Trade shows are an inherently social form of marketing — you engage with attendees one-on-one and build relationships in real life. That’s something static ads and direct mailers just can’t compete with. You can boost the social aspect of trade show marketing by using – you guessed it — social media! Makes sense, huh?

Social media is perfect for boosting your trade show presence. (Heck, the two were practically made for each other). Without proper planning and execution, however, this perfect marriage of marketing tactics won’t mean a thing. That’s why we whipped together this handy guide, to help you execute effective social media strategies and get more bang for your marketing buck at your next trade show.

If you truly want to leverage social media for your trade show, you’ll need to use it before, during, and after your event. You can’t just post “Hey, we’re at the trade show now” on Facebook the day of your event and say that you “leveraged” social. You won’t find success posting in this way.

Here are some tips to help you engage your audience and drive traffic to your booth using social media. Let’s bring out the social in the most social of marketing events!

BEFORE THE TRADE SHOW

Get off to an early start

The early bird gets the worm, right? So as soon as you know you’ll be marketing your brand at a trade show, start developing a social marketing strategy and dropping hints to your appearance on your various social accounts. Social media is a buzz-building machine if you use it right, so make haste and don’t be afraid to drop an intriguing Facebook post a few months out.

Establish metrics

Most likely your biggest objective in marketing your brand at a trade show is to generate leads, right? When it comes to measuring your success at social media marketing for trade shows, you’ll need to establish metrics beforehand to determine if what you’re doing actually works or not.

Some typical social metrics include:

  • Facebook page likes
  • photo views
  • Twitter followers
  • blog views

Develop a strategy

You can’t just post willy-nilly about your trade show on whatever network you feel like. Once you have firm metrics in place, you can get started on developing a suitable strategy for your brand.

Developing a sound strategy really depends on your expectations and the expectations of your audience. Be sure to determine how much content to create to maintain interest and build buzz without annoying your audience.

Update your social profiles

Haven’t updated the About section on your Facebook page in over a year? In order to provide your target audience with the most up-to-date info about your brand, you’ll need to make sure your social profiles are as up-to-date as your website (something you’ve hopefully updated as well). An old logo on your LinkedIn page or ancient Twitter bio isn’t going to do you any good.

Engage with attendees and influencers

Want to ensure trade show attendees know who you are, where your booth is, and what you have to offer? Connect with your target audience beforehand via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other relevant social networks. Look up the official accounts for the event and any sponsors/big names attached to it and engage in discussions there. You can even start incorporating the official event hashtag beforehand (and if there is no such hashtag, create your own hashtag).
Reach out to attendees and influencers in your industry in advance and you’ll have a better shot at building that much sought-after pre-show buzz.

DURING THE TRADE SHOW

Engage in real-time

Once the trade show kicks off, it’s not time to put down your smartphone/laptop and stop using social media. Quite the contrary — there’s no better time to engage your target audience on social media than during the actual event.
Continue to use the event and/or custom hashtag you’ve been using to engage in discussions with Twitter users. Reply to questions and comments people leave on your Facebook page. Maintain a conversation with your audience and you’ll come off as a thoughtful, well-organized and hip brand. Oh, and people tend to visit thoughtful, well-organized, and hip brands.

Share awesome content

Great content can help you engage with social users, and sharing great content shouldn’t stop just because you’re busy on the show floor. You don’t need to post 10,000 word blogs or in-depth infographics (we’re not that militant about social), but an interesting photo or a bite-sized blog post can help you engage with attendees and users watching from home. Share valuable content and you’ll be seen as a more valuable booth to drop by.

Build buzz with contests/giveaways/discounts

Want to know a great way to get people psyched about your brand at a trade show? Give stuff away! Social media lets you announce contests, discounts, promotions, etc. with ease. It sure beats running up to everyone at the show and shouting “Hey, we’ve got a sweet contest going on!”

You could do something as simple as host a contest and have someone on your staff announce the winner via Twitter or alert your Facebook fans that you’ll be giving away freebies during a specific half-hour time frame.

AFTER THE TRADE SHOW

Connect with people you meet

It might have been difficult to keep in touch with trade show attendees in the past, but social media makes it easy to find and connect with leads. You can friend people you met at the trade show and continue to engage with them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. long after the event has concluded. Just be sure to offer value, not just pitch your product/service.

Create more awesome content

Social media can give your trade show appearance a second life. Using content you collect during the event, you can develop engaging marketing materials and easily share them on your social accounts afterward. This is a great way to wow attendees as well as people who were unable to make it to your event.

Here are just a few of the types of social content you can create after a trade show:

  • Upload your best photos to Instagram and/or Facebook
  • Use video footage to develop an engaging YouTube video
  • Write a blog post recapping highlights of the event

Analyze your data

Remember those metrics you established before the trade show? Once the event is over, you can use this data to determine how successful you were in meeting your social marketing objectives as well as improve your strategies. For example, you could look at Facebook Insights to see which posts your audience found the most engaging and use this info to power your next trade show marketing campaign.

Social media is an essential tactic in the modern trade show marketer’s toolbox. Make it an essential part of your next trade show appearance and drive engagement through the roof.

How much does social media play a role in your trade show marketing? Tell us your thoughts in the comment section below and contact the experts at Vonazon for any social media assistance you may need.