Social Media has breathed new life into the old school trade show. From hashtags to live videos, exhibitors and attendees are able to extend their reach far beyond the booth. Here is a check list of pre-, during and post-activity for the shows.
Before the show
- Begin to build your audience. Follow and they may just follow you back.
- Look at the trade show line-up and follow relevant speakers, presenters and exhibitors.
- Be sure to follow the trade show event handle and check out its followers.
- Search last year’s hashtag and see who was active. They’ll most likely be at the show again.
- Plan teaser content. Trade shows will often give canned content which you can personalize. Be sure to use the right hashtags and promote your booth number. Give a sneak peek of what you’ll share.
During the show
- Designate one person on-site to be the point person for social. If no one owns it, the task may be easy to overlook.
- Interact with the trade show handle and better yet get to know who is running social for the event. Invite them to your booth. Tag them and leverage their following whenever possible.
- Bring the trade show to non-attendees. Try live video from your booth, share photos and “in the moment” happenings like live tweeting from interesting presentations or breakout sessions. Use the conference hashtag so people interested in the event can find you.
- Monitor the larger conversation. See what others at the show are talking about and interact (favorite, share, comment).
Post show
- Create a recap of the show, whether that’s a blog post you link to and share on social, or images from the show reliving some of the highlights and talk about what you learned.
- Follow those you connected with in-person at the show. Go through your business cards and find them on social. Keep the conversation going and nurture those relationships.