1.
Leveraging Digital Marketing For
Trade Show Promotions:
Social Media
Michael Thi
Mi h l Thimmesch h
Skyline Exhibits

2.
500 Million +
190 Million +
75 Million +
300 Million +
126 Million blogs

3.
Listen.
Listen Connect.
Connect Publish.
Publish

4.
My Assumption:
You Know A Bit About Social
Media Already.
Your Permission:
ou e ss o
To Ask Questions If I Assume
Too Much.

5.
Which Is True?
Social Media Is Social Media Is
Just Another
J t A th Completely
Marketing Media Different Than
Any OOther
Marketing Media

6.
Which Is True?
It’s the same: It’s different:
> Target market
g > No big media
g
> Publish > Permission
> Create awareness > Less formal
> Drive leads > Less salesy

7.
How To Act Properly
On Social Media Sites:
• Be human
• Be interesting
• Be useful
• Be consistent

8.
Post Promote
Content Content

9.
Post Promote
Content Content
C t t C

10.
Which Social Media Sites For
Trade S
Show Promotions? ?
Pre-Show
P Sh At-Show
At Sh Post-Show
P t Sh
♥ ♥ ♥
♥ ♥ ♥
♥
♥ ♥ ♥
♥ ♥ ♥

11.
Obvious Insight #1:
It is much harder to launch into social
media just to promote your trade show
presence, than to add trade show
promotions to an existing social media
presence.

12.
Plan A:
When you ALREADY have Social Media followers:
• Tweet to your followers on Twitter
• Post to your friends on Facebook
• Update your connections on LinkedIn
• Post for your channel subscribers on
YouTube
• Post for your blog RSS feed subscribers

13.
Plan B:
When you DON’T have Social Media followers:
• Use the show’s hashtag on Twitter: #CES
• Post comments and news on the show’s and
show s
industry Facebook Groups
• Ask questions and post news in the show’s
show s
and industry LinkedIn Groups
• Publish a video on YouTube rich with the
show’s name as a keyword
• Um, ask Joel about email marketing
, g

14.
Plan B Example:
Getting Re tweeted by your
Re-tweeted
show’s Twitter account

15.
Big Advantage To Already Having
A Social Media Following:
You Can Do
BOTH Plan A
and Plan B!

16.
Social Media
Touch
Frequency
Schedule

17.
2 or 3 Months Before The Show

18.
1 Month Before The Show

19.
Days During The Show

20.
Attend Sessions During Show

21.
1 Week After The Show

22.
Use Hootsuite to Pre-Schedule
Tweets, Facebook Posts, More

23.
Use Hootsuite to Pre-Schedule
Tweets, Facebook Posts, More

24.
Many, many more touches
with Social Media

25.
What Content Should I Post On
Social Media?

26.
What s
What’s Working in Social Media
From Skyline Survey of Exhibitors

27.
What s
What’s Working in Social Media
From Skyline Survey of Exhibitors

28.
Twitter for Pre-Show Promo
Pre Show
“We used Twitter to tell our followers we
would be at a specific conference, and we
said the first 25 people to talk to us there
and mention the tweet would get a free t-
shirt. It really drove people to our booth.”
-- Lisa Rabb, HigherEdJobs

29.
Takeaways:
1. Tweet to offer your free giveaway
2. Tweet with twitpic photo of your booth
3. Tweet to let attendees see your booth staff
4. Photos for social media have lower standards
5. Tweet to say what show you are at
6. Tweet from multiple Twitter accounts

30.
Twitter for At-Show Promo
At Show
“We tweet routinely from the floor of
the trade show. We tweet the
questions people ask and the
responses.”
-- John McCarthy WebMetro
McCarthy,

31.
Twitter for At-Show Promo
At Show

32.
Takeaways:
7. Tweet during the show as a
participant
ti i t
8. Tweet about questions in the booth
9. Tweet with the show’s #hashtag

33.
Twitter & Facebook for Promo
“We t t
“W try to use the branded promotional
th b d d ti l
pieces we will have at the booth, in our
social media marketing efforts the month
prior and the month of the show, to build
that brand connection among the 2
marketing channels.”
-- Amber Hedin, St. Cloud Window Inc.

