Okay, this is gonna sound like an ad for Hootsuite. But it’s not. Well, it’s not intended that way!
But the more I play around with Hootsuite, the more I find it’s a terrific tool for managing your social media efforts at tradeshows and events.
First, everything is in one place. And I mean everything! You can load up several accounts from Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, LinkedIn, Ping.fm and others. You’re able to set up several members of your team with access to the dashboard, making it easy for them to schedule tweets or posts ahead of time. This is a great tool when you consider the chaos of the tradeshow floor, and you know that you’ll want to be able to take care of people in the booth as well as mix in the occasional live tweet or Facebook posting with your scheduled tweets or posts.
Let’s say you’re planning a tradeshow appearance. You can schedule various activities in your booth, such as guest appearances, product promos, demonstrations, etc., and set up tweets and posts ahead of time. It takes some time to put it all into place, but once you’re at the show, you can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that all of those tweets and Facebook postings are going to show up at their scheduled time. And if something changes in mid-stream, such as guest getting caught in traffic and having to delay his appearance, it’s easy to log on to Hootsuite and make the changes in the scheduled posts.
When Hootsuite first came out, I grabbed a free account, and bounced back and forth between that and Tweetdeck (I wouldn’t count Tweetdeck out yet – I hear Twitter purchased the software and is working to add more capabilities to it). Then I drifted away. But now I’m back, and as I mentioned, the more I use it the better it gets. The coders behind Hootsuite keep adding more bells and whistles, making it more useful all the time. In fact, there’s so much there that I probably won’t ever use all of its capabilities.
As an event manager, your biggest social media advantage is the ability to get ahead of the curve on being able to set up pre-scheduled tweets and posts. This software is the best at doing that, and it’s web-based so you don’t have to download and install anything.
And don’t forget the mobile platform. There’s a Hootsuite app (which I rarely use because I prefer the web approach) that is also available if you prefer to do it from your smartphone.
Have I said enough? I could go on, but you might think I’m trying to suck up to the dudes at Hootsuite. Naah, it’s just a cool tool.
Hootsuite is available in both a free and premium version. The premium version, for just a few bucks a month, offers ore detailed analytics and deeper tools – well worth the modest monthly cost.
If you’ve read this blog for awhile or know me at all, chances are you have discovered that, yes, I am a big Bob Marley fan. Have been since the mid 70s. Saw the guy on tour. Twice. Not to mention the tattoo.
So I thought it might be fun to thumb through Marley’s extensive library and pull some song titles for social media tradeshow marketing inspiration. And I thought it might be fun to grab some YouTube videos along the way… So here we go…!
Stir it Up
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6U-TGahwvs
Before the show, get on Twitter and Facebook and let people know you’re going to be at the show. If you don’t stir the pot, so to speak, the only thing you have to depend on is how your booth is viewed and how your staff performs at the show itself. On the other hand, if you ‘stir it up’ on social media, you can spread the word about your booth (is it new?), where to find it, who and what are going to be there and generally create a bit of buzz.
Get Up, Stand Up
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7iXcKKpdx0
Not getting a fair shake from the show organizers? Getting a raw deal from a supplier? Well, don’t take it lying down! Get Up, Stand Up! Stand up for your rights! Be assertive (not aggressive) in making sure that you are getting the full measure of what you’re paying for. Be mindful of what you deserve – and think of those around you. Stand up for their rights as well when the time is right.
Rat Race
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GVzsuDsxW8
Yes, you’re in the rat race. There are hundreds, possibly thousands of exhibitors who are all trying to stand out from the crowd. No worries! As they say in Jamaica, soon come! Just realize that you’re part of the mix. Not only will you have a lot of competition, you can BE a lot of competition for the rest of the exhibitors. Present your booth and staff on a Positive Vibration and you’ll find that you won’t be Waiting in Vain.
Sun is Shining
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBDVarvFqYI
What’s your outlook? Are you spreading positive vibrations, or are you Mr. Stick-in-the-Mud? If you believe that the sun eventually shine down on you, let your followers and friends online know about it!
One Love
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHbVa8CZZH4
Your clients and customers must feel some love for you in some way. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be buying your product or service. So return the love. When customers stop by, ask them if you can photograph them for your Facebook page. Or get them to sit down for a one-minute testimonial. Show them love by sharing the testimonial on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. They’ll love the recognition!
