Making the Most of your PR & Social Media through Exhibiting at The South West Business Expo

We all know that Expos and business exhibitions are a great way to establish yourself within the marketplace - or you wouldn’t be coming along. We all hope that by investing in a stand and all the branding, we’ll be meeting current and future customers all under one roof. 

But if we don’t capitalise on every opportunity that we have made through, then it can end up a huge waste of time and money. But it happens - a lot! So here are six common mistakes exhibitors make with PR & Social Media. You can choose which ones you want to avoid!

Mistake 1: Missing the Media Opportunities

The South West Business Expo is big! So it’s important to make full use of the marketing opportunities. It’s the second largest in the UK - and you are a part of it!

The media are aware of it - but are they aware of you? If they preview it beforehand, and use some exhibitors for comment, will they use you? Will they follow up with you afterwards to find out how you got on? If you’re on top of your PR then you’ll already know that they come to you for comment - if not, now is the time to make contact and let them know who you are. 

Do you know who the media partners are that are supporting the Expo? It’s Grow Magazine. https://grow-media.co.uk/

• Have you made a call to them to see if there’s any way that you can be a part of their pre-show features? 
• Can you supply them with interesting info, product news, photography and launch information in plenty of time for their deadlines?
• Could you also place case studies with your industries trade titles and add into them that you will be at the Expo? 

Mistake 2: Not Working with the Organisers

The South West Business Expo is free to attend for visitors, therefore Dave & Annabel aren’t directly making money out of the visitor. The income comes from selling stand space. So its important that they keep you happy; use their experience and expertise to get your stand and your presence absolutely right. Yet very few exhibitors ever do!

Did you ask for a speaking slot? If you know you could offer a talk that has real value and gives you the chance to demonstrate your expertise - then why not use this as your opportunity? Whilst the spaces at the Expo may be full - keep this in mind for future shows and exhibitions.

Mistake 3: Poor Show Build-up

How many of your clients, customers or prospects have you told that you will be at the Expo? It isn’t just Dave and Annabel’s job to get the audience along. Fact if every exhibitor bought 10 new people to the expo that puts 2,800 more people in the room!

During the build up, weave your presence at the show into your newsletters, onto your website and in your email signature “see us at the Expo…” Don’t miss the opportunity to personally prime prospective visitors to head over to your stand. Ensure your social activity also follows the stand build, the exhibition build-up etc; keeping everyone up-to-speed with the developments.

Have you spoke to Dave and Annabel about their email blasts and asked if you can supply content? Offer something of value and therefore help them to convert potential visitors into attendees. This could be anything from vouchers or consultations, through to results from a research report or an expert guide. Whatever you offer, it should be appropriate to your business and your potential visitors.

Plan to announce something, or launch a new service or product. Use it to appear in the news prior to the event! Create a buzz about what you will be announcing. PR needs to drive traffic to your exhibition space.

Make sure you’ve submitted images, video, press releases and social links to Dave and Annabel for the website and also for us. You never know what we might be able to do for you!

Mistake 4: Not Standing-out at the Show

When you are at a show you are competing for visitor attention, often against 100s of other businesses, so if you are a smaller exhibitor, with a small stand, it is easy to get lost in the crowd. 

Make sure that you distinguish yourself from the rest with your USPs clearly visible for all to see.

Try to unveil or launch a new product or service or make it sound like something exciting is happening on your stand. For instance, you could use the event to: offer a free business health check, provide some training, have a relevant well-known expert on your stand at certain times, have an unusual product demonstration, launch some major research findings…

Whatever you do make sure that you data capture your visitors’ details!

On-stand behaviour, believe it or not, is also an important part of your PR! Don’t overdo the day out of the office by partying too hard. You need to be bright eyed and bushy tailed! 

Choose your Expo team wisely! Make sure they are well groomed, approachable, with good listening skills, and are knowledgeable about the brand and product/service!

Mistake 5: Failing to Follow up after the Show

Sounds mad doesn’t it?

Much of the Expo’s success will lie in the follow up! Yet, many companies, despite investing to appear at a show, networking and devoting lots of hours to exhibit, don’t follow up with visitors effectively afterwards.

At the latest, within 48 hours of the show have all visitors onto a database and send them a follow up email.

Mistake 6: Failure to Plan Social Media Effectively and Implement it Strategically

Make sure your team are ‘social’ and proactively using the platforms that your customers use to engage them whilst they are at the exhibition and from afar. Photos, video and live blogging is all great!

Make sure you use the official hashtag of the exhibition #SWBExpo 

This ensures you are visible to all attendees following the hashtag, not just your own audience. Last year the expo hashtag reached 1million impressions and it’s only going to be bigger this year. You want to be part of that exposure don’t you?

Before the show

• Follow exhibitors in advance, keynote speakers, sponsors and partners. You can also create an Expo list on twitter for ease.
• Facebook - how about building your own event page? Invite your followers along to the Expo and start conversations with them in advance. 
• Create videos in advance showcasing any new courses or services that you are planning on introducing during the show. Post these videos on sites like YouTube, instagram or insta TV so that they can easily be shared before and after the show.
• Depending on your set-up - do a time-lapse of the set up. Hide something during the time-lapse and people have to tell you what it was and where it went. 
• Take eye-catching photos of your booth, your products, or prizes that you plan on giving away to encourage people to drop by.
• Remember to connect with anyone who gave you a business card or contact information during the show through sites like LinkedIn or Twitter. Send them a direct message to remind them about your business and to let them know that you remember them.

At the Show

• Put special content on to stories. If you’re doing a talk - then introduce it via a short film - or pose questions that will be answered during the talk. 
• Get a colleague to film the talk to be used at another time. You could post it - or a transcript to LinkedIn afterwards.
• Get short filmed reviews from people after the talk?
• If someone is praising your products or stand during the event, ask them if you can share their story as a testimonial. You can either do it through video or by taking a photo and supplementing it with text.
• Take pics of the stand when it’s busy and out them on social.

After the Show

• Connect with new contacts on social and Linkedin or send direct messages.
• Create a blog post after the show and list your success stories - with photos. 

That’s it. Six mistakes to avoid! It’s not too late to avoid making many of them!