34.
Takeaways:
10. Integrate your offline and online
trade h
t d show promotions.ti
11. Put more information on a Facebook
update than a Twitter tweet.

35.
on &
“We tweet and update Facebook live
from the events, which followers like to
events
come in and see who is tweeting.”
-- Ryan Molitor, Raven Industries

36.
RT Press picture of new products
Day 1 starting
New product launch
Ready to leave for the show
Retweet a “see you there”

37.
Day two of show, we’re hot
y ,
Afternoon reminder
Tweet up
Hot new product
Show started, humor
Sh t t d h
RT Press picture of new products
Day 1 starting
New product launch
Ready to leave for the show
Retweet a “see you there”

38.
Contest at show, tied to brand

39.
Takeaways:
T k
12.
12 Tweet more often the week and day
before the show
13.
13 Tweet when leaving for the show
14. Tweet the start of each show day
15. Tweet new product launch
16. RT press or other show mentions
p
17. Promote and join at-show Tweet-ups

40.
Takeaways:
T k
18.
18 Tweet during the show
19. Use humor
20. Brag when b
20 B h busy
21. Tweet at-show contest
22. Tweet from multiple Twitter accounts
23.
23 Facebook: Fewer but more
Fewer,
substantial updates than a tweet.

41.
on
“We launched a product at a specific
We
event, on location I filmed a video took
pictures and posted them on the spot, the
reaction and comments from our followers
were immediate. Mostly the ones that
y
were not attending the event and would
have to wait to see the new product.”
-- Claudia Olvera, Verifone

42.
New products
Speakers
Contest
Show Microsite:
http://www.verifone.com/
events/eta-2010.aspx

43.
Takeaways:
24.
24 Promote new products speakers at
products,
show from your company, contests.
25.
25 Integrate social media with show
show-
specific microsite
26. Upload id
26 U l d videos and photos d i
d h t during
show to also reach non-attendees.

44.
Some More Advice From
Exhibitors

45.
Use h
U show to grow Twitter f ll
t T itt followers
“We've gained followers on Twitter
(not exactly sure how many) because
of our tweeting during a trade show.”
-- Kevin Dudley, Spokane Regional
CVB

46.
on
“Be
“B sure to share your postings ( at
t h ti (or t
least give a social media overview) with
your booth staff It backfires on you when
staff.
a customer mentions something on
Facebook or Twitter and your booth staff
has no idea what they are talking about! ”
-- Jill Stevens, Little Caesars Pizza Kit

47.
on
“I encourage my clients t have a "
li t to h "game"
"
or similar activity that requires their
customer to go to the web site or
Facebook page. This works well when I
have seen it used ”
used.
-- Mark Brandyberry, Ivy Tech Community
Brandyberry
College-Lafayette

48.
on
“We
“W regularly use f
l l facebook, T itt
b k Twitter,
LinkedIn, etc. to drive traffic to trade
shows and drive interest in our clients'
clients
exhibits prior to a show, and we use
these outlets to maintain dialogue with
targeted prospects after the show.”
-- Sally Behringer, Nicholson Kovac, Inc.

49.
on
“We have used LinkedIn ads with great
“W h d Li k dI d ith t
success in trade show promotion
activities.
activities ”
-- Ch i S k ll M
Chris Sakell, Merge eClinical
Cli i l

50.
on
“We tweet from our Twitter account where
“W t tf T itt t h
we're going to be, and ask followers to
retweet.
retweet
We also use hashtags of industry experts,
i.e. #eventprofs,
i e #eventprofs or of the show itself if it
has one, i.e., #NBTA.”
-- Mark Rechner - Experient

51.
Good Use of Twitpics

52.
What if this is you?
“My company has chosen to block all
My
social media.”
-- Kathleen Meadowcroft, StageRight
Corporation

53.
Better Prepared For Social Media
For Trade Show Promotions?
• Know which websites to use
• Know when to post messages
• Know what to post to get results

54.
Leveraging Digital Marketing For
Trade Show Promotions:
Social Media
Michael Thimmesch
Mi h l Thi h
Skyline Exhibits
Twitter: @skylineexhibits
T itt @ k li hibit