Crisis
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nk-Mwh962c8
At some point you will be faced with a crisis – small, medium or (hopefully not) large. Keep in mind, this happens to everybody! If you can keep your head while everyone else is losing yours, you’ll appear as the cool, calm collected individual that people can depend on. Always have a Plan B in mind.
Wake Up and Live
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2Y-KZ0CYDM
Tradeshows are a jam-packed, chaotic environment that goes by really, really fast! Before you know it, they’re over, and you’re left wondering ‘what happened?’ Don’t let that happen to you. Take a few moments during the show to bask in it – to soak it all in – and if the spirit moves you, to share it with your social media community.
Exodus
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWw_gP0vDfE
The show is over! Hallelujah! You can get back to normal, whatever that is for you. But at the end of he show, don’t forget about those social media followers. Tweet out your thanks, photos, videos and other items at the end of the show. It’ll help remind those followers who you are and what you do. And if you do take time to thank people by name (individual or organization), you’ll be seen as that much more human.
In this edition of the Tradeshow Marketing Podcast, we chat with Robert DeMarzo, the Senior VP of Strategic Content of Everything Channel.
The company, provider of IT channel-focused events, media, research, consulting and sales and marketing services, hosts more than a dozen events each year for the IT channel and solution provider communities. Social media has become an increasingly important communications vehicle for all Everything Channel events.
Larry Karel looks to embrace new technologies whenever they come along. So when it became possible to use social media to promote his business, he was on board right away. In this interview he discusses how he got to know and work with social media.
8 Ways to Use Social Media in your Tradeshow Marketing
Be involved.
Be proactive.
Keep an ear to the ground (continued research)
Plan and execute event-related social media campaigns
Track metrics of engagement
Write up reports on results
Stay informed on cutting edge technology
Use the technology that makes the most sense
Let’s break those down a bit more, okay?
1. Be involved.
Makes sense. If you’re going to use social media in your event and tradeshow marketing – and you should – you’ll have to be involved. That means checking in on your Facebook and Twitter feeds regularly, following and ‘liking’ people and businesses that are related in some way. It means engaging regularly with Twitter followers by offering good information, making your opinions known, and responding to tweets, questions and comments. Engagement!
2. Be Proactive.
Don’t just sit and wait for something to happen with your social media engagement. When you see a cool article that your audience might enjoy, share a link. When you have an opinion on something, write up a blog post (you DO have a blog, right?). When you go to an event, take photos and post them. When you stop at a booth, tell people who you are online and how to find you (this should be on your business card).
3. Keep an ear to the ground.
Your research and listening modules should be concise and easy to follow. If you’re not using a premium research tool, you should have Google Alerts set up on various industry brands, products and people. You should regularly search Twitter for keywords to see what conversations are going on. If you want to be in the know, you have to spend time learning what’s going on. There are tons of free and premium tools to help you do this.
4. Plan and execute event-related social media campaigns
Every show is unique and therefore every show should have a unique marketing plan for your social media engagement. You will have different people involved, different products to promote, and different targets to reach. Plans would include a variety of tweets, Facebook postings, videos and photos to be shot and produced, perhaps an editorial calendar of what information goes out when. Yes, it adds another layer to your entire tradeshow marketing plan, but it’s necessary if you want to get a handle on it and make it work effectively.
5. Track metrics of engagement
Plan on what metrics you’re going to track, how they’re going to be tracked and who’s going to do the tracking. Is it Facebook ‘likes’? Is it the number of people that show up in your booth in response to tweets? Is it pageviews on your blog? Video views on YouTube? Sales as a results of social media engagement? Before you can track metrics, know what’s important for your business and how you’re going to assemble the numbers.
6. Write up reports on results
After each show, it’ll be up to you to include a segment on your post-show report that reflects your social media engagement. It’s generally pretty straightforward stuff, but don’t discount the importance of the essence of the report: who did what, how it worked, what the results were (compared to expectations, if any), and what your recommendations are for the next show.
