Twitter 101: Before the Trade Show

August 04, 2010 | by Rachael Hill

Twitter is a powerful tool that can be used not only by you, the show managers, but also by your exhibitors to increase awareness for their booth.

Share this blog entry with your exhibitors when they register for your next show. They’ll thank you for the insider information!

With over 17 million users, it's no wonder that Twitter has taken off as one of the most popular and effective ways to communicate on the Internet. So why wouldn't exhibitors use it to create buzz about their products and services before attending a trade show? They would be crazy not to. Read on for some tips on how to use pre-show tweeting to your biggest advantage.

Tweeting in the months before exhibiting at a particular trade show can work wonders for public awareness of your company. You can use your Twitter account (click here to learn about the basics of Twitter)to create product awareness, to introduce and create buzz for new products, to help get you on the list of "must-see" booths, to deepen relationships with existing customers, and even to create new relationships and generate new leads.

Step 1: Find Attendees

First, do a Twitter Search for the name of your next show and find people who are talking about it. Find people who are interested in your field and follow them. Oftentimes they will follow you back, and you can start creating buzz about your product to draw people to your booth. You can see a Twitter quick reference guide here.

Before you offer them solutions, however, first you need to create relationships. Only focus on engaging in conversations, building personal connections and sharing just enough about your service or product to leave them wanting more, encouraging them to stop by your booth. You may even announce special offers or prizes just for your followers to encourage traffic to your booth.

Step 2: Team Up With Other Exhibitors

Find other exhibitors that are attending the same trade show (usually non-competitors) and team up with them to promote both of your products. Make a deal that if they tweet about your product, you will tweet about theirs. That way, your message is getting to twice the audience. The larger your audience, the more buzz is created about your company. The more buzz created, the more traffic you will receive. Are you noticing a pattern?

Step 3: Generate Quality Leads

Using Twitter Search again, search for people who are talking about topics related to your product. First, find out what their pain is. What is their problem? What sort of solution do they need? Next, engage in conversation with them. The most important step in generating quality leads is building relationships with them FIRST. After you create personal connections, offer your solutions. Tweet about your product and how it can ease their pain. You may even contact prospects directly to let them know how your product can be a solution to their problem.

Your product or service is obsolete if no one knows about it. By creating buzz before you even exhibit at a trade show, you can increase your popularity and the traffic at your booth, increasing the likelihood of generating quality leads. Twitter can be an extremely beneficial tool if used correctly, so follow these three simple steps and everyone will be talking about your product in no time.

Map Dynamics - Interactive Floor Plans, Tradeshow Floorplans, ExpoRep, and Interactive Mapping Systems.