Organizing and planning your business expo or event is difficult enough, let alone trying to get people to show up!
Unfortunately, relying on the distribution of flyers, mail invites and word-of-mouth will not guarantee you the results of a successful event. Luckily, utilizing the power of social media allows you to expand your audience reach and generate buzz about your event online.
Here, Alex Jones from digital marketing agency Hallam Internet, analyses social media tactics that have remained relevant, as well as upcoming trends the industry needs to be aware of.
1. The Facebook basics
With over 650 million active users, this is a slice of the pie you can’t afford to miss out on. Creating a Facebook event is the most effective way to gain exposure, retain attention, and manage engagement for your exhibition or event. Most users will have their Facebook calendar synced to their mobile devices, making it easy to plan their personal schedules around your big day.
When naming your event on Facebook, make sure it’s memorable and informative. Nobody wants to attend your dull sales networking event (unless you make it sound like it isn’t!).
Post, engage and update your audience with interactive and thought-provoking content to retain their interest and ensure you lock their chances of attending your event.
2. Go viral with video
Video as a marketing tool is growing at a rapid rate. In fact, video traffic is predicted to drive 82 percent of the global internet by 2021—and the industry is feeling its effects.
Utilising video marketing in your expo promotion strategy can help to drive engagement for people who have already confirmed attendance, as well as persuade and create conversations for possible attendees.
Try offering a teaser beforehand, which gives users a future look into an experience – and that’s exciting!
More tips for video:
- Include testimonials from a range of different people
- Keep it short and sweet: concentrate on making it engaging and exciting.
- Film all aspects and areas of the exhibition
3. Event hashtags are #oldnews, right?
Sorry, no! Easy to tweet out, share on Instagram, and post on Facebook; hashtags are fluid throughout social media and all online platforms for that matter. Thousands of business exhibition and event campaigns use them.
The golden rules of using hashtags:
- Keep it short and memorable: no one is going to take the time to tweet out #networkingsalesconferenceforprofessionalsin2018
- Don’t overthink it: use keywords related to your event
- Make it fun: stand out!
Once you decide on a hashtag, include it in all your marketing materials before and during your event.
4. A huge community available on Linkedin
With over 330 million active users, LinkedIn is the perfect social platform if you are looking to spread the word about your event or exhibition in your industry.
The easiest way to get your event out there is to post a status update. Make sure to include eye-catching visuals and consider how your event will add value to your network and express those ideas in your post.
Reaching out to other professionals or partners directly is another effective way and may even generate leads to invite guest speakers! Finally, whatever you post, make sure everyone will share, share, share!
5. A sneak look behind the scenes
Taking your followers behind the scenes into the secrets of your exhibition production, or even just providing an exclusive look backstage is great content to share leading up to, during and even after your event.
Why? Because it:
- Humanizes your company
- Creates engaging content that builds trust with your followers
- Reveals how fun it is to work for your company
Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter are great hosts for this type of content, while LinkedIn should only host professional content.
Time to get social?
Social media is an incredibly useful tool to promote your business exhibition or event if done right. Hopefully, this guide has encouraged you to consider using social media to promote from now.
Whether a product launch, B2B conference, tradeshow or creative workshop, social media provides endless ways to promote and measure the success of your event before and after. It’s also a very powerful tool to use with other techniques in your marketing tool box.
