December 9, 2010

Social Media: Where’s Your Engagement?

I guess I shouldn’t be shocked, but I am. A bit.

As I mingled before the keynotes at the EDPA Access 2010 annual conference last week in Jacksonville, Florida, I talked with a lot of people. Of course, since my badge shouted ‘SPEAKER’ it was a natural topic to discuss what I was speaking about (social media), and to inquire about the state of social media in their business.

Social media has been a ‘thing’ for a few years now. Back in ’07 it was commonly referred to as “Web 2.0” but that name has faded in favor of “social media.”

And still most folks I talked to are barely involved.

I understand, to a degree. There are obstacles: lack of knowledge, lack of time, lack of manpower, lack of resources.

And even though I met one person who proudly told me that they had turned an intern into a full-time Social Media Marketing Manager six months ago, I was a bit surprised that so few exhibit companies seem to be involved in social media.

There’s a lot to be gained by getting started now:

getting ahead of your competition
gaining better understanding of your market
a higher level of engagement from customers
an improved bottom line

And if you don’t start now, it’s a pretty sure thing that a lot of your competitors are starting or are already involved. They’re blogging: helping customers and potential customers solve problems, find answers to questions and positioning their company as the go-to expert. They’re Tweeting: driving traffic, finding new blog readers and potential customers. They’re on Facebook: creating event listings, sharing photos of exhibit builds and set-ups, client functions and much more.

It really doesn’t take much. I’ve found it’s not that hard to work those valuable social media activities into a regular workday without much problem.

And besides, you don’t have to jump in all at once. Talk with your staff, find out their level of interest. Do you have a ‘digital native?’ – someone who is adept at moving around in social media? They’re a likely person to take the lead for your company.

Work your way up to one of the social media outlets – Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.

Start somewhere. Start anywhere.

Check out webinars on this blog about social media and blogging.

Ask questions. I’m always available to chat and would love to help you out.

But really: if you don’t get there soon, you’ll be behind. Very far behind.

And I don’t think you’ll want to play catch up when the game is already in the fourth quarter and the other teams are leading 100 – 0.

photo credit: Kristoffer M.C.

December 7, 2010

Building Your Event-Related Community With Social Media

In the wake of the presentation I gave last week at the Exhibit Designers and Producers Association Access 2010 conference, I’ve been thinking and reading a lot about what it takes to build community.

In the event industry, it’s my opinion that social media is an extremely useful tool to promote shows, create and connect with communities, and foster deeper connections while attending shows.

It seems that in one sense the social media world is just getting started with connecting at events. But with each new story, I sense that the ‘connecting’ is getting more involved and the ‘connectors’ are becoming more adept at the connecting.

And then this morning Paul Castain’s timely blog post on ‘How to Build an Online Community!’ shows up. Paul is a terrific connector and has built a large online community, and in this exquisitely useful post he shares what has worked for him.

If you’re looking to build a community around a specific event, there are some slight adjustments I’d make to his overall plan (which has a lot of great ideas).

If you’re attending a tradeshow, one suggestion might be to create a specific ‘virtual tradeshow website’ just for that show. It’s an approach that would make sense for those larger expo shows you attend, but likely wouldn’t be worth the investment of time or money for small, local or regional shows. Derek Mehraban of InGenex Digital Marketing shares his story in a recent TradeshowGuy Blog podcast.

If you choose not to create a virtual tradeshow website, make sure that you’re online with a variety of platforms, including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. If you have a good presence on LinkedIn, include that as well.

Don’t forget the media: connect with industry bloggers and trade publications ahead of time. Let them know what new products or services you’ll be unveiling at the show. The press are attracted to new and shiny objects, so if you can offer something new you have a much better chance of getting some press mentions.

In the run-up to the show, collect your in-house list of clients, friends, acquaintances and prospects. Send out an e-mail blast a couple of months ahead of time asking people to ‘like’ your Facebook page, and follow you on Twitter and YouTube (if you have a YouTube channel).

With the show a month or so away, send another email reminder asking people to connect with you online. At this point, it would be appropriate to include a link to a short video about what they might expect at the show or a blog post promoting your appearance. Remember, you’ll get more response if you slant the article or video to ‘what’s in it for THEM’ and try not to make it so much about YOU.

