Looking for ways to create buzz around your booth at a show? Twitter is a great tool anyone exhibiting can use to help drive traffic to their booth and ensure their show is a big success. But why Twitter?
If you are not familiar with Twitter, it is a form of microblogging that allows you to share news, post status updates and carry on conversations with people all around the world. It is a very easy way for you to connect with people who have the same interests or who are in a similar field and discuss topics that you are interested in.
It is very important to come up with a Twitter strategy before trying to use this medium to drive traffic to your booth. Not only is it critical for you to tweet during a show, but you also need to take into consideration ways you can utilize Twitter before and after a show. Here is what you should be doing to drive traffic to your booth at a trade show:
Pre-show Hype…
You are not exactly going to draw a large crowd to your booth if you join Twitter a few days before the show. Sure you might gain a few followers, but you are not going to drive the desired number of people to your exhibit. You want to start actively engaging on Twitter right now by connecting with people who are in similar industries or have similar interests. When you have found people who may be interested in your company or what you do, connect with that person by following them. This allows you to create brand awareness, start an introduction with someone you may not know and begin a relationship. Actively building your followers and following base before a trade show will help tremendously in driving traffic to your booth.
Once you have been actively engaging on Twitter it is time to start with some pre-show hype. A week or a few weeks before the show, tweet about the specific show that you are attending, where you are located in the exhibit hall and include the show’s hashtag. By using the show’s hashtag, your tweets can be easily searched and other people attending the event will be able to connect with you before the show starts. You can also run searches on twitter using the show’s hashtag and link into other people who are also attending the event.
You should also tweet the show’s management and let them know that you are on Twitter. If the show management is on Twitter, you could get your messaged broadcasted to all of their followers, which will help put you and your company in front of more people attending the show.
During the show…
When you are at the show, keep the conversation going! You can do this easily by tweeting questions that people at the show can answer, send pictures of your booth and the show, talk about things going on at the event and definitely include any information about promotional giveaways. If you are doing giveaways at your booth, designate a couple of items to give away to people on Twitter to show that you appreciate their participation with you on the site. It is important to remember to include the show hashtag in all of your tweets so that when people search for the show on Twitter they will find you and your tweets.
When you talk with people at the show, swap Twitter addresses so it is easier to connect with them after the show. If you wear a name tag or badge during the show, write your Twitter ID on the badge so people will find it easily. You could even take it a step further and include your ID on your business card so that people can easily connect with you.
The aftermath…
After the show ends, it is important to follow up with the people you have met and connected with on Twitter so you can build a relationship. Tweeting at the show allows you to establish personal connections with potential partners, customers and prospects. But simply being connected on Twitter is not enough. You have to continue the conversation after the show by engaging with them through interesting tweets and thanking them for following you. It would also be a good idea to search the show hashtag again on the Twitter site and connect with other people who were the show.
If you utilize Twitter effectively, you can drive traffic to you exhibit and create a lot of brand awareness. So what are you waiting on?! Go ahead, send that tweet. You know you want to!
You can follow Neu Concepts on Twitter @NeuConcepts for more great resources on social media, web design, trade shows and marketing.
