Tradeshow Marketing Expert & Dynamic Public Speaker/Trainer

January 1, 2011

Social Media Planning: What to Do In the First Quarter of ’11

Depending on what your company’s involvement is in social media, there are a number of approaches you can take to moving forward during the first quarter of 2011. And that’s the KEY: MOVING FORWARD from wherever you are at this moment. With the forward motion of all things social media, if you sit still you’ll get further and further behind!

If your company is NOT doing anything with social media:

If you’re at the very beginning, you’ll have to start somewhere. Starting anywhere is better than not starting at all. Ask around the office, and look for your company’s own ‘digital native.’ This is the person that’s already online with social media. They’re already on Facebook and Twitter. They may be posting fun videos on YouTube or Facebook. Perhaps they’ve got a LinkedIn account. They’re adept at discussing and moving around in the social media world.

Once you find that person, sit down with your marketing manager and the company owner (presuming you’re a small or medium-sized company and have easy access to these people) and discuss the following steps:

Where you are
Where you want to go in the next 3 – 6 months
What tools you’ll need
Who will be in charge of the company’s social media efforts
How much time it will realistically take to set up accounts and start to build your community
What are your goals
What are the steps required to meet those goals
What other internal or external help you’ll need

At this point, you’re really doing a full assessment of where the company is in social media. Find out what your strengths are, where the holes are in your knowledge and determine the best way to fill those gaps. Here is where you’ll also be appointing someone (or two or three) that have the capabilities to lead the company’s social media efforts.

From here, look to what how you can start to create a community, stay in touch with them and provide them with information, content and response to their feedback.

Then, start: get the Facebook and Twitter accounts going, check in daily, put up links on your website to direct people to the new social media outposts. At the outset, once the accounts are set-up (should take a very short amount of time), the initial involvement might be a few minutes a day. As you see more of your community finding you, you’ll have more opportunity to ask questions, look for feedback and find ways to respond to their comments and questions.

If your company IS ALREADY involved in social media…but you feel there’s a LOT more you could be doing:

GET CREATIVE: If you’re past the first few baby steps described above, this is where you can start to get creative with your postings. Take note of what other companies that ‘get’ social media do. Riff off of their efforts. Come up with ways to creatively produce short videos that show the human side of your company, such as this one from gDiapers that was a video birthday present where employees described what they liked about their boss Kim.

VIDEO is a great tool to share how-to’s, information, what-ifs and much more. It’s an invaluable tool to humanize your company. How can you be creative with your videos?

EVENT CALENDAR: Create an event calendar that outlines your company’s 2011 event schedule. Determine which of the events is the most important, and focus on putting together a significant social media effort into connecting with your community around that event. Don’t ignore the other events; but by choosing a ‘most significant’ event, your social media efforts will fall in line. If you choose to, for instance, do a lot of giveaways via Twitter at the big show, plan on supplementing your other shows with smaller Twitter giveaways. If you’re planning a Tweetup at the big show, think about putting together smaller Tweetups at your smaller shows.

LISTEN: Consider digging deeper with your listening tools. The more you listen to what’s being said online about your products, company and competition, the quick you can respond to issues that arise. Tools such as Radian6, Jive Software, Hubspot and more offer access to deep, real-time conversations around the important things in your world. Some are free, some are paid, but all can help lift the lid a little more on what people really think.

RESPOND: When you come across a conversation that relates to your product or service offerings, step in. David Meerman Scott, in his newest book “Real-Time Marketing and PR,” tells the tale of a company that saw a comment from someone who was not happy with the non-response from a company on a request for quote for a telephone system. The company politely stepped in offering to help on any questions or to offer a quote. Long story short: they sold a $250,000 phone system be responding to a tweet and asking if they could help. So yes, this stuff does happen. It is important and it shows that by responding to an issue in real-time, good things can happen.

BLOG: If you’re not blogging yet, this is an opportune time to figure out how your company can use a blog to stand out in the crowded marketplace. Blogging is not a casual commitment; it requires consistent time, energy and thought, and there’s likely no immediate payoff. But a blog is the best online tool to position your company as a leader in your field, share ideas, create community, and stake out ground.

If your company is neck-deep in social media:

If you’re already doing great things with social media, you probably have a good sense of how you got here, and perhaps where to go from here.

CONTINUE LISTENING: look at different tools that can help you uncover conversations that you previously didn’t hear about. Look at new tools. Keep your ear to the ground. Read blogs on social media such as the Social Media Examiner and Mashable.

BUILD YOUR NETWORK: The wider and deeper your personal and professional network, the more opportunities that will arise out of that network. You’ll find new knowledge, timely information and quicker access to new tools.

