Have you ever faced a strategic block while planning marketing strategies for your trade show participation? We all have! Once you decide to exhibit at a trade show, the next big question arises: how will you market your participation to make the most out of it?
Well, if you are wondering the same and are done with the old ways of marketing, we have your back!
In this post, we have listed seventeen creative social media marketing strategies for trade shows that you can leverage to get better reach, drive more engagement, and start new conversations.
So, let’s get started.
Go through these actionable steps that will help you maximize the impact of your social media marketing efforts for a trade show. Plus, taking inspiration from the examples given below will help you to kick start your own journey for trade show marketing!
The first and foremost way to promote your trade show participation on social media is by launching a teaser campaign, as it helps you generate interest and curiosity among your target audience.
Create a video or series of posts that sets the stage for a memorable presence and encourages attendees to look forward to what your booth has to offer.
You can launch teaser campaigns by showcasing innovative technologies, exclusive product launches, or expert presentations that represent your expertise in the field.
For example, if you deal in the healthcare sector, you can tease a groundbreaking solution with a cryptic image or a sneak peek video, hinting at its potential impact. Or, if you are in IT, you can highlight a cutting-edge software feature without fully disclosing it.
Here’s how Seeing Machine has effectively launched a teaser about their presence at CES 2024👇
Sending personalized video invitations to the trade show attendees is another amazing way of marketing social media for trade shows, as it adds a personal touch and sense of exclusivity, strengthening relationships.
You can send personalized videos by identifying key attendees, clients, or prospects you want to target and crafting unique messages for them. Shoot short, customized video invitations addressing them by name and highlighting what makes your booth a must-visit.
Using relevant hashtags for your trade show participation serves as a unique element, making it easier to track and engage with your audience on social media. It not only improves your brand visibility but also offers a sense of community around your booth and offerings.
While using a relevant hashtag for your organization, ensure that it is -
For example, you can see how this organization has used the combination of CustomerConnection, HFMA, and Healthcare Trade show to get more visibility about their participation.
4. Put Behind-the-Scenes Stories
When it comes to trade shows, attendees like to see what goes on behind a successful event. Sharing behind-the-scenes stories on your social media platforms is an exciting way to humanize your brand while sharing glimpses of preparation and dedication behind your booth.
You can document various aspects of your trade show preparations, from booth setup to team briefings, in multiple formats, like photos and videos, to showcase the hard work, innovation, and spirit of your team.
For example, once we shared the behind-the-scenes of the booth we created for Fulcrum GT at ILTACON, driving better engagement from the audience.
Going further, another way to do social media marketing for your trade show participation is by incorporating interactive polls and surveys into your event promotion strategy. This strategy helps you drive more engagement and gather valuable insights about attendees.
To create interactive polls and surveys, you can ask questions related to industry trends, challenges, or preferences on various social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram, or LinkedIn.
For example, if you belong to the healthcare industry, you can create a poll asking, “which healthcare technology trend are you most excited about?” and provide a few voting options.
If you want to generate more user-centric content for your trade show marketing, you can leverage Facebook and Instagram challenges. Executing this strategy will increase the reach of your campaign while creating a sense of excitement among your audience.
To execute this strategy, you can design challenges that align with your brand and resonate with your target audience. Plus, it will guide people in detail about how they can participate in the challenge and offer some rewards to drive better engagement.
For example, you can launch an “innovation challenge” on social media that encourages users to share their creative ideas for the future of the industry you are operating in.
So, let’s say you are working in the healthcare industry, then you can also create a dedicated hashtag like #HealthTechInnovateChallenge that features all the participants' posts. To reward the best posts, you can feature them on your booth display or offer a free consultation.
Associating human emotions and storytelling with your offerings/solutions is a great way to promote your trade show participation on social media.
To create a collaborative storytelling campaign, you can plan a theme-specific campaign related to your brand. For example, you can run a campaign named “Tech Transformation Tales” that highlights how your organization's technology is impacting people's lives.
By embracing a collaborative storytelling approach, you can encourage your audience to contribute to the larger narrative of your campaign, resulting in a strong sense of community around your organization.
Creating interactive contests builds a fun and competitive atmosphere on social media around your trade show participation. To conduct interactive contests, you can design them with clear entry rules and engaging themes that resonate with your organization.
For example, you can execute a quiz contest where participants have to give answers/solve queries you have given to them related to your industries and encourage others to do the same.
Moreover, you can incorporate your offerings and solutions in the contest to spread brand awareness among the target audience.
Here are some ideas for the contest related to IT and healthcare:
Contest Ideas for IT Organizations:
Contest Ideas for Healthcare Organizations:
If you want to add the emotions of humor and relatability into your trade show participation marketing campaign, you should definitely opt for meme marketing. It helps you develop lighthearted connections and create shareable content.
