Great! You’ve invested in a booth at the leading industry show of the year. Now what? If you want the show to be a success you’ve got to start planning at least a few months beforehand. And one of the easiest (and most cost effective) way to maximise your return is a solid social media plan.
Here are some easy social media tips to entice attendees to visit you:
1. Know your audience
Your company may have a number of social media platforms, but it’s important to find out where your attendees will be engaging the most. Make sure you’re sharing content where it’s going to be valued.
2. Promote one month out
Tease your audience! Show them an image of the product you’re launching or perhaps something even more subtle e.g. “our R&D team have an exciting development to announce – visit our booth 123 to learn more”. Give the attendees something to look forward to! Remember: always include your booth number, because visitors tend to plan their days around the show floor plan.
3. Share with the organisers
An easy way to promote your material is through the event organisers. They want to make the show the biggest success for you. If you have an interesting blog post or article, get in touch with their marketing team and ask them to post it on their social media channels.
4. Be inventive while at the show
It’s easy to be lazy and just tweet “come by booth #B1425”. However, it’s also a bit boring – plus, there will be a lot of exhibitors sharing the same message! Try to be different – tell them why they need to stop by your booth. Give attendees a reason to visit you, for example hold a special competition or giveaway freebies at your booth.
5. Create a # Tag
Find out what the organisers’ official hashtag for the event is. Whenever you post anything, just add the hashtag to make yourself more visible. This also allows the organiser and attendees to easily follow you, because they might not know your social media account exists. It also will encourage them to RT and share with their followers.
6. Stop promoting, start listening
It’s not always about you! Social media is a two-way street, based around conversation and word of mouth. Engage in an interesting and relevant discussion and you might be pleasantly surprised by the number of interactions you get.
What do you think? What are your best social media event marketing tips and tricks?
Please share your thoughts and comments below.