EFFECTIVE SOCIAL MEDIA TRADE SHOW GUIDE

Washington State Department of Commerce

EFFECTIVE SOCIAL MEDIASocial media is a low cost marketing machine, but it’s not for everyone. Before you engage in a social media campaign to promote your presence at a show, make sure you’re comfortable with the medium first. A major trade show is not the time to practice your skills or login for the first time on your account. You don’t want to come across as an amateur or alienate your target audience.

Even if you’re savvy at social media, you want to plan out your strategy ahead of time. The first thing to think about is your audience. Are they social media users, and if they are, where do they engage you? On Twitter? Facebook? YouTube? Knowing your audience and knowing their engagement practices will help you refine your messaging. Social media isn’t a one-size-fits-all strategy. Each channel works a little differently.

You’ll also want to spend some time mapping out your messaging. Trade shows are hectic and it’s easy to become distracted. If you work out your key messages ahead of time, it will be easier to weave them into your social media posts on the show floor.

If you’re not all that familiar with social media, no worries. The Commerce team can help you by sharing your social media through their vast network of contacts at shows. Just find out their show-specific hashtags and you can connect right in. But more on that in a bit.

PRE-SHOW PLANNING• Beforeyougototheshow,youneedtodoalittlepreparation.First,findoutwhatthetradeshow’sofficialhashtagsaresoyoucantieintothemduringtheshow.Startfollowingthemabouttwotothreeweeksouttoseehowtheshowisbeingpromotedandhowyourowntweetsorpostscanfitintotheofficialhashtags.

• Youmayalsowanttocreateyourownhashtagforyourcompany,campaignorshow.Ifyouhaveacommunicationsteaminyourcompany,checkwiththemfirst.Theymayalreadyhavehashtagsassigned.TheDepartmentofCommercecommunicationsteamalsohasshow-specifichashtagsthatyoucantapinto.

• Ifyouhaveanewproductorserviceyou’rereleasingorpublicizing,considerproducingaYouTubevideobeforetheshowthatcanbesharedthroughyoursocialmediachannelsandyourwebsite.

• IfyouhaveaLinkedInaccount,considersendingoutapersonalinviteorlunchinvitationtosomeofyourcontacts.SendthemamessagethroughLinkedIntotieyourrequestintothepropersocialmediachannel.

• Ifyouhaveagoodmedialist,connectthemintoyourTwitterorLinkedInaccountandaskthemtostopbytheboothtoseeyournewproductorservice.Ifyou’respeaking,invitethemtoyoursessionaswell.

• Makesureyourprofile’sphotoisappropriateforcourtingbusiness.

SOCIAL MEDIA AT THE SHOWIt’seasytogetcaughtupinallthehubbubofashow,butdon’tmakethemistakeofthinkingthatyouraudienceisn’tfollowingyouorwantingtoengagewithyouwhileyou’rethere.Herearesomewaystousesocialmediatobuildexcitementaboutyourpresenceattheshowandyourofferings.• Ifyoumeetacustomerwholovesyourproductorserviceorwantstoshareagreatstory,letthem.SharetheirphotowithabriefsummaryoftheirstoryortestimonialasapostorfilmitandshareitonYouTube.

• Imagesareagreatwayofshowingwhat’shappeningatashowandpeoplelovetoseethemselvesinphotos.Besuretocoversomeoftheactionawayfromtheshowfloor,suchasreceptions,networkingeventsanddinners.

• Ifyouarespeaking,trytogetsomeonetotakevideoofkeymessagesinyourpresentation.Besure,however,thatthesoundisgoodbeforeyoupostit.Avideoofyoutalkingwithwimpysoundwon’tdomuchforyourmarketingstrategy.

• Betheeyesandearsofyouraudience,servingasthe“reporter”fortheshow.Asyouwalkthefloor,takephotosofinterestingproductsordisplaysandaddyourowninsightsandexpertisetothepostortweet.Thiswillhelpyouraudiencefeelliketheyaretherewithyou.

• Ifyou’redoingagiveawayinyourbooth,considerdoingoneforyouronlineaudienceaswell.Enterthemintoadrawingforsharingyourtweetorpostwithothers.Postwinnersattheshowonsocialmediaandletthemknowtheycanpicktheirprizeupatyourbooth.

• IncludesocialmediaaddressesviaQRcodestoyourcollateralandboothmaterials.

POST-SHOW SOCIAL MEDIA• Onceyoureturntotheoffice,gothroughallthebusinesscardsandconnectwiththesepeopleonLinkedIn,followthemonTwitteror“Like”theirFacebookpage.Includeapersonalnotetogivesomecontexttotherequesttoconnect.

• Blogaboutyourshowexperience.Answersomeofthemorecommoncustomerquestions,covernewproductsorservicesyouthoughtwereworthexploringortellastoryaboutacurrentcustomer’sexperiencewithyourcompany.

• Beforeyoufollow-upwithpeopleyoumetattheshow,makesureyouremailsignatureblockhasyoursocialmediaaccountsonthem.

• Ifyoupresented,postavideoofyourpresentationonyourwebsiteandsendalinktoyouraudiencethroughyoursocialmediachannels.