Keep publishing: videos, blog posts, tweets, Facebook updates/photos, etc. During your planning, be sure to use a tool such as Hootsuite.com that allows you to schedule posts ahead of time. This will free up your show time to focus on the actual show, interacting with folks and sending out real-time tweets or posts (“just met @clientXYS at the show!”). Make a point of mentioning people by name or Twitter handle so they’ll feel loved.

With a couple of weeks to go, invite people to your booth (if you’re exhibiting), or to connect with you at a Tweet-up or other meeting. Find opportunities to connect face-to-face.

During these face-to-face meetings, collect business cards or other contact info. Schmooze! It’s fun!

During the show, try and shoot some timely videos, such as testimonials, customer or visitor interviews and post a few of them. Hold back a few for posting after the show.

Once the show is over, do a wrap-up or two. Post a few videos. Send out a thank-you e-mail with links back to your show follow-ups. Send physical thank you notes to those folks that you felt you made a great connection with – and those that you’d like to make a better connection with. A cool tool for card follow-ups is SendOutCards.com (yes, that’s an affiliate link).

As Paul points out, it’s great to have all of those online platforms, but the key is to keep engaged. INTERACT with those folks in your community. Respond to their questions. Reach out with an offline thank-you or phone call. Give content away with no strings attached. Find out what your community’s ‘pain points’ are and work to resolve them. Work to move those online connections to an offline relationship or friendship.

When it comes to building a community around a tradeshow, keep in mind that those folks you’re connecting with will become more active during show time. Work to leverage those folks to stay connected with you via Facebook or your newsletter.

You’ll find that the first show will likely fall short of your expectations. Don’t worry. Social media connections take time. Keep at it. From my observation, as exhibitors and organizers keep at it, each show becomes more successful than the last and the connections get deeper and wider.

With social media connections, you’re in for the long haul. Or you’re likely not in at all.

Photo by Pink Sherbet Photography

November 24, 2010

IMTS Dives into Social Media

The International Manufacturing and Technology Show is a bi-yearly affair that attracts 80,000+ attendees and thousands of exhibitors to Chicago’s McCormick Place every other September. This year saw an explosion in the use of social media to enhance the experience for attendees and for those folks who would like to have attended but were unable to.

Monica Haley is the Marketing Communications Manager for AMT – The Association for Manufacturing Technology – and was part of a small team that coordinated the social media marketing effort at this year’s expo.

Social media proved to be an extremely useful catalyst to drive engagement at the show. The numbers of people posting content from the last show in 2008 jumped significantly, according to Haley. In ’08 there were only 50 people at the show who joined in posting content on Facebook or Twitter and other networks; this year the confirmed number was over 350.

The social media effort started with a strategy planning session. Out of that session grew a plan for using social media on many platforms throughout the show, including scheduled blog posts, many of which were solicited from speakers and other industry voices. The intent with the pre-show blogging was to offer unique content with a thread back to the show.

They also scheduled Facebook posts and Twitter tweets before hand using Hootsuite with a plan to offer ‘live’ ongoing posts off-the-cuff as they happened during the show.

They set up a separate social media/blogging areas where attendees could watch the Twitter Roll with the hashtag #IMTS on a large flatscreen TV, as well as plug in and log-on with laptops to engage (if they weren’t already doing that with a smartphone).

As an additional tool, Haley and her crew used SCVNGR for booth check-in (a location-based service somewhat similar to Foursquare and Gowalla), a mechanism to push people around the show who were willing to participate; it got people to the corners of the show and provided another aspect of experience to the show. She says it helped people that couldn’t come to the show feel a part. Haley says they first looked at using Foursquare but it proved to be unwieldy for the task.

SCVNGR is a location-based service game played on smartphones, which was utilized to bring people to various booths looking for specific items.

Having the social media in places helps facilitate movement of the people at the show, and helps engage people who aren’t able to attend. “One of the biggest benefits of social media is humanizing the people behind the scenes,” said Haley.

Looking ahead, Haley says in 2012 (and likely for the European version next year) they’ll be looking to engage online attendees in many ways. If successful, she feels the show could draw another 20,000 virtual attendees.