7. Stay informed on cutting edge technology
“Oh, no, there’s something NEW? Holy crap, I’m only starting to figure out the older stuff!” Yes, there’s always something new, especially in the fast-paced world of social media. Take smartphones, for example. Are your websites optimized for the mobile platform? Are you using QR Codes? If so, are you making sure that QR Code is doing what it’s supposed to do? What about Foursquare and SCVNGR?
By tracking a few blogs, you should be able to keep up on much of what’s new. My favorites are Mashable and Hubspot, but there are certainly others as well.
8. Use the technology that makes the most sense
Just because you CAN use a technology doesn’t mean you SHOULD. While it’s easy to say that you should stay with what you’re comfortable, I think it’s important to keep stretching your comfort zone. Don’t know how to set up a QR Code? Learn about them, and figure out if it’s something your market might react positively to. Not sure if video works in your industry? See what others are doing and assess your company’s capabilities and make a decision based on that assessment.
There will ALWAYS be new technology headed your way. You should at least be aware of it, what the implications might be and how you might potentially use it.
Adding social media to your other duties as tradeshow manager might make you pull your hair out, but the fact remains: your competition is working to do the same. Some are ahead of you, some are behind. The more comfortable you are with all of the tools and gadgets of social media, the better off you and your company will be.
On Earth Day, Pablo Carrega’s company RelevanSi was managing and working on three events. One in Chicago, one in Utah and the third in Buenos Aires. Pablo talks about how his company used social media as a big part of his effort.
RelevanSi offers web design, programming and marketing and aims at the ‘greening’ of company’s marketing efforts.
Is there any other activity that is more suitable for social media and events than the Tweetup?
First, what exactly is a tweetup? Basically, the word is a mashup of Twitter and meet-up: tweetup. It’s a great way to use the power of Twitter and the short-term event, such as a conference or tradeshow.
So how do you organize a tweetup so that is actually works and pulls in people without getting too confused or overrun?
The first tweetup I tried to attend was at Natural Products Expo West around 2008. I tracked the invitations on Twitter, added it to my calendar and – well, I didn’t really know what to expect.
Which way to the Tweetup??
But it didn’t happen. At least I couldn’t find it. The problem was that it was scheduled for the bar at the Anaheim Hilton – a nice bar, indeed. In fact, the bar manager was one of the folks who was participating in the organizing of the tweetup. He had caught wind of it on Twitter and offered to help, although he didn’t actually start the process.
Upon arrival, I found the bar packed with a few hundred people. It’s just off the main entrance, near the lobby, so not only were the bar patrons hanging out, there were dozens of people walking through heading from one place to another.
So where was the tweetup? I asked a few people and got weird looks. ‘Tweetup? What are you smoking?’ I knew what a few of the supposed attendees looked like, thanks to online photos, but didn’t see any of them. After hanging, drinking a beer and looking around some more I called it a night.
The next time I tried to attend a tweetup it went much better. The venue was smaller, more out of the way – although still within walking distance of the convention center – and as a result is was a success. I met a dozen folks that I had previously only met online. It was a terrific fun event. Most of us hung out and yakked for almost two hours as folks came and went. Definitely a memorable evening spent getting to know other people in person.
So what does it take to pull off a successful tweetup? Let’s take a look.
1. Know the venue if at all possible. In fact, if you can visit it ahead of time to scope it out you’ll be way ahead of the game. Does it have enough room if a lot of people show up? Are you going to have enough light to actually meet and greet? Dark bars really aren’t conducive to networking – which is what your event is really all about.
2. Be prepared to have more people show up that you actually anticipate. At a busy tradeshow or convention, the news about tweetups can spread quickly. You should be willing to receive and welcome anyone and everyone that shows up.
3. Bring in a ‘name.’ While some tweetups may be on a smaller and more personal level, if you really want to create a successful tweetup, try and get one of the event’s main speakers to show up – and have them promote their appearance as well.
4. Create an online registration site. If you’re serious about making it a successful event, you might consider creating an online landing page for it, using EventBrite or Meetup.com or Twtvite.com to organize details, register attendees (even if free) and give a better impression to potential attendees. Even small events where you’re only looking for a couple of dozen people can benefit from these types of tools. (A quick check of Twtvite.com shows that it’s designed specifically for tweetups – I’d start there for my next tweetup!)