TWITTER SPECIFIC STRATEGIESEveryonedoesn’ttweet,butifyouraudiencefitsthedemographic,thenyou’llwanttomakesureyoutake

advantageofTwitter’scapabilitiesattheshow.FollowingareafewtipsformakingthemostoutofTwitter:• Findoutifthetradeshowhasanofficialhashtag.Often,theDepartmentofCommerce’sCommunicationsteamhasitsownhashtag,soyoumaywanttousethatonetoo.

• Followuserswhoareactivelyusingthe#tradeshow-namehashtagaswellastheshoworganizer.Retweettheirposts,whenappropriate,withaquickcomment.

• UseTwittertopublicizeyourboothnumberandinvitepeopletostopbyyourspacetomeetinperson.Ifyou’redoingadrawing,promotethataswell.

• Alternately,runaTwitter-onlycontestwherepeopleneedtotakeaselfiewithyouattheboothanduseaspecialhashtagonTwittertoenter.

FACEBOOK STRATEGIESAbillionpeoplecan’tbewrong.IfyourbusinesshasaFacebookpage,tieittoyouractivitiesatthetradeshow.

• Followthetradeshow’sFacebookpage.• Postquestionsabouttheshow,itsscheduleorothertopicssuchasrestaurantrecommendationssoyouengagewithotherattendeesandexhibitorsaheadoftheshow.

• Mentionyourboothnumberinyourposts.• Pinaposttothetopofthepagetopromoteanyshowspecials,promotionsorcontests.

• Askvisitorstoyourpageto“Like”youorbecomea“Fan”toboosttrafficandshares.

• Onceyou’reattheshow,sharephotosandupdatesregularlyonyourpagetocreateprimary(showattendees)andsecondary(fan)interestandtraffic.

LINKEDIN STRATEGIESYourprofessionalnetworkisavaluabletooltoexpandyourreachtopotentialcustomers.

• IfyourtradeshowhascreatedaspecialLinkedInpage,joinit.

• UseLinkedIntoshareupdatesaboutupcomingcontests,specialevents,etc.leadinguptothetradeshow.

• Connectwithfellowprofessionalswhoareattendingtheshow.BuildarelationshiponLinkedInbeforeyougettotheshow.

• Don’tforgettolookforothermemberswhoyoumayhavecommongroundwith,suchasbeingsupplierstothesamecustomerorbelongingtothesameinterestgrouponthesite.Buildprofessionalrelationshipsinadvanceofyourshowappearance.

YOUTUBE STRATEGIESIfyourproductorserviceisavisualone,don’tforgettoincludeYouTubeinyoursocialmediamix.

• Createcustomertestimonialsandsharethemthroughyourothersocialmediachannelsaswellasyourwebsite.Makethembriefandtothepoint.Twentytothirtysecondsisallyouneedifitisapowerfulpiece.

• Takeshortvideosattheshowandsharethemonyourwebsiteandsocialmedia.Showpeopleinthebooth,acooldemooraspecialeventorspeaker.

• Besureyouincludeyourwebsiteaddressinthevideo,eitheralongthebottomduringtheentiresegmentoratthebeginningand/orendofthevideo.

DOS AND DON’TS• Doublecheckyourgrammarandspelling.Simpleerrorswillkilltheeffectivenessofyourmessages.

• Usepresenttenseandactionverbstodrawpeoplein.• Beconversational,notstilted.• Makeyourheadlinecatchy.Createvalue.• Inyoursocialmediaposts,refertospecificpeople,whenpossible,toincreasethelikelihoodtheywillshareitwithothers.

• Drivepeopletoyourwebsiteasmuchaspossible.• Avoidacronymsandjargon.• Usehashtagswhereappropriatetocategorizeposts.• Mixupyourmessages.Don’tcopyandpasteatweetandaddittoyourFacebookpage.Changethecontentsoit’snotallthesame.Youdon’twanttoborefollowers.

Aboveall,coordinatewithyourCommerceteam.Leveragetheirsocialmediafeedstoboostyourownpostsandusetheirhashtagswheneverpossible.Andshareyourpostswiththemsotheycanfollowandinteractwithyoubefore,duringandaftertheshow.

POST SHOW FEEDBACKAfteryougetbacktoWashingtonaftertheshow,pleasebesuretoshareanyfeedback,thoughts,suggestions,etc.withCommerce.ThisinformationiscriticalforCommercetoplanforfutureshowsandaddasmuchvalueaspossibletomaximizethereturnforsmallbusinessesthatco-exhibitwithus.Commercewillfollowupsoonaftertheshowwithanelectronicsurveyinordertostartcapturinganysuccessesandnewsalesthatyourcompanygeneratedasaresultofbeingatatradeshow.Everysixmonthsforthenextfewyears,youwillreceiveafollow-uptocapturedownstreamsalesresultsyouachievefromtheshow.Yourindividualcompanydatawillalwaysbekeptstrictlyconfidential.AggregateddataisreportedtostateofficialstohelpshowthevalueofCommerce’ssmallbusinessexportassistanceprograms,whichhelpsensureCommercewillcontinuetoreceivestatefundingtocontinueitsprogramsinfutureyears.

YOUR COMMERCE TEAMIfyouhaveanyquestions,pleasecontactyourCommerceshowmanager.www.choosewashington.com/about-us/meet-our-team/

2001 6th Avenue Suite 2600Seattle, WA 98121206.256.6100