‘Social networking’ is the buzziest of buzzwords out there on the ‘net. We like to say words like ‘Facebook’, ‘Twitter’, and ‘Pinterest’; they roll off our tongues and make us look like we know what we’re talking about.

But how many people in the trade show world actually understand the firepower of a fully armed and operational social media campaign? (Sorry for the Star Wars reference.) Very few – which is why education about social media’s impact on your trade show exhibit is a must.

Here, I’m going to share with you great facts about social media and how businesses and consumers alike view it and use it for mutual relationships.

Survey Says: Social Media is Popular

You may have heard of a few social media companies before. You know, companies like Facebook, Twitter, and the like. It turns out these companies are pretty popular. Just consider the following facts:

›  Over 900 million people across the globe use Facebook
›  An estimated 41.6% of the American population had a Facebook account two years ago
›  72% of U.S. Fortune Global 100 companies use Twitter
›  88% of the time, companies use Twitter for company news and updates
»  40% use Twitter for customer service
»  28% use Twitter to offer great deals, discounts, and coupons
»  10% use Twitter to spread the word about job information
›  Twitter has 225 million total users as of 2012
›  50 million Twitter users log in every day
›  The Twitter-verse is growing at a rate of 500,000 per day
›  LinkedIn, the professional networking site, has over 160 million global users
›  Over 4 billion videos are viewed on YouTube per day
»  700 YouTube videos are shared on Twitter alone each day
›  Pinterest is one of the fastest growing sites ever

That’s just scratching the surface, really. The point is, social media has firmly gripped America. As every good business owner knows, you should like what your customer likes – and that, my friend, is social media.

Connecting the Dots

“That’s all well and good”, you might say, “but what’s the takeaway for my business?”
I’ll answer that question with – drumroll – more facts! For example:
›  64% of companies surveyed agree that LinkedIn helps develop new relationships and grow new business
›  77% of Fortune Global 100 companies use Twitter at trade show events, exhibitions, conferences, and other appearances
»  61% use Facebook
»  57% use YouTube
»  36% use blogs
»  …And these numbers are growing by the month
›  Social media helps companies follow up with prospects, who are looking for some kind of response from exhibitors after a show
»  64% of attendees surveyed said they had negative to very negative feelings about exhibitors when they failed to follow up
»  14% said they had negative feelings about both the exhibitor and the event
›  Shoppers who are referred from Pinterest are 10% more likely to make a purchase than other social networking sites

That’s just a small taste. The fact is, social media is a huge part of a company’s success at a trade show because it gives you not only a powerful way to attract visitors, but to also follow up with them and establish mutually-beneficial relationships – which is business-speak for “make money”.

Don’t miss out on these facts. Get onboard the social media train for your next trade show.