UnMarketing: Stop Marketing. Start Engaging

Chapter 54. Social Media at Trade Shows

ONE OF THE great ways to build potential engagement and traffic at your booth during a trade show is by using social media tools before and during the show. The first way to use a site like Twitter for a trade show is to find out if the show has a hashtag. You remember that a hashtag is the phrase with a # in front of it that you can search and find out if other people are talking about it, too.

Go to the trade show web site and see if there is a mention of it. If you have a following on Twitter you can ask the people if anyone knows it. If you don't find a mention, contact the people who run the show, and if they say there isn't one (or ask you what a hashtag is) create one yourself. Pick a short phrase, usually an acronym, and add the year. For example, at last year's BlogWorld conference, the hashtag was #BWE09. This hashtag allows you to go on your iPhone or BlackBerry, or twitter.com and see what people are saying about the conference.

You can search this hashtag to interact with people who will also be at the show. You can do this with people who will be attending and also with other vendors. It is amazing what can come out of new relationships with other vendors! When you engage with other vendors before the show, not only can potential business partnerships develop, but it can make the show much more enjoyable when you know other people with booths. They can do everything from bring your lunch when you're the only person running your ...