ENHANCE YOUR PRESENCE: Since you’re already blogging and you’re on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and perhaps other social media outpost, ask yourself: how can we enhance the connectivity of these tools? What can we do to show our community who we really are? What can we do to reach more of them? Do we share more of ourselves? Do we offer more how-to’s and tutorials? Do we do more webinars? Do we bring in experts in the field and interview them? Do we step up to a higher level of video production? No matter where you are, there is always room for improvement. How can you improve either in incremental steps or in a big leap?

Social media is many things. It’s a great learning tool. It’s an amazing real-time connectivity tool. It’s hard work; it’s fun. It’s unlike anything the world has seen up until this century and it’s changing the nature of business. It is leading to transparency in more company activities. It empowers consumers to gather information from unlimited sources before they commit a dollar to a purchase.

Social media is perfect for the event world. Events are inherently social. Business is social. By learning how to effectively use the social media tools at your disposal, you’re moving a step ahead of your competition and a step closer to creating a valuable community that will help support your business.

photo credit: Alaivani

December 21, 2010

How Blogging Can Help Your Tradeshow Marketing

When speaking in Jacksonville at the EDPA’s annual conference earlier this month, I asked for a show of hands to see how many bloggers were in the audience.

A few hands went up. I expected more. Many more. Not sure why…maybe my expectations are unrealistic. Or maybe it’s that I’ve seen the value in having an active blog. It keeps your mind sharp, it keeps you in front of a growing audience, and it it lets people know who you are and what your expertise is.

Yet many companies simply don’t consider blogging as a valuable marketing tool. Here’s how I see blogging in terms of helping promote a tradeshow appearance or to enhance a tradeshow marketing schedule.

It gives you a place to tell your audience about the new stuff (products, service) that you’ll have at the show.
Blogging is a platform to invite any partners that may have at the show to discuss their products and how it ties in with yours.
It’s easy to insert a video into a blog.
You can easily post photos of visitors to your booth.
You can give reviews and opinions of the show and other products and services.
Your blog is a ‘home base’ for all things show-related. Post documents, downloads, press releases, etc.

Having said all of that, blogging is not to be taken lightly. It’s a significant committment in terms of time and energy. And if you are going to set up a blog for your company, it’s important to make sure that you have new material showing up regularly, whether it’s every week, three times a week or just a couple of times a month.

But once you’ve made the committment and the process of blogging becomes part of your routine, you’ll discover that it’s a great outlet for all sorts of things. You can post slides from a presentation, videos from your company, how-to’s and informational tidbits that educate and illuminate your audience.

It also allows you and your company to gain more visibility within your industry and target audience.

Blogging isn’t the end-all and be-all of online presence, but it’s a valuable marketing and positioning tool.

If you’re not blogging yet, you should seriously consider it!

December 17, 2010

Nine Reasons to Love Tradeshow Marketing

What is there to love about tradeshow marketing? After all, it’s expensive, it’s hard work and you have to travel and set up stuff. And then stand for hours a day talking to hundreds or thousands of people. And then tear it down, pack it up and head home.

So what’s to love? Let’s count the ways…

Opportunity: a tradeshow is a great opportunity to meet people who, in most cases, have PAID to be there and WANT to see what you’re showing off.
Learning: when you’re attending a tradeshow you’re going to be exposed to hundreds of new products and service offerings in your industry.
Competition: while the booth across the aisle may be competing with you, it’s easy to feel a kinship with him. After all, they’re in the same boat as you: trying to keep their business going and thriving. By sharing stories and getting to know each other, you can connect better to the community that you all share.
Travel: If you don’t like to travel, scratch this from your list. But if you do, getting on the road for several days is always great – if for nothing more than a change of pace.
Challenge: the simple challenge of putting your best foot forward at a tradeshow amidst all of the other exhibits is unlike other marketing challenges.
Challenge 2.0: If you approach the next tradeshow as a personal challenge, see how well you can do in your sales, your presentation skills, listening, answering questions. There’s a lot to learn about your interpersonal skills engagement on the tradeshow floor.
Opportunity 2.0: At a tradeshow you have access – if only for a few moments – to CEO’s company presidents, marketing managers, etc., any of whom can open great doors for you if make a good connection. So…how can you make a connection?
Market Research: Your booth visitors are a great source of information – if only you ask. Do a survey, hand out questionnaires, have people demo new beta products so you can get in a little product testing while pitching your newest stuff.
After Hours: Whether you’re in Vegas, New Orleans, Anaheim or Buffalo, there’s always a new place you can check out after the show. Take a client, get to know a colleague a little better. After hours at a tradeshow is a great opportunity for deepening relationships. And, uh, y’know…for having some damn FUN!