5. Ask yourself: what do I really want out of this event? Do you want it to be a party? In that case, you might want to schedule a bigger event with a DJ. Do you want a smaller, more intimate event? Make a point of inviting specific people that you’d like to attend, get their confirmation (you might even do some of the legwork via email to make your contact more pointed and personal) so you know they’ll be there.
6. Support the actual ‘business’ of the event. Make sure that the event has free wi-fi in place. Not every one has an iPhone or other 3G/4G network access. Having free wi-fi will at least keep the 3G network from dragging down to a crawl. The most natural thing to do at a tweetup is to take photos and post them immediately – make sure that your attendees have the ability to easily do that. Also, bring plenty of business cards and be prepared to swap them by the dozen.
7. Get there early to make sure all is as it should be. You might even pop for some munchies to get things going. If you’re going to provide for food, let the attendees know. If not, also let them know they’re on their own.
8. Provide nametags and pens. Ask that everyone puts their Twitter handle on the nametag along with their first name.
9. Talk to everyone. As the organizer, it’s your job to make everyone feel welcome, from the most well-known person there, to the geeky kid just out of high school. Wallflowers need not apply.
10. If you can create a ‘hook’ for the tweetup, do it. Having a purpose helps bring people there that may have otherwise decided they’d rather stay in their hotel room and watch HBO. Perhaps it’s the DJ. Or a guest speaker. Or a dress-up event. Or tradeshow managers so you can swap tips. Whatever.
11. Build the buzz! Plan on promoting on Twitter intensely for no more than a couple of weeks. Yes, you can mention it before that, but most people plan their events as they ramp up during the few weeks prior. Most of your juice will come in the few days leading up to the event. And of course feel free to send direct messages or email to folks that you really want to come.
12. Create a unique hashtag for the event so you can track conversation about it before, during and after the tweetup. It’ll help you gauge how successful it really was.
Have fun, learn from the experience and use those lessons learned the next time around!
I suppose I could make the simple point of this whole article and squeeze it into the length of a tweet:
Wow, even shorter than 140 characters!
But of course there’s more to the idea than just a tweet. Tradeshows will continue to thrive. Yes, even in spite of budgetary pressures: increasing travel costs, space rental, booth costs, etc. Those will continue to climb, but companies will still find a way to get necessary people to critical shows.
In a recent blog post on Classic Exhibits’ ‘Trade Show Tales’ Mel White shared some points from a recent Event Design interview with Sue Hoff, director of Global Conventions for Medtronic. She emphasized how important ‘face-to-face’ is in the tradeshow world several times during the interview, and pointed out that while social media has value, it’s not going to replace live events.
In fact, in my view, social media is critical to keeping those live events, well, LIVE, dammit. People love connecting online and they love solidifying that connection with face-to-face gatherings….tweet-ups…meetups…whatever you call them, they’re critical. Social media’s role in live events, while evolving, is critical to making those live events work well. By integrating social media into the live events, organizers and exhibitors will enhance the value of their brand, lift loyalty, and solidify previously tenuous connections.
So keep tweeting. Keep posting on Facebook. Keep creating short videos for your YouTube channel. Keep participating in LinkedIn groups. Your market is there, and you’d better keep working to find and connect with them. Because you know your competitors certainly are!
Covering all of those bases takes a lot of time and effort. So if you can’t currently cover all of those bases, what’s the most important place to start?
It depends on how you want to use the various outlets for your tradeshow marketing. If getting people to the show is your weakest area, perhaps shoring up that effort will result in more folks showing up at your booth, where your effort and follow-through are strong. Twitter and Facebook are particularly good at driving traffic by using pre-show promotions and in-show calls to action.
If your post-show follow-up is weak, it might mean that you put more effort into making your target market more aware of what you’re doing post-show. Even though lead follow-up doesn’t necessarily directly relate to social media post-show, making your audience more aware of what you DID at the show is an effective way of keeping your audience informed. Use Facebook and YouTube to keep those followers and searchers informed. Twitter can drive traffic to both outlets.
