Top 10 Tips for Exhibition Marketing in the Social Sphere.

Top 10 Tips for Exhibition Marketing in the Social Sphere.:from Savvy B2B Marketing - Latest Blog Entries
Today's guest post is written by  James Barnett who is an Exhibition Marketing enthusiast and former Business Consultant researching the Social Sphere’s relationship with the Creative Industries on behalf of Nimlok UK, distributor of Modular Exhibition Stands.

Top 10 Tips for Exhibition Marketing in the Social Sphere

 Exhibition Marketing has a unique relationship with the social sphere, as social media platforms allow you to communicate your messages with contacts and build relationships. The exhibition provides a unique opportunity for face to face relationship building which is imperative for people seeking to venture into business partnerships. However the benefits of social media serve as an extended PR campaign around the exhibition, providing the opportunity to further reach your audience. The exhibition standinteractivity encourages visitor participation and real-time exposure through social media, and provides a compelling case for the following top tips.
1. Twitter, What to Tweet? – 500 million accounts and access to the global population make this tool our starting point for social media engagement. Tweets should be focused on encouraging traffic to visit your stand. Special prizes and give always are good techniques to generate interest.
- Tweetdeck allows you to research the trends within your product niche and demographic of the show. Identify three new areas to hit every day to expand your audience engagement. Followerwonk is a useful tool to find industry influencers, identify somebody in your product niche and request a Re-Tweet from them.
2. Prescheduling Tweets – Hoot suite and similar web based programmes enable you to write and schedule tweets in advance. Social media planning can be generated up to two months in advance.
- One of the best tricks to effectively use Hoot Suite is to assign multiple social accounts including LinkedIn, Facebook, & Pinterest so you can control which tweets go to which areas to secure the best exposure.

3. Discover what’s Trending? – Find the most relevant hashtag (#) for the event and incorporate it into your message.

- The Tweetdeck tip works well for this, but don’t be afraid to start your own trend. Try #NimlokWOW to woo the online audience and encourage debate.

4. Facebook for Business– This is not just a personal tool, it has become irresistible for business.  A personal message, promotion or interesting information that adds value to your audience can and will engage your target market.

- Consider if your company has 20 employees with 100 friends each, if they each click ‘Like’ on the Facebook Fan page, that’s potential exposure to 2000 people. Of course have a screen prepared on this page, ready for any customers which come to the booth.

5. Exhibition Content Posts– Snaps of the exhibition stand design and product demonstrations could be shared through your social channels. Consider using an exciting backdrop as a focal point to encourage photos and public interaction.

- A shot of potential suitors analysing your product will become a great sales tool in the post-show follow up of networked contacts.

6. Company Show Name– A relatively unpublicised fact is YouTube as a search engine would actually rank second behind Google for popularity and should include features from the show. Don’t spend a fortune on the video though; it’s very much about the human connection effect and a real display from your exhibition. 

-Here’s a great example of a low budget video …..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbH1JogHX9

7. PR Campaign, Pre & Post Show–The power of the web enables you to develop a PR campaign prior to the launch of a show, engaging the online audience and growing your social presence. After the show there is a great opportunity to share videos, facts and pictures from the show and develop new connections further. 

- Social Media tracking software Radian 6 can measure the effects of online marketing. The best practise if you receive multiple visitors is to record details on social channels, if however you are able to network with a potential investor then exchange business cards. 
8. Blog– Write about your show. Blogs enable you to publicise your findings and create interesting content for your site, boosting your SEO results and generating links across the web. Good quality Blogs can be found from the Google Blog Search option and sites such as Technorati & Blog Engage.
- For any new bloggers starting from scratch, Google Blogger is highly recommended as a content platform due to its easy integration of predesigned templates and an affiliation to the Google + Platform which is gaining a larger market share.
9. LinkedIn– LinkedIn has a great new display similar to Twitter which appears in the feed of connected professionals within your groups and communities. Tweets should be repurposed for use within LinkedIn.
- If you receive a list of attendees before the show, research these individuals on LinkedIn and connect to their network. Join groups which are related to your niche and update a full open profile of your exhibition team so reciprocal networking options are available.

10. Pinterest– Vibrant images from the show will grow in popularity upon their inclusion within this social bookmarking tool.

- If your images aren’t taking off on this platform, try using Instagram to adjust the colour contrasts and lighting effects and re-distribute across the web.

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