What can you add to the list? What do you love about tradeshow marketing?

December 16, 2010

An Open Letter to the End of the Year

Dear 2010,

What? You’re done already? Seems to me that you just got started! I mean, there’s so much left to do. Why, it felt like just yesterday that June arrived, all full of too many Oregon rainclouds and green grass. Now we’re already past that Thanksgiving turkey carcass and ready to wrap and then unwrap presents. Holy Christmas, indeed!

So what did you accomplish, 2010? Your Facebook website passed 550 million users and more than 3 million active business pages. But there’s still plenty of room to get involved. Your Twitter users passed 17 million, and thousands (probably tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands, or even millions) of companies are seeing the value in the real-time customer engagement that you facilitate. But still some company bosses think it’s kid stuff. Right. Well, in a year or two, those folks will be wishing that had seen the light in 2010.

Speaking of carcasses, I see that MySpace did a complete makeover earlier this fall. I keep getting invitations to go back to my page, but the few times I’ve bothered it hasn’t intrigued me much. So…probably not. Sorry.

Personally, it was a challenging and enlightening year. But aren’t they all? I bought an iPhone during spring so that I could see what the fuss was about. And of course, to see how that whole smartphone thing works. After all, how can I blog about mobile marketing and tweeting and stuff if I wasn’t personally involved?

And as for the iPhone itself, so far I’m only mildly impressed. Yes, it’s only a 3G (got it right before they announced the 4G) and it has a few minor issues. But overall, a nice piece of gear. But I’m already thinking about what I might replace it with when the contract winds down.

‘Twas certainly a good year for some personal-growth-type stuff as I continued to expand boundaries. It was great to be involved with a number of live speaking gigs and several webinars (thanks to Classic Exhibits to helped promote them), topped off by the presentation at the Exhibit Designers and Producers Association annual conference in Jacksonville, Florida earlier this month. I hope/plan to see more of those in 2011.

As for the Great Beyond, 2010, you claimed some of the Greats indeed. We said goodbye to folks such as J. D. Salinger, Leslie Neilsen, Gary Coleman, Tony Curtis, Eddie Fisher, Patricia Neal, Dennis Hopper, Frank Frazetta, Lynn Redgrave, Fess Parker, Don Meredith, Dino De Laurentiis…the list is too large. Can you just hold off for a little while so we can enjoy some of these people while they’re still around?

So, 2010, you give way to 2011. What can we expect? More of the same? Or perhaps some new thinking? Oh, you’re right. It’s up to us. WE have to decide to change. You don’t just make things better because the days on the calendar have flipped over.

Okay, well…let me think about it. And see if I can come up with a blog post that’s actually WORTH reading!

You pal,

Tim

December 13, 2010

Podcast: Nametag Guy Scott Ginsberg Interview

He’s an author, public speaker, blogger, TV guy, publisher…and more…and he’s just 30. I caught up with Scott Ginsberg this week to talk about the last ten years and see what he’s got up his sleeve for ’11.

Hello My Name is Scott website

December 9, 2010

Social Media: Where’s Your Engagement?

I guess I shouldn’t be shocked, but I am. A bit.

As I mingled before the keynotes at the EDPA Access 2010 annual conference last week in Jacksonville, Florida, I talked with a lot of people. Of course, since my badge shouted ‘SPEAKER’ it was a natural topic to discuss what I was speaking about (social media), and to inquire about the state of social media in their business.

Social media has been a ‘thing’ for a few years now. Back in ’07 it was commonly referred to as “Web 2.0” but that name has faded in favor of “social media.”

And still most folks I talked to are barely involved.

I understand, to a degree. There are obstacles: lack of knowledge, lack of time, lack of manpower, lack of resources.

And even though I met one person who proudly told me that they had turned an intern into a full-time Social Media Marketing Manager six months ago, I was a bit surprised that so few exhibit companies seem to be involved in social media.

There’s a lot to be gained by getting started now:

getting ahead of your competition
gaining better understanding of your market
a higher level of engagement from customers
an improved bottom line

And if you don’t start now, it’s a pretty sure thing that a lot of your competitors are starting or are already involved. They’re blogging: helping customers and potential customers solve problems, find answers to questions and positioning their company as the go-to expert. They’re Tweeting: driving traffic, finding new blog readers and potential customers. They’re on Facebook: creating event listings, sharing photos of exhibit builds and set-ups, client functions and much more.

It really doesn’t take much. I’ve found it’s not that hard to work those valuable social media activities into a regular workday without much problem.