November 19, 2010

Tradeshows: The Perfect Place to Showcase Your Brand

I’m halfway through a little book called ‘Branding Basics for Small Businesses’ by Maria Ross, which is full of helpful information, and while reading the book, it occurred to me that there is no better place to showcase your brand than at a tradeshow.

Virtually everything about your company comes into play: image, interaction with the public, products, sales team…it’s all there.

And when you think about branding, don’t mistakenly believe that your brand is just your products and services and your logo. Or your advertising.

Everything about your company transmits and broadcasts your brand.

In the book, Maria gave a great example of how a brand is shouted out by the small interactions.

“My husband and I want to love and support a local bookstore in our neighborhood. Based on location, name and visual identity, the store offers a warm, personal book-buying experience unlike the big box bookstores. Unfortunately, my husband was turned off by an incident that didn’t seem important at the time. One day when we entered the store, someone behind us left the door open as we walked in and they walked out. The clerk glanced up, saw the open door, and headed over in a huff to close it. Her body language told us she was miffed and assumed we left the door open. She nearly pushed us out of the way in her haste to make a point and shut the door.”

As she continues, because one clerk didn’t live up to the promise of the store’s brand, her husband is left with a negative impression of the business – and doesn’t feel like going back.

This little eye-opener should help you focus on the little things: is your staff always smiling and helpful? Do you have enough free samples if you’re offering them? Is the floor of your booth as clean as possible? Do you have staff purses, coats and other personal items stacked haphazardly in plain view of visitors?

Any little thing that’s ‘off’ can create a negative impression. And that negativity echoes through a visitor’s mind long after the show is over.

It’s your company. It’s your brand. Everything from your logo to how you answer the phone to how you interact with people at a tradeshow must be derived from how you would like people to perceive your brand.

At your next tradeshow, pay careful attention and see if all that a visitor sees is a positive representation of your brand. If not, find out how to fix it.

photo credit: DaveBleasdale

(the above link is an affiliate link; I purchased the book and recommend it based on the quality of the content)

November 17, 2010

Recapping the last Quarter on Tradeshowguy Blog

If you have a blog, do you look at your visitor stats to see what’s popular and what’s not?

While I don’t obsess with stats, I’m curious enough to take a look every few weeks. I’m interested most in what types of posts and content draw the most views, which (theoretically) helps guide me to create more posts on those topics.

So, the top five most viewed separate posts of the past quarter:

1. Is Foursquare the Next Killer App for Tradeshow Marketing?

2. Why the Beatles Were the Greatest Marketing Models of Their Time (and what you can learn from them)

3. Social Media at Tradeshows: 10 Keys to Engagement

4. Developing Your Social Media Tradeshow Strategy for 2010

5. A Keen Tale of Customer Service

It doesn’t surprise me that social media and tradeshow marketing are the three of the top four posts. Social media is exploding; many folks are still trying to get a handle on it, and the interest is extremely high. Expect to see more. Not only does it make sense for me to provide more of social media-related posts for you, dear reader, but I have a damn high interest in the subject.

As for the ‘Beatles as Marketing Models’ post, I think I can attribute much of that traffic to the heavy influx of organic traffic that came through search engine referrals with people searching for ‘beatles marketing,’ ‘beatles boots,’ ‘marketing the beatles’ and similar terms. Another lesson: if you want some good organic traffic it doesn’t hurt to invoke the name of a very popular rock band!

The top five ranking of the ‘Keen Tale’ post sort of surprised me, given that the article was posted on March 4th, over 8 months ago. Again, much of that traffic came as a result of good keyword SEO: ‘Keen warranty’ received more traffic in the past quarter than any other search term (with the exceptions of the Beatles combinations). If you recall the post, it had to do with my experience interacting with Keen shoes in Portland when I had an issue with one of their shoes (which was satisfactorily concluded). If you’re blogging (and you should be!), this is a good demonstration that even older posts can get a lot of views and bring people to your blog.

Beyond those top five posts, the single page promoting the Blogging 101 webinar from August garnered the most views – three times more views, in fact, than the top individual post. Of course, it was being promoted that in conjunction with Classic Exhibits, who sent a handful of e-mail blasts to their contact list. It also was promoted heavily throughout our social media world, so again it’s no surprise that there were that many views. The Blogging 101 webinar was a success; I may look to do more similar webinars in 2011 as I plan out what I’d like to do over the next year.