To boost your pre-show marketing, as mentioned, the best outlets are Facebook and YouTube. Twitter can be effective as well, but typically only a few days or weeks prior to the show, while Facebook and YouTube can be used to roll out more specific and detailed information. Twitter works well for driving traffic and for connecting with other people attending the show, and in my experience people only really start to connect and make plans to meet up a week or two ahead of the show.
LinkedIn can be used effectively to narrowly target attendees that you’d like to meet in person. Find them by joining tradeshow groups and striking up online conversations and connections. LinkedIn is more work, but the payoff in making personal connections can be worthwhile.
Social media is not a coookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all answer. Your situation will be different from other companies as you have different goals and a unique situation.
But by understanding the basic uses of the various outlets, and how you can best implement those tools for situation, you can increase the odds that your company will get the social media edge on your competitors.
Addendum: I put the question out on Twitter this morning: “Which is more important in #tradeshow marketing? Blogging, #FB, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn? #eventprofs” and got a few folks to chime in quickly:
From ActiveEventsGuy: “All are important if you have a clear and well defined strategy. What are the messages, Who is your audience… Where is your audience online, and How the members of your audience like to consume the content (video, blog, visual, etc).” (okay, it took him two tweets to get all that in!)
From TuvelComms: “All of the above, depending on where target audience is. PLUS don’t forget to integrate w/ email, print, other mktg channels.”
EDPA_LVC re-tweeted my request…but didn’t chime in. Drat! Hey, feel free to comment…!
So you hear that blogging is a good idea, but you’re stuck on how to start the whole process. After all, there are a lot of questions you have around blogging.
F’rinstance: It’s time-consuming, so how do you justify the extra time to make it happen? If you’re just starting, you’re thinking it’s probably difficult with a steep learning curve. Not to mention – WHAT should you blog about? What topics are worthwhile? Where will ideas come from?
I understand – I’ve been there. In fact, when it comes to finding topics, I’m there every single day!
While there are hundreds of reasons to blog (and probably as many NOT to blog), I thought I’d share the top ten reasons why I like blogging.
It gets me noticed. Three years ago, before I started Tradeshowguy Blog, it was hard to get anyone to notice anything I did in the tradeshow world. Now a lot of folks at least know who Tradeshow Guy is – it opens doors.
Blogging helps me think. When I set out to write a post, I have to concentrate on the topic. I research, take notes and finesse the post until it’s presentable.
It makes me a better writer. Not that I’m Hemingway, but I like writing, and the discipline of writing regularly helps make me better.
Speaking of discipline…knowing that I’ve made the commitment to at least two or three posts a week keeps me always thinking and aware of possible topics, podcast interview subjects and more. Discipline is key to making that happen regularly. Being a blogger keeps me much more aware of the industry than I probably would be otherwise
Networking. I’ve met a ton of people through the blog. Some have become good friends. Some I’ve steered business leads to. Others have sent me leads. Networking is a terrific reason to start a blog.
More speaking gigs. I don’t do a ton of gigs, but the two biggest ones I’ve done in the past year (EDPA in Jacksonville last December and Event Marketing Summit last month in Chicago) came about as a direct result of the blog. And of course, I’m always looking for more!
Uncovering a passion. It continually amazes me that I’ve found something I’m passionate enough to write about on a regular basis – social media and tradeshow marketing. If there is an aspect of your business that you’re passionate about, blogging is a great way to share that passion.
More business. People ask ‘do you make money from your blog? What’s your ROI?’ I have made money from my blog, but not in the way I anticipated. I’ve sold info-products, text ads and banner ads. I’ve had business inquiries. I have made money consulting (not much!). I don’t dwell on it, but I do feel like there is a big upside ahead.
It’s now part of my identity. I have two blogs that I maintain regularly, and both have become a part of who I am. What do you do? Among other things…I blog.
It’s damn fun. Seriously, I like it when there’s a new post out and I can let people know via Twitter and Facebook. When I get comments, I’m always curious to see the reaction. New blog posts are cool/fun, and when the blog looks to be a little stale, like day-old bagels, it’s pretty easy to polish off a new post and start over again.
Blogging can be a great way to position your company (and yourself), tell people about your upcoming tradeshow appearances, discuss new ideas and products in your industry, build client relations and a whole lot more.
In short, in my opinion, blogging is well worth your time.
