Boost your trade show results with LinkedIn team effort

Social Media represents an important aspect of many companies’ marketing strategy.

Whether you use LinkedIn, Twitter, Youtube, Facebook, Instagram or any other platform, chances are that you are already using these tools as part of your general marketing.

And if you happen to be organized, you certainly also use these same channels to promote your booth before exhibiting at a specific show.

But did you consider going one step further and using LinkedIn in a team effort?

How can LinkedIn help me promote my booth?

You certainly know already the major asset of LinkedIn: it is a professional Social Network that allows you to reach potential clients / partners in their working environment.

If you are about to exhibit at a trade show, most of your prospects will be professionals potentially using LinkedIn – the channel is already a good fit.

Going one step further, your LinkedIn company page followers are people who show a keen interest in your products and / or your industry.

Announcing your participation on LinkedIn is, therefore a good strategy.

But there is a serious problem…

Your reach and engagement through a LinkedIn page post are very limited.

Except if you have thousands and thousands of followers (and very few companies are in that situation), chances are that when you post something, it doesn’t generate much buzz. This phenomenon can be explained by two factors: on one hand because you have a limited number of followers, on the other hand, because a company post lacks the “human touch”.

The power of groups

A good solution to solve problem number one (a lack of followers) is to use the power of LinkedIn groups.

Even though LinkedIn update in early 2017 brought us some unfortunate problems, LinkedIn groups remain a very powerful (and free) tool for marketers.

If you are going to exhibit at a show, find groups within your industry where you could announce it.

Keep in mind that promotion and spam are not the same thing – if you post something with no value for the reader, the strategy will backfire quickly. Better not do anything.

What you should do is trigger people’s interest, make them want to find out more and engage with you. If you find the right angle to get people interested, comments will flow, people within your industry will share, and you will increase your reach in no time.

The power of your people

But there is something even more powerful than groups, and many companies ignore this tool, scared of losing control.

If people tend to ignore / overlook company posts, they are much more interested in genuine messages from fellow contacts.

Think about it: your LinkedIn page may have a few hundred followers who rarely engage, but each of your colleagues has at least as many contacts, happy to engage anytime they are talked to.

Transform your team into brand ambassadors, ask for their help and get them to share the news online.

How to control the message?

That’s the trick: for this strategy to work, you should NOT try to control the message. No one knows better than your colleagues how to engage with their own network. For a message to be well received, it must have the tone of voice of the person writing it.

Give your team some background information (what you need to achieve, why you do that, what you wish to communicate, etc.) and encourage them to spread the word.

If your team members like what they do, they will proudly make an announcement on their own page and reach many new eyeballs. If they are not, well… you may have bigger issues than promoting your booth!

The key here is to not force anyone. If you force someone to share and control the message, you will fail and upset your team.  You should be able to trust the people you work with.

Where to send readers?

This is a question many people ask: “I know I should promote my booth, but what link should I give my readers to find out more?”

Your website isn’t specific enough, your Facebook page has too much random content, a pdf isn’t practical. So where should you send your potential visitors?

Build a page dedicated to promoting your booth that will talk about nothing but “why should you come visit our booth”.

 

You should now be all set for your next trade show promotion with LinkedIn – time to work!

Feel free to share your thoughts and experience with us below, we’re always glad to hear your ideas!

 

The Exhibitor.