Another high-traffic page is the Tradeshow Marketing Newsletter. Definitely feel-good for me, since I love to see more and more people grabbing the newsletter. While the 2-page PDF edition is available for download, I also send out a monthly e-mail with links back to other posts, along with comments and other goodies.

If readership over the last few months is any indication of what you’ll find the next few months, expect more of the same: social media/tradeshow/event marketing, posts at least 2 – 3 times a week if not more…and who knows…the occasional Beatle reference!

(photo by Mike Licht)

November 15, 2010

Speaking on Social Media and Event Marketing – Preparing for EDPA

In my preparation for speaking at the Exhibit Designers and Producers Association annual conference in Jacksonville, Florida in a few weeks, I’ve been digging deeper and deeper into social media and how it can be used in coordination with event marketing.

First I put out a request to HARO, which resulted in a number of stories including Barking Up a Tree with Social Media, Social Media Rescues a Social Media Seminar, Social Media Marketing Tips from AntiSocialGuy, Twisplays Brings Twitter Streams to Your Tradeshow Booth, Taking Your Event to a Virtual World with Social27, and an update on Schmoozapalooza, the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce’s semi-annual business gathering that’s been doorbusters since incorporating social media.

Not that all of those stories will make it to the final presentation. It’s hard to cut good stories out – but there are time constraints and a goal of covering the actual topics of the presentation as advertised:

Everybody’s talking about social media. And you just nod and smile–but have no idea what they’re talking about. Get a detailed breakdown of the ‘four’ main social media platforms and how to best use them–as well as how to get started if you’re still on the sidelines. Learn how to leverage social media for your own marketing, but more importantly how to talk social media with clients who want it baked into their exhibit programs.

Given that I’ve spoken in public numerous times over the last several years, many times about social media and tradeshow marketing, the challenge isn’t so much putting the presentation together. It’s making sure the information is relevant and important to the audience.

Speaking about social media brings up a lot of challenges. As Steve Farnsworth (@steveology on Twitter) told me earlier this year, ‘social media is still the wild west’ in a lot of ways. Some companies really get it and are neck-deep in their social media engagement. Other companies have a lot of political resistance to even the thought of getting involved, viewing social media as ‘kid stuff’ or toys of some sort that an honest-to-god serious marketer shouldn’t even consider.

Crafting the content then becomes a balancing act between getting the neophytes interested enough to seeing the possibilities and helping the folks already engaged with tools, techniques and examples of how to engage.

Along the way I’ve had the good fortune to stumble onto three books which have been invaluable to crafting the presentation.

Nancy Duarte’s two books on presentations, “Slide:ology” and “resonate” have offered an enormous amount of guidance and I cannot recommend them enough (yes those are affiliate links; one book – ‘resonate’ – was given to me by Nancy and I purchased “Slide:ology” but I would recommend them anyway because they’re both excellent).

John C. Maxwell’s “Everyone Communicates, Few Connect” has also proved to be extraordinarily helpful in the preparation of the final presentation. I can quibble with a few of his cut’n’paste examples of communication, but his message and a majority of examples ring true.

If you’re working on a presentation, or ever have the opportunity to put one together, you would do yourself well by grabbing any or all of those books.

As for Jacksonville on December 2nd, well…we’ll see if they helped me as much as I hope they will!

November 12, 2010

Tradeshow Pre-Show Publicity Guide

If you want to get the most out of your tradeshow exhibit, you should do your utmost to let people know before the show that you’ll be there by using a tradeshow pre-show publicity guide. Not only will it give those folks who can’t attend the show a chance to learn about your new offerings and the fact that you’re going to exhibit – it also gives attendees something to look forward to.

Key goals include:

letting people know about new products
cluing the media in on your new products and your upcoming appearance
alert people to access to your key people: CEO, designers, managers, etc.
schedule interview with media and bloggers onsite during the show
generate buzz
generate new sales leads
get your CEO or other lead person on the speaking schedule at the show

Are there any press-only pre-show functions that you, as an exhibitor, can attend? Are there awards programs that you can participate in? Should you hold a press conference at the show? All of these are good questions who’s answers may lead you to new opportunities for exposure. And if there’s anything you want MORE of at a tradeshow, it’s EXPOSURE.