And besides, you don’t have to jump in all at once. Talk with your staff, find out their level of interest. Do you have a ‘digital native?’ – someone who is adept at moving around in social media? They’re a likely person to take the lead for your company.

Work your way up to one of the social media outlets – Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.

Start somewhere. Start anywhere.

Check out webinars on this blog about social media and blogging.

Ask questions. I’m always available to chat and would love to help you out.

But really: if you don’t get there soon, you’ll be behind. Very far behind.

And I don’t think you’ll want to play catch up when the game is already in the fourth quarter and the other teams are leading 100 – 0.

photo credit: Kristoffer M.C.

December 7, 2010

Building Your Event-Related Community With Social Media

In the wake of the presentation I gave last week at the Exhibit Designers and Producers Association Access 2010 conference, I’ve been thinking and reading a lot about what it takes to build community.

In the event industry, it’s my opinion that social media is an extremely useful tool to promote shows, create and connect with communities, and foster deeper connections while attending shows.

It seems that in one sense the social media world is just getting started with connecting at events. But with each new story, I sense that the ‘connecting’ is getting more involved and the ‘connectors’ are becoming more adept at the connecting.

And then this morning Paul Castain’s timely blog post on ‘How to Build an Online Community!’ shows up. Paul is a terrific connector and has built a large online community, and in this exquisitely useful post he shares what has worked for him.

If you’re looking to build a community around a specific event, there are some slight adjustments I’d make to his overall plan (which has a lot of great ideas).

If you’re attending a tradeshow, one suggestion might be to create a specific ‘virtual tradeshow website’ just for that show. It’s an approach that would make sense for those larger expo shows you attend, but likely wouldn’t be worth the investment of time or money for small, local or regional shows. Derek Mehraban of InGenex Digital Marketing shares his story in a recent TradeshowGuy Blog podcast.

If you choose not to create a virtual tradeshow website, make sure that you’re online with a variety of platforms, including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. If you have a good presence on LinkedIn, include that as well.

Don’t forget the media: connect with industry bloggers and trade publications ahead of time. Let them know what new products or services you’ll be unveiling at the show. The press are attracted to new and shiny objects, so if you can offer something new you have a much better chance of getting some press mentions.

In the run-up to the show, collect your in-house list of clients, friends, acquaintances and prospects. Send out an e-mail blast a couple of months ahead of time asking people to ‘like’ your Facebook page, and follow you on Twitter and YouTube (if you have a YouTube channel).

With the show a month or so away, send another email reminder asking people to connect with you online. At this point, it would be appropriate to include a link to a short video about what they might expect at the show or a blog post promoting your appearance. Remember, you’ll get more response if you slant the article or video to ‘what’s in it for THEM’ and try not to make it so much about YOU.

Keep publishing: videos, blog posts, tweets, Facebook updates/photos, etc. During your planning, be sure to use a tool such as Hootsuite.com that allows you to schedule posts ahead of time. This will free up your show time to focus on the actual show, interacting with folks and sending out real-time tweets or posts (“just met @clientXYS at the show!”). Make a point of mentioning people by name or Twitter handle so they’ll feel loved.

With a couple of weeks to go, invite people to your booth (if you’re exhibiting), or to connect with you at a Tweet-up or other meeting. Find opportunities to connect face-to-face.

During these face-to-face meetings, collect business cards or other contact info. Schmooze! It’s fun!

During the show, try and shoot some timely videos, such as testimonials, customer or visitor interviews and post a few of them. Hold back a few for posting after the show.

Once the show is over, do a wrap-up or two. Post a few videos. Send out a thank-you e-mail with links back to your show follow-ups. Send physical thank you notes to those folks that you felt you made a great connection with – and those that you’d like to make a better connection with. A cool tool for card follow-ups is SendOutCards.com (yes, that’s an affiliate link).

As Paul points out, it’s great to have all of those online platforms, but the key is to keep engaged. INTERACT with those folks in your community. Respond to their questions. Reach out with an offline thank-you or phone call. Give content away with no strings attached. Find out what your community’s ‘pain points’ are and work to resolve them. Work to move those online connections to an offline relationship or friendship.

When it comes to building a community around a tradeshow, keep in mind that those folks you’re connecting with will become more active during show time. Work to leverage those folks to stay connected with you via Facebook or your newsletter.

You’ll find that the first show will likely fall short of your expectations. Don’t worry. Social media connections take time. Keep at it. From my observation, as exhibitors and organizers keep at it, each show becomes more successful than the last and the connections get deeper and wider.

With social media connections, you’re in for the long haul. Or you’re likely not in at all.

Photo by Pink Sherbet Photography

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All posts by: Tim Patterson