Spontaneous Social Media for Shows and Expos

Trade Shows, Expos, and Fairs are excellent places to showcase your brand, products, and services to a targeted audience. However, with so many companies competing for attention, spontaneous Social Media is essential to complement your physical booth experience.

While having a pre-show plan to create engaging content or collaborate with other exhibitors and show organisers is ideal, it's not always possible to prepare every detail beforehand. Here are some spontaneous social media posting ideas that members of our team have done before, that businesses can apply from their booth during a trade show:

Real-Time Engagement Social Media

Live posting: Share updates about the event, your booth, and the products on display. These can be simple posts, or stories, using photos you've taken on your phone from creative angles, along with punchy captions and essential show-related hashtags. Tagging show organisers and other friendly attendees can also help spread the word.

Facebook live: Hosting a live video session is a great way to engage with visitors. You can share demos or guided tours of your product, or do a video answering interesting questions you've been asked on the day by a visitor to your stand. One successful format I've used before is to share production between two experienced team members: using a phone in selfie-mode one team member takes the role of interviewer asking questions about the products, and the other of expert answering and explaining the product. It's a great format that requires little planning, just product knowledge and a bit of on-screen confidence. If you think you might need a second take, just record it rather than going live, and then upload as a post or reel. If you're worried about production values, don't underestimate the authenticity of a genuinely spontaneous video and the positive effect that can have in an internet swamped with over-produced slick footage.

Visitor Focus Social Media

Engaging images: Some images are more engaging than others, that includes pictures of the cute, or the unusual. At shows I attend we always keep an eye out for visitors bringing their pets with them, or exhibitors with really cool mobile gear. Photos of pets with your products can often be engaging, as can video footage of a robot walking through your booth (done that too), both offering a bit more than ordinary product shots. Frame the shots to include your branding in the images or footage. Be flexible and ready to respond to opportunities as you find them. Always get permission before posting other people on your Social Media.

Spontaneous Exhibitor Collaboration

Partner with other exhibitors: With all exhibitors at the show looking to boost their promotion, it can be good to identify fellow sponsors who aren't also competitors to collaborate with. Posting a photo with you and them, along with your products or something with your brand (such as a leaflet, selfie-frame, or the banners in your booth) gives them an incentive to share your post and increase your reach - especially if you tag them too.

Find an angle that makes sense, such as by referencing a particular synergy between their product or service and what you do. But even if there's nothing other than you 'made a new contact', even simple posts can still be effective, such as "really great to meet [new friend] from [business] at the [show], and see their fantastic range of [products], now I know what I'm getting my Auntie for Christmas" or "Thanks to [new friend] from [business], for coming to see us in [booth] at the [show], we look forward to working with you!"

Hashtags

Show and industry specific hashtags: Make sure you include all the hashtags specific to the show, to help your posts get found by show attendees. Then add relevant hashtags related to your industry sector or sub-niche. Remember to keep hashtags relevant and concise. By using a mix of popular, industry-specific, and show specific hashtags you can reach a wider audience and join in the buzz around your Trade Show's experience.

Tips for Success

• Be flexible: To make spontaneous Social Media work, it's important to be flexible, prepared to adapt to changing situations and opportunities to collaborate. Having a team member specifically tasked to do this avoids it being an after-thought. Team members could take turns on a schedule to keep it fresh.
• Have props ready: Keep branded props and backgrounds on hand to make sure every photo includes something that promotes your brand. Take care to frame selfies and photos to include those all important branding elements.
• Get consent: Always ask attendees for permission before sharing their photos on social media. It's always a pity if a successful posts must be removed later, or if lack of permission leads to a more difficult situation. Having proper photo release forms for people to sign solves a lot of potential issues.
• Keep it short: It's much easier to get spontaneous collaboration with visitors or fellow exhibitors if you minimise disruption to their day.
• Connect: Try to tag collaborating businesses and individuals whenever possible, and use show specific and industry relevant hashtags, to maximise reach and engagement.

By incorporating visitor and exhibitor collaborations into your spontaneous social media, you can create engaging content that not only promotes your brand but also showcases the excitement of the show experience! By having permission to post you can make the most of the event and avoid issues later.

TLDR

You can use these spontaneous Social Media ideas to make the most of your trade show online presence. Live post updates, demos, guided tours, or Q&A sessions; engage with visitors and exhibitors in photos or videos; collaborate with fellow exhibitors to boost promotion and reach; use show and industry specific hashtags; get consent (in writing is best) before posting.

DIY, DWY or DFY?

At DigitalArena we want you to succeed online, and this can be achieved in several ways.

• DIY: You can Do It Yourself, as many small businesses and startups try to do at the beginning while they get going.
• DWY: We can Do it With You, by providing support, instructions, templates, in areas your business needs help with, while you carry out the majority of the activity yourself.
• DFY: Or, we can Do it For You as a full service, offering as many or as few of our areas of expertise as you like on retainer or project by project.

To find out more, please call us on 01530 452276 or email support@digitalarena.co.uk.