How’s your online press area? Your press kit should have information on the latest products that you want to push, and should be available in many formats: text, audio interviews, video demonstrations if appropriate and photos. The more ways you offer the information, the easier it becomes for the press to use your information.

If you choose to issue a press release, keep in mind that you’re competing with dozens or hundreds of other press releases. To create a compelling press release, the most important thing is to create a compelling headline. Without a ‘hooky’ headline, you’re sunk because no one will read past a boring headline. Your press release – if related specifically to something going on at the tradeshow – should have the various points of contact for people in your booth.

Engage social media. Find out what bloggers might be covering the event. Ask colleagues (or even competitors) who they have seen covering the event in the past. Include links to your Facebook page, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn outlets if available. Create event listings on LinkedIn and Facebook and spread the word through your contacts.

photo credit: roland

Grab our free report: 7 Questions You’ll Never Ask Your Exhibit House

November 8, 2010

Barking Up a Tree With Social Media

Denise Quashie shared so many ideas on how she’s utilized social media in conjunction with events that it’s not surprising to discover that her pet dog on Twitter led to the launching of a successful conference.

In my recent call for social media tradeshow success stories through HARO, Denise contacted me saying she used Twitter, Facebook and more to market shows, sell sponsorships, promote exhibitors and drive onsite traffic. And more.

Her company, Events by Canvas, is an event consultancy focusing on social media events, social media ghosting, and event consulting and training. They also produce several social media driven start-up events. Denise is always looking at ways to offer additional value to her clients with social media: sponsored Tweet-ups, platforms for press releases, Twitter mention packages, offering education benefits to attendees at her events and more.

But one of the more intriguing stories came about when she told me that when she put her dog on Twitter, which prompted hundreds of pet-lovers to start networking and helping each other. That then inspired BarkWorldExpo, a social media expo in Atlanta for pet lovers and the pet industry.

The first BarkWorldExpo, held in August of this year, drew 250 attendees and 30 exhibitors. Tickets were $129 for the event, held at Atlanta’s Atlantic Station. BarkWorldExpo featured several speakers who talked about aspects of social media; there were sponsored Tweet-ups and other gatherings, and plans are underway for a follow-up event in 2011.

Some of the successful ideas for promoting events via social media that Denise and Events by Canvas have used in the past for other shows and clients include:

Sending out tweets for scavenger hunts down empty aisles (first person to spot the green back pack on aisle 7 gets $100 on the spot!), which caused a stampede
Speakers incorporating a live Twitter wall during the speech
Sponsored Tweets during the event
Tweet lounges where several screens showed running tweets from the show
A Big (Twitter) bird to draw traffic to a specific area

Just chatting with Denise – and furiously jotting down ideas – inspired me to believe there is really no limit to what you can do with social media. The only limit is lack of imagination.

Besides…if a dog on Twitter can inspire a successful conference…?

Links to Denise and BarkWorldExpo…

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What they're saying about Tradeshow Success...

"It's a great book, Tim. I've been doing trade shows for years and yet I never knew much about how to go buy or select an exhibit until I read your book. I highly recommend this to small to medium sized businesses looking to take their trade show marketing to the next level." - Anders Boulanger, CEO and Founder of the Infotainers

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"When Tim asked me to read Tradeshow Success, I thought, “Oh crap! Does the world really need another prescriptive manual about tradeshow marketing?” Boy was I wrong. You are in for a treat. Tim takes the dark arts of tradeshow marketing and makes them accessible to anyone – whether you’re a novice to a tradeshow warrior. You’ll meet characters like Katie from Gotcha! Cookies ‘n’ Treats and Wally from Pharaoh, with engaging and entertaining stories about their tradeshow challenges. Social Media? Tim immerses you in the “whys and hows” of using LinkedIn, Twitter, Emails, etc. to drive attendees to your booth and boost your ROI. And that’s just one chapter! Design ideas, staff training tips, lead management, and more. It’s all there for you to enjoy, implement, and share." - Mel White, Classic Exhibits

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