Tradeshow Marketing Expert & Dynamic Public Speaker/Trainer

October 19, 2011

Bolstering Show Attendance through Social Media

The following is a guest post by AJ Wilcox:

So if you’ve been following this blog for long enough, you likely have an active following on Facebook, Twitter, or both for your business. Do you have an impressive booth that your customers could benefit from seeing? If so, leveraging your social media outlets could be doing excellent things for your business, as well as the show.

I recommended to my boss that we advertise that we’re going to be at such-and-such show, and he said, “It’s not our job to get people to the show – that’s the show’s job. Our job is to pay them and show up. I don’t want to pay to promote their show.” While I understand my boss’s point of view, I feel like not promoting the show as an exhibitor would be a mistake…especially over social media, because it’s free.

Instead, let me present my take on exhibitor promotion. I’m fairly idealistic, and I feel like if every exhibitor brought customers to the show, that it would benefit every exhibitor and the show immensely. When the shows are more widely attended, it encourages more and more people to come, which give you access to more potential customers.

I recommend using social media as a tool to let customers and acquaintances know about the show and encourage them to come. They way I’ve done this for the most part is through contests and giveaways.

Most of the shows I exhibit at give me a certain number of free tickets to give out. Reach out to your audience and offer free tickets to the show. If demand is higher than the amount of tickets you have, then do contests, giveaways, or trivia to distribute them. Not only does it give you more interaction over social media, but it gets people to the shows.

If you don’t have free tickets, simply inviting people to come check out your booth at the show could be enough. If they come from your invite, they’re sure to drop by to say hi while there. As a simple principle, the more time someone spends interacting with your company, the more connected they will feel to it. Connection breeds sales and referrals, so this will be excellent relationship building for business growth.

Once you’ve gotten them to the show, now use social media as a way to engage and interact with them at the show. Create a twitter hashtag, or participate in existing hashtag conversation. Provide interactive media like this QR code banner stand example we created, or simply talk about the highlights of the show while there. It’s not inconceivable that a customer would see your updates and think that the show sounds interesting, and decide to come.

Obviously, don’t update so often that you annoy them to death and they stop following you, but enough to stay interesting. Let me know in the comments how you use social media to bolster booth traffic and customer engagement while at the shows!

If your booth is more impressive than is your shop (as is the case for my company), it may be more advantageous to get customers to the show to see you. Social media will help them feel connected to the show will make them feel like they’ve shared an experience with you, which is always good for continued business relationships. Plus you’ve optimized your booth for a very specific purpose, and any excuse to get key customers there will be worthwhile.

About the Author: AJ Wilcox works for Giant Printing in Austin, TX. He constantly exhibits at various industry trade shows and is an avid proponent of booth and lead efficiency for highest show ROI. He loves exotic cars, running, and hanging out with his wife and 2 kids.