To do meme marketing highlighting your trade show participation, you can create memes that playfully relate to industry-specific challenges, trends, or offerings.
You can customize popular meme formats along with captions or visuals that tie back to your trade show presence.
However, be careful while executing your meme marketing strategy, as it may harm your organization’s value if not handled smartly and tactfully.
In the above meme, you can see that the poster has flaunted their trade show display without being rude or offensive. You can do the same by creating similar memes about different topics.
Another way of doing social media marketing for trade shows is by hosting a Live stream to share the details about your participation.
Going Live has two main benefits:
Moreover, you can post about your Live schedule well in advance so the audience can be ready with their questions and schedules. Moreover, you can invite industry experts to join you in Live, or you can provide a behind-the-scenes look at your booth setup.
Going further, you can partner with influencers or industry experts to promote your trade show participation, as it adds a credible and influential voice to your marketing efforts.
To go for influencer partnerships, you need to identify influencers relevant to your field and reach out to them for collaboration, offering exclusive access to your booth, product demonstrations, or insights. Extend your partnerships throughout and after the trade show to cultivate lasting relationships.
Lastly, don’t forget to mention the specifications about posts, timings, and frequency in the contract to maintain transparency and avoid confusion.
Another fantastic way of social media marketing for trade shows is by crafting Twitter threads for your event in a cohesive and detailed manner.
The good thing about Twitter threads is that they allow you to do in-depth discussions by breaking them down into biteable sizes, helping you keep your audience engaged throughout the conversation.
For example, you can initiate a thread to declare your trade show participation and outline key themes. The next threads can dive deep into specific aspects such as featured products, expert insights, or event highlights.
It is recommended to incorporate visuals, infographics, and relevant hashtags to boost thread engagement.
Snapchat geofilters are a great way to add interactive and visually engaging elements to your trade show participation social media strategy.
Simply put, geofilters are location-based overlays that attendees can apply to their snaps, which display their current location details.
To leverage Snapchat filters for your marketing, you need to create custom filters featuring your booth number, event branding, and a catchy slogan. When attendees share their photos using your filter, it creates buzz around your presence at the event.
If you are dealing in the B2B space, you can’t overlook the power of LinkedIn to drive meaningful relationships and conversions.
You can announce the Live Q&A session well in advance and specify the topics to be covered while encouraging users to submit their questions beforehand.
By responding to these questions in real-time, you can offer spontaneous insight to the audience while promoting your trade show participation.
Other than conducting Live Q&A sessions, you can also host LinkedIn networking events for your trade show participation.
To do this, you will need to create a LinkedIn event specifying the details of your networking event, including the date, time, and agenda, and promote it through your LinkedIn page, personal profiles, and relevant industry groups.
LinkedIn articles are another way to get the attention of your target audience and let them know about your trade show participation.
To leverage LinkedIn articles for marketing, write a blog by picking relevant industry challenges and how you are going to solve them with your offerings at the trade show.
Don’t forget to add visuals, data, and real-world examples to increase the article's authenticity.
Lastly, showing a post-event recap is equally important to create a lasting impact and thank all the attendees who have visited your booth. It allows you to showcase key highlights, express gratitude, and continue engagement with your audience.
For a post-event recap, you can post the event photos, notable moments, and highlights of your booth activities.
Here’s how Applaud, one of our clients, posted an event recap by sharing key takeaways and announcing their upcoming trade show participation.
Having gathered the knowledge about trade show social media marketing, you can now use these insights for in-house implementation or share this data with an agency to implement these new strategies for you.
Other than these strategies, if you are looking for booth rental services for your upcoming trade show in Las Vegas, you can always contact our team of experts! We have helped multiple organizations maximize their booth impact by designing effective booths at a fixed price.
Contact our team of experts at Pure Exhibits by contacting us either at info@purexhibits.com or by calling us at +1 800-379-8451.
You can also check out our portfolio to see the work we have done in the past.
Social media marketing for trade shows is important because it helps you get better reach, drive engagement, and build anticipation about your exhibition. Plus, it facilitates real-time communication and extends networking opportunities beyond the physical event.
The best social media platform for trade show marketing depends on your business model. If you are in B2B marketing, LinkedIn and X (Twitter) can be the best for you. However, if you are dealing in B2C or D2C, Instagram and Facebook can be better options for you.
You can use multiple types of social media posts, like behind-the-scenes, countdowns, interactive polls, and storytelling campaigns, to maximize the impact of your trade show marketing efforts.
It is recommended to start promoting your trade show participation at least six to eight weeks in advance for wider reach and better results.
You can measure the success of your social media marketing efforts during the trade show by analyzing the reach, impressions, and engagement of your social media channels. Also, consider how many new people found and followed you on social media because of the trade show marketing.
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