Best practices for exhibitors to boost engagement Tradeshow season is a fun and exciting time for your team—especially for networking and engaging with customers or potential leads. But don’t stop there: tradeshow events extend to social media, too, and you won’t want to miss out on the conversation. Read on to learn how your company’s
Best practices for exhibitors to boost engagement
Tradeshow season is a fun and exciting time for your team—especially for networking and engaging with customers or potential leads. But don’t stop there: tradeshow events extend to social media, too, and you won’t want to miss out on the conversation. Read on to learn how your company’s tradeshow social media presence during special events will help engage with current customers and nurture leads.
What You’ll Learn in This Article
Tradeshow Prep
Start “getting social” way before tradeshow day. First, you’ll want to research tradeshow specific hashtags and follow tradeshow social accounts. Usually, you’ll find this on the tradeshow website. Post when you will be exhibiting at the tradeshow and share your booth number to let followers know you’ll be at the show. Don’t forget the hashtags!
Second, get your followers and tradeshow attendees something to look forward to when they visit your exhibit. If you’re exhibiting a special product or service, consider sharing a teaser video or photo. Think about the annual theme or specific topics the tradeshow event wants to focus. How will your company contribute to the conversation?
For example, we like how IBM Research intrigues their followers about their next project. They posted a short slip with probing questions concerning the latest research in AI technology and followers can expect answers if they attend the exhibition.
You can see the full Tweet here.
Don’t forget to leverage your employees. They’re your #1 social media advocates and a great way to drive relevant audiences to be interested in your exhibition. For example, your sales team should promote the event on their social to bring in leads.
Tradeshow Day
It’s the big day! But don’t let the busyness distract you from engaging on social media. The first thing to do is to take a photo of your team at your booth and get people excited to check it out. Remember, video is the most engaging medium so don’t be afraid to share a quick video on Twitter or to your company story on Facebook. If you meet one of your customers or someone who is excited about what you have to offer, ask if you can share a testimonial on your platform.
We think OFNTSC shared a great photo because it shows a team member engaging with a tradeshow attendee. Moreover, utilizing their company hashtag and adding the convention center using the Twitter location feature.
You can check out the full Tweet here.
If you’re speaking at the event, have a colleague take a video of your presentation and post it on social. Even better, share it along with slides or supplemental materials on LinkedIn with their document support feature.
You’ll also want to consider including social icons, QR codes, and other call-to-actions to let visitors at your booth know where you are on social media.
Post-Show Highlights
The tradeshow is over, but you’re not quite done yet. Review business cards from leads you’ve met and ask them to connect and like your company pages on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Include a personal note to make it memorable such as referring back to a conversation. Make sure you “like” their business page back on social!
Now time for the highlight reel. Remember, post-tradeshow social media is all about bringing the experience to the people who weren’t able to attend. Post photos to an album or make a short video with key highlights from the show. Publish a blog post with a story about your tradeshow experience and answer any questions you were asked by attendees.
In this example, we like that this GE Healthcare employee posted about her recent tradeshow experience on her LinkedIn profile. She created an album of her coworkers at the event and how the team participated in lectures. Finally, she utilizes the company hashtag, tradeshow hashtag, and even tagged other member profiles.
And that’s a wrap! Always make the most of your tradeshow social media. Your company is putting the investment and time to exhibit—why not leverage it for engagement?
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