October 13, 2011

12 Habits of Effective Social Media Event Marketers

Tune in before you Turn On. If you’re listening to what your community is saying you’ll have better responses. By searching for your customers you can connect with them. Join the conversation. Pay attention to trends. Add value.
Make the commitment to be a part of social media. Building your community and your brand online takes time. This means regularly checking the social platforms you’ve joined and responding to visitors and fans and adding fresh content.
Who Are You? Well, only you know who you really are. Don’t put out a false front because eventually people will figure it out. Be authentic. By being yourself to the hilt, you’ll attract those sorts of people that like you and your company. Those that aren’t attracted to you probably wouldn’t purchase much from you anyway.
When the show is near, focus on it. When you have an upcoming appearance, your online activity should be looking closely at what’s happening at the show. Track show hashtags, make lists of attendees (and booth numbers or other info if relevant), and respond to comments or questions about the show to demonstrate that you’re engaged.
Be there. Your company’s products and services and brand may appear impersonal to your followers, but the people that work at the company (including you) are not: they’re real people. Be available as a real person and you may be seen as the spirit or soul of the company.
Make it easy for people to find you. Put links to your social media access points on business cards, flyers, handouts, etc.
Be flexible. One of the first things you recognize about social media is that it is unpredictable. Learn to go with the flow.
Follow competitors and complementary businesses. You can learn a lot by watching. By tracking company’s online behaviors you can often uncover strengths and weaknesses that you hadn’t previously seen.
Share info and views with followers. They like to hear positive things happening in your company. And if there’s something negative, share that as well. Don’t pull punches (but don’t be mean or insensitive or rude). And don’t try to put too much of a positive spin on something that’s inherently negative. Be honest.
Quality beats quantity. By looking to generate a smaller amount of high quality posts or tweets, you’ll avoid the ‘gotta get something online today because it’s been awhile’ syndrome a lot of us fall for.
Take it offline. Now you’ve met people on Twitter or Facebook. Look for ways to connect with people elsewhere. Look to build relationships offline. Invite an online friend to coffee or lunch. Pick up the phone to find out what they really sound like. Don’t try to sell them anything – you’re just building relationships at this point. If a sale happens, it’ll be because it’s the obvious thing to happen, not because it was forced in any way
Combine social media with other marketing. Social media works best when it’s done with other media. Drive traffic to your social media outlets with TV, radio or print ads. Use social media to move people to a tradeshow booth for a prize or to sign up for a mailing list. Find creative ways to meld on and offline marketing to get the best of both mediums.

October 10, 2011

Staying Top of Mind With Social Media

Just got off the phone with a guy I’ve known for years in the tradeshow industry. He works for a great company in the Seattle-Olympia area that has a ton of capabilities. But it’s been a year or two since we chatted, until he called me and we discussed the various capabilities they have, I probably wouldn’t have thought of him if I needed those services for any of my clients at Communication One Exhibits. Which means if I needed those kinds of services I would have gone elsewhere.

Which raises the question: are you top of mind with the people you want to connect with?

One thing that’s great about social media is that it can be very effective at keeping you ‘top of mind’ of your followers and potential clients. By tweeting and posting to Facebook frequently they’ll see you in their news streams.

This is a very effective tactic when employed with tradeshow and event marketing. By planning a social media campaign around your event appearance, you can shape the content to let people know about your appearance and related new products or services. Not to mention it’s a good time and place to be videotaping happy customers who stop by your booth. Nothing sells like a happy client, so film those testimonials when you can. You’ll get a lot of mileage out of them.

You may find social media boring or useless or kid-friendly – but your customers are there anyway.

You may find social media worthless because you don’t ‘get it’ – but with hundreds of millions of people spending more time each day on social media, your market definitely does ‘get it’.

You may not feel you know how to reach your market through social media – but there are plenty of tools available and experts around that can guide you if you need it.

You may feel that your kind of company doesn’t do social media – but I have yet to hear of an industry where people are NOT involved.

In short, if you want to continue to have people think of you when they need what you offer, social media is a powerful way to stay on top of their minds.

photo credit: Les_Stockton

October 7, 2011

Time to Check Your #Postseason Stats

The tradeshow is over. The booth has been packed away and you’re heading back to the office. No more late night carousing with clients. No more worrying about that graphic makeover that didn’t really fit. No more hustling to post photos on Facebook of those endless booth visitors.

Well, until the next show. At which point you’ll want to know how many people checked out your Facebook page; how many people retweeted your tweets and what kind of response you got from the various social media promotions you did during the show.

To check your #postseason stats (okay, a little play on the TV Major League Baseball promos going on to get people to chime in on Twitter), you want to know what statistics and metrics to track.

And that depends on what you did during the event. If you posted photos and updates on your company’s Facebook page, it’s an easy matter to go through the Facebook wall a few days after the show and check post impressions and feedback percent. You can track them by making a quick spreadsheet with the title of the post, what type it is (photo, video, text, etc), when it was posted, number of impressions and % of feedback. If this is the first show you’re tracking these stats, it gives you a baseline. Then at your next show do the same thing. After a few shows you’ll have enough information to track trends and see what types of posts get the most reaction. Is it photos? Videos? What kinds of comments do you get? You can even track who commented, and whatever pertinent information you glean from their Facebook page (where they live or work, how many friends they have, etc.).

