If you haven’t embraced social media by now for your organization before, during, and after trade shows, you could be missing out on one of the best opportunities in the field today for marketing.

Social media today is as much of a movement as it is a field, simply because people like you are learning about its ability to link you with your customers in a vast network that enables rapid sharing of information and brand identity. The result? More targeted exposure for your organization that builds up popularity and attention for your brand and your company for each show.

For this reason, we have a few actionable tips you can use to make the most of your social media strategy for greater visibility and increased connections with your target audience. Without further ado:

Tip #1: Tweet Early and Often

The first tip we’ll cover involves Twitter – the microblogging service that currently has over 140 million active users.

Twitter is a terrific tool for sending out small, easily digestible, yet informative nuggets of information to your consumer base in a very timely manner. The beauty of a tweet is in its simplicity: At 140 characters are less, they are easy to read and deliver a compact message.

To make the most of Twitter, tweet about your upcoming exhibition early and often. Try taking to the Twitter a couple of months before the show, sending out updates about what you will offer as a giveaway at the booth, or a special guest you’ll have. You can even pre-schedule these tweets or contract them out for more simplicity.

Tip #2: Become a Video Star

In today’s world, visual information is at a premium. A video delivers incredible impact, even if it just a few seconds long, and can give your organization an easy way to promote itself from the trade show floor.

Try filming and uploading videos leading up to your show and even during the show. Have a VIP stop by for a quick interview. Showcase a product demonstration. Tape testimonials from interested prospects who stop by. Then, upload these videos to social media outlets, like Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube, so you can quickly – and effectively – spread the word.

Tip #3: Use Social Media in Your Email Campaign

Social media isn’t just for the day of the trade show (although it definitely helps). Social media can also be used to boost your marketing campaigns that attract interest in your company and help prospect for future business.

One example is embedding a video into your emails. Film a video about a product or service, maybe with an eye-catching demonstration or an entertaining interview – something upbeat and high-paced so people can’t resist watching it. Then, embed a link to the video (host it on YouTube for maximum effect) so your readers can click on it.

The added bonus? YouTube doubles as a search engine, so by hosting the video there (and giving the video a proper title with your company name and the trade show you are attending), you can gain even more exposure.

Tip #4: Tell Me About It

One final way to use social media to your advantage for your next show is to tell people about it – all through a company blog.

It’s always a great idea to have a blog anyway, but an organization that goes to trade shows and other exhibits often should definitely have a blog if only to provide yet another way to raise attention and visibility for the upcoming show and drive traffic.

Tell your readers what you are doing at the show. Share with them any exciting promotion or dazzling, can’t-miss presentation that you’ll have. Each blog post also doubles as a soft-selling opportunity for a product or service, so you can double the impact by blogging early and often about an upcoming show.

Social media is a new, exciting, and ever-changing field, and making the most of it means going beyond these four tips. Professional help is always advised. But, for your next trade show, following this advice should get you on the right track to becoming a social media machine!