articles about your company and your upcoming event can help draw in new prospects.

in-event marketing

Marketing on the trade show floor is where all the action is. Having the proper trade show strategies in place will help your organization increase trade show ROI.

In-event marketing tips:

Having a well-groomed and friendly staff helps attendees feel comfortable with approaching your booth and will leave a lasting impression on visitors.
In-event promotions such as giveaways, contest and games are effective at attracting crowds and helping staff engage attendees.
Product demonstrations can help pique the interest of passersby while also providing a real-time look at your company’s capabilities.

post-event marketing

After the event has ended, you and your team need to turn your attention to converting your newly acquired leads and prospects into clients.

Post-event marketing tips:

Make sure your sales team quickly follows up with prospects via phone or email to keep your company top-of-mind.
Create content, such as blog and social media posts, to cover the highlights of your trade show campaign.
Write a post-event report to outline where your staff excelled and where you need improvement for future reference.

Know your potential client, is the mantra of today. This will always save time and money.
Exhibitions and Tradeshows modus operandi have not changed it is essentially…

1. Attract a potential client
2. Interest them
3. Communicate your message
4. Sell them whatever your selling

Now, number 1 is crucial of course and how do you do that? Its done by knowing what interests your potential client. That, of course, can be many things within your particular industry, so you need to narrow it down, but how?

Research, that’s how good old fashion research. This is as simple as asking your existing client base what was it that made them buy your particular product or service or what they were interested at the time. Ask enough client this you will get a really good idea of what interests them.

Search the internet – find some forums on your service or product (there is a forum out there for everything) see what they like, what they don’t like, basically what their buttons are and what would make them come to your booth.

Once you have compiled this information create your exhibition graphics and message around what was found in your research. An example of this is that being an IT company the most important thing your existing clients was all your technicians could explain things they were doing in plain English and were very responsive. Now going on the forums, you found out that potential clients really like a fast responsive IT team that could fix problems quickly and efficiently.

Armed with that information you build your message and graphics around that.
So, from your research, you find likes and dislikes and you basically give that information back to them in a way that communicates.

That handles the first, second and third point. For the fourth point just make sure your sales team know and have studied the results of your research and the sales part should be easy.