Yes, you can go a little nuts spending a lot of time compiling and tracking the information. But by doing so, you’re moving ahead of the competition that is not bothering to learn about their community. The more informed you are about your community the better prepared you are to respond to them, interact with them and plan for the next show when you know a lot of them will want to see you and learn about new products.

You can essentially do the same with Twitter and YouTube. While you don’t have the same amount of metrics available on Twitter, you can still track re-tweets and responses and log that information in your post-show stat book. On YouTube you can compile video views and log any feedback and responses you get from the videos you post.

Is all of this extra work worth it? I think so. It gives you inside information and insight into who’s responding, what type of posts are getting responses and what kinds are ignored.

photo credit: Brett Jordan

October 3, 2011

Choosing a Social Media Consultant for Your Event and Tradeshow Marketing

When it comes to promoting your events or tradeshow appearances through social media, you probably know best about what parts of your company or product line you want to promote.

But are you the best company for the actual job of winding up your social media and getting out the message?

Perhaps. Or perhaps not. But in considering outsourcing your social media, there are two pieces to look at:

First, what do you want to do and what is your company capable of doing?

Second, what capabilities does the social media consultant need to bring to the table once you answer the first question?

So in assessing the first question – what do you want to do and what is your company capable of doing? – you should have a pretty good handle on your internal capabilities. If not, ask around. You might be surprised to find several of your people are already extremely adept at social media – for their personal use. That doesn’t necessarily translate to doing the right thing for your company, but it’s a start. Every company probably has hidden ‘digital natives’ that can step into at least a part-time role as social media manager. At minimum they should be able to set up accounts, get followers, send out tweets, post videos, etc. They may not have the ability to design a marketing plan, but they may have the ability to execute the plan if it were outlined to them. Also, take a look at this very thorough checklist for self-assessment in your social media capabilities from Marc Meyer.

Second question: what capabilities does the social media consultant need to bring to the table? At bare minimum they should be able to strategize short-term and long-term marketing plans. They should know their way around all the popular social media outposts.

Check their client list. Not having a long client list shouldn’t necessarily disqualify them, but it’s a good first step. Next, check their involvement in social media. They should be actively involved in Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube at the minimum, and possibly active now on Google+.

Have they taught classes or given webinars? Ask their definition of social media. Is their blog active and current? Do they blog at least once a week? Do they have comments? (Comments aren’t the barometer they used to be, but still something to look at). Do they understand that social media is about PEOPLE and not TOOLS?

If they promise instant success, flee! Social media success builds slowly and over time as you build a community to interact with.

Finally – do they seem genuine? Are they authentic? Do they appear as enthusiastic about social media, or do they sound like a used car salesman?

This is not about the perfect checklist for finding the right or the best social media consultant for your business. No matter who you choose to work with, there’s always going to be someone else who’s cheaper and better.

It’s about finding the most compatible consultant with your company and with you. And it probably won’t happen overnight.

Photo Creative Commons by Orangeacid.

September 28, 2011

Facebooking at the Tradeshow

While there are literally dozens, if not hundreds of things you could do to interact with Facebook while at your tradeshow, let’s look a few of the basics. Are you covering these?

Does your blog (assuming you have a blog) have a Facebook page widget inviting readers to connect (like) with you? That’s a must. Every one that likes your Facebook page through your blog is another person that you can connect with in another place. And the good thing is that they are able to do that without even landing on your Facebook page. If you don’t have a blog, at least put a widget on the front page of your website. They’re easily configurable, and easily found – just go here and follow the instructions. You may need the assistance of your web guy or girl to install the code, but really, it’s pretty simple!

MRH ss — Add photos and videos to your Facebook page from the show

At the show, plan to post photos and updates as often as time allows. Encourage people to upload their own photos of your booth and/or staff to their pages. People love to share, so make it easy. In fact, you might even create a special backdrop where they can have their photos taken. Get creative – put up a photo of Brad Pitt or someone famous, or perhaps a famous scenery such as Yosemite Valley or Grand Canyon, or some other place that might relate to your business.

