Social Media B2B

Almost every B2B company invests part of its marketing budget in trade shows. It is one tried and true method of lead generation. The problem with trade shows is that they aren’t cheap, and they are a big line item on the marketing budget. So if your company is making the investment, then it should do everything it can to squeeze out every last drop of value. This need for value, combined with cut travel budgets across all industries, means that the solution to this problem is social media.

This post is meant to be a straight forward how-to. The list below is five things you can start working on today and implement at your next trade show.

1. Pongr/QR codes – Trade shows are the perfect place to bring the offline and the online world together. I have been a big fan of QR codes for a while now and Jason Falls reviews another solution called Pongr. Regardless which platform you choose to use, both allow you to connect an image in a trade show booth to an online element that gives it more depth.

Example: A new product demo station at the booth has QR codes that link directly to mobile phone formatted spec sheets with order forms.

2. Facebook SMS – Facebook is a great platform especially if you company does not have a blog of its own. A new feature to Facebook fan pages makes them a great tool for trade show engagement. Once you have established a Facebook fan page for your company or product, you can have people text a command (see image above) to become and fan and subscribe to SMS updates. The SMS is the killer feature here, because if you are organizing a party or event at a trade show you can send one brief message to alert everyone of a time change or to encourage them to attend.

Example: Display the Facebook text command and encourage people to join by offering exclusive discounts or giveaways.

3. Live Stream – For better or worse most B2B companies pick trade shows as the spot for major announcements. They are also normally one of the few times national teams are together. Leverage this opportunity as a way to connect with your customers. Use free platforms like Ustream.tv or LiveStream.com to stream live video of company announcements or to do a live Q and A with company leaders. Both streaming platforms provide chat capabilities that allow you to directly react to feedback from those watching.

Example: Stream a news conference and use the chat feature to take questions from reporters and bloggers that could not attend the trade show.

4. Customer Interviews – Trade shows are a great opportunity for listening. Purchase a small camcorder like a Flip cam or a Kodak Zi6, along with a tripod, and interview your customers or potential customers. Ask them questions about their business and their thoughts on the current state of the industry. Give people the opportunity to talk about themselves.

Example: Interview trade show attendees and upload the videos to YouTube or another video sharing service. Feature the videos on your company blog, Facebook page, etc. and follow up with the person in the video to let them know they have been featured. They will then share the video with their coworkers and peers, which will increase traffic and help to generate leads.

5. Live Tweeting – Budget cuts means less people can attend trade shows, but people still want to follow the action and know what’s happening. Live tweeting remarks from speakers and panel discussions is a great way to get the attention of potential customers that couldn’t attend the event.

Example: Using a computer or cell phone tweet the major quotes from a keynote speaker. Beforehand set up a widget on your company site to display your tweets using a service like Tweetgrid. Before the trade show promote that people wishing to follow the conference can visit your site and follow along with the Twitter widget.

Have you done any of these? Will you?

Kipp Bodnar is publisher of SocialMediaB2B.com. Follow Kipp on Twitter @kippbodnar.