If you have a smartphone, get the Facebook app set up on it, and log in before the big day. Spend a little time getting use to how to take photos and upload them to your company page. Once that’s done, you’ll have a much easier time doing it while in the chaotic time crunch on the show floor.

Once you’re to the point of posting photos from the show floor and encouraging visitors to do the same, don’t forget to monitor the page. No doubt you’ll be getting comments on a regular basis – or at least feedback on the photos. Chime in to the conversation and respond to questions or concerns. This is great customer service: not only do you show customers that you care; you show potential clients that you’re proactive about dealing with issues as they come up.

With Facebook usage and time-spent data continuing to ramp up, it behooves you to do the best you can to be a part.

September 26, 2011

A Dozen More Social Media Ideas for Your Tradeshow

Put a ‘like’ button on your website. Install a FB widget.
Keep Twitter followers informed. Information seems to spread quickly through the Twitterverse – it’s extremely easy to retweet a post and share. If you send something out on Twitter, chances are good that someone somewhere will pass it along.
Make sure your Twitter profile is complete. This means having at least the basics: a link back to your site – or better yet, a specific Twitter landing page or to your Facebook page so they can connect with you on another platform; a good photo; and enough information so a visitor can decide if you’re worth interacting with.
Tag posts ,YouTube uploads, Flickr photos: tags are how people find you. You can’t tag things enough.
Schedule tweets and FB postings using Hootsuite. ‘Nuff said.
Create an alumni group for your event on LinkedIn. It’s a great way to keep in touch with folks after the actual event, and to get them involved in the next event you do. If it’s not your event, look for a show group on LinkedIn. If there’s not one, consider starting one.
Create a Deal. Yup, people love a deal, and they’ll go out of their way to get a good deal. How will they find out about your deal? One very effective way is through social media, especially Facebook and Twitter. If it’s a great deal, your followers will tell their followers, and so on.
Use Foursquare to create deals for followers and check-ins Foursquare is still a bit out of the mainstream, but it is useful for those who choose to get involved. It’s yet another way for people to connect with you at a tradeshow booth.
Use or create #hashtag for your event. This allows anyone on Twitter to track down any information on the show.
Create a custom Twitter Background. Yeah, the basic Twitter backgrounds are sort of nice, a bit bland, but a custom Twitter background really helps to set you apart from the crowd. Just search for ‘create custom Twitter background’ and get a ton of resources.
Need to get a video stream out? Use UStream.tv or Livestream.com.
Put your slide deck on Slideshare.com. Are you speaking at a show or conference? Share your slide deck with people who couldn’t make it to the show.

photo credit: techatnyu

September 22, 2011

Building a Twitter Following That Can Move You (and You Can Move)

It’s not hard to build a Twitter following. Just click ‘n’ follow and a majority of those that you follow will follow you right back.

But to build a following that can actually help you takes a little more thought – and probably a little more time.

First, determine WHO you want to follow you and WHY. Do you want to network? Find buyers for your product? Readers for your blog? New prospects that can find you at the next tradeshow in their area? If you can answer those questions with some confidence, you’re on the right path.

Next, how do you FIND those people? Keep in mind; you’re following PEOPLE, not COMPANIES. Yes, there are a lot of companies with Twitter accounts, but that doesn’t mean they’re worthwhile to follow. You might try and find specific people to follow that are interesting or worthwhile on some basis.

Next, how do you FIND them? Try keywords and hashtags. In the event industry, for example, the hashtag “#eventprofs” is used frequently. Typically hashtags are something you’ll just stumble on, so keep an eye out for them. Search for keywords related to companies, products or services in your industry, as well as recognizable names.

You can also find links to Twitterers on websites and blogs. Know someone in your industry that has a good online presence, such as a blog, a YouTube channel or on LinkedIn? Chances are you’ll find a Twitter link somewhere. In fact, if you’re active in a LinkedIn group, put up a post asking people to share their Twitter handles – a great way to follow dozens or hundreds of folks in the same interest group.

To determine if a Tweeter is worth following, check out their Twitter stream. Read their last few posts. Are they interesting? Do they link to worthwhile articles or blog posts? Do they have insight? Are their tweets frequent, or is the last tweet from 2010?

Now that you’re building your following, its’ time to INTERACT with them. Do you see a tweet that you like? Reply to them with a comment. Does the person look interesting – do they work for a company you’re familiar with, or is there some other connection? Don’t be shy about picking up the phone. That’s how I’ve met and connected with and become friends with people on Twitter. Reach out to them. You won’t hit if off with everybody – but if you are consistent, you’ll find a few great folks that you’ll become good friends with.

As you build your Twitter following, you’ll continue to find more value in those people and what they share. And if you want them to see you as a valuable tweeter, do your best to share valuable insight, links and thoughts via your Twitter account.

September 16, 2011

Swimming in the Social Media Sea

There has been a fundamental change in the way we connect with people for personal and business reasons. Have you noticed? It’s nothing we can control, and I’d wager we’re just seeing the beginning of the changes. Your best bet is to educate yourself, get started in social media (if you haven’t already) and start wading in. Eventually you’ll hit the deep end of the pool.

The question is: will you merely tread water, swim like a champion, or drown?

The new normal isn’t the old normal. Not only are the changes happening now, the pace of those changes is increasing. Does that make you upset, anxious and ready to crawl into a fetal position? I know it does for some people! When we don’t understand something, we as humans will often run from it. We’ll resist with all of our strength. We spend time thinking of what life must have been like in the Fifties, when business relationships were largely personal. When you went to the corner hardware store to solve a problem, you talked with the owner or manager, who was an old friend.
Maybe we fondly recall the technology of the 70s and 80s when fax machines, mass advertising and large-scale marketing were used by almost everyone. It may have been impersonal, but at least the changes were slow enough to assimilate.

Often we find ourselves wishing that the pace of technological acceleration was the same now as it was then.

But no. You’d be wrong. Those days are gone. Long gone. And they ain’t comin’ back.

Soooooo…what to do?

There is a small sign that hangs on my studio wall that reads “Start Now. Begin Anywhere.” It is a reminder that no matter where you start, it is better than not starting. So if it means setting up your first Twitter account, or posting a few tentative photos to Flickr, or seeing what it takes to start a YouTube channel, get going. You don’t have much time. Your competitors are saying the same thing: where do we start and what do we do?

I talked with a marketing person from a large multi-national company recently, whose corporate leaders still insist on ‘no social media’ in their world. As if it didn’t exist. As if by ignoring social media, it will go away.

Trust me, it won’t. They will lose ground, sometimes slowly, sometimes quickly, but believe me; they will lose ground against their competitors who are moving into the world of social media. Ignoring the sea change will get you swamped.

As someone who swims in the social media sea on a daily basis, I have to occasional step back and realize that not everybody is doing the same I am. Companies still struggle with the changes. Even companies who appear to be happily involved in social media with Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, YouTube Channels and LinkedIn pages find themselves puzzled by what they’re doing – and what they SHOULD be doing.

It’s a challenge – and it should be. Significant changes to the status quo are often hard to take. But if you realize that everyone else is going through the same thing, that makes it easier.

To begin – if that’s where you’re at – take a few steps, measure the results and your ability to interact with those tools, and do it again. And again. And again. It’s just a matter to getting used to it.

At your next tradeshow, for instance, plan on tweeting out or posting on Facebook whenever the opportunity arises. Take photos of clients and post them (ask permission first). Tweet out any special deals you have. Ask for feedback on new products or services. Check the response, make any adjustments you feel should be made – and do it again.

Give yourself permission to screw up – nobody really gets this stuff 100% right, anyway, so don’t feel you have to do this perfectly. Just get in the social media water and start splashing.

photo credit: Justin Ornellas

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All posts by: Tim Patterson

Photo Creative Commons by Orangeacid.