On Thursday, February 16, 2012, the EDPA Midwest Chapter held a meeting at the Itasca Country Club in Itasca, Ill. The gathering was attended by roughly 45 people.
At the annual meeting, the Midwest Chapter produced an event on Growing Your Business Through Social Media.
Mark Fournier and Chris Starks provided arguments and strategies on the integration of social media into company’s current marketing programs. Fournier is the director of marketing at Brumark Flooring and has an extensive agency background. He is using social media in conjunction with traditional avenues of marketing to grow Brumark’s revenues and continue building the company’s brand. Starks is the founder of iSocial Media. Starks and his team develop advanced marketing programs using social media as the primary driver of business to its clients.
The event was moderated by Dan Greene, who posed questions ranging from basic knowledge of social media to specific marketing applications for companies in the tradeshow industry.
Jonathan Branca, who attended the event, contributed the following insight from the meeting and general information regarding social media:
About half way through the event, I realized that this event could last many more hours and we would have barely scratched the surface. As a result, there were a lot of unanswered questions, and I got the feeling was that some people were more confused when they left than when they showed up. What was particularly missing was how this all ties back to us as trade show professionals.
There were, however, many good points presented that night, but there simply wasn’t enough time in one event for such a new and dynamic topic. I certainly do not have all of the answers, as I am just now putting both feet into the social waters myself. But I wanted to share some of my own thoughts, reactions, and insights to help add to content presented that night.
1. Most of us don’t seem to know what to make of social media
Up until about 2003, like a lot of other marketing tools, the Internet was a one-way street. It was a place to show the world what you do. The shift that has occurred since, because of communication channels like Twitter or Facebook, is remarkable. It is now a place for communication to flow both ways.
But the term “social media” is very misleading, as it only elicits thoughts of these very specific channels. What we are really talking about here is how to best leverage the Internet as a sales tool.
2. Most people are looking at this thing the wrong way
As salespeople and business owners, we are programmed to sell, to grow business, to talk about features and benefits. So when we find a new platform to showcase our wares, it’s only natural that we’ll want to use what’s always worked.
The internet, however, has given tremendous power to the consumer. It’s given us access to endless information about products, who’s buying it, and what they think about it. You can literally ask Twitter from the parking lot from a restaurant what you should get and within seconds, the community will answer you back.
To move from an effort of one that pushes to one that pulls will be a tough paradigm shift for most. The true purpose of social media for business is not to sell, but to become part of a community. If you hang around long enough, are open and transparent and share interesting information, you’ll be in the peripheral of your prospects. And this builds trust much faster than leaving endless voicemails.
3. Consider the target
As an industry, we have a huge advantage. Our target market is Marketing. What do marketing people love to do? Market themselves and their companies. This means almost every single one of your prospects engages in social media.
You want to know why so many kids are majoring in Marketing? Because their job description now says that they have to be on this stuff all day engaging their community. Trust me, they are more than happy to include you in their communities, as it increases their follower numbers.
Follow, Like, and +1 all of your customers and prospects. Search them and add them.
4. We have a social media-friendly product
They say that “Content is King.” But the concern that a lot of people have with social media is not having anything to say.
The good news is that the most sharable and digestible content is of the visual variety. And fortunately for us, we live in a very visual world. The images, sounds, lights and innovation of the tradeshow world provide constant fodder to share. Think of all the amazing things that happen just in your shop alone.
Start documenting everything you do. With websites becoming more like digital brochures, there’s an awesome opportunity to supplement your boilerplate materials by streaming all the things you do and see with blogs, Twitter, and Facebook.
5. Those that do it well have an incredible opportunity
Soon, participation in social media for your business is not going to be an option. In fact, when all of the current high school, college and people fresh into the corporate world make their way up, it will be required or you simply will not get invited to the table. What are you going to do then?
Back in the day, marketers could out-billboard, out-commercial, out-print ad their competitors and quickly close gaps. Social following, engagement and trust take time, and there are no shortcuts. This is marathon, not a sprint.
6. The ROI Debate
What’s the ROI of your cell phone? How about your internet connection? How about the amazing reviews your best customer? You can’t easily calculate these because they border on the priceless.
ROI is a great thing to point at when we don’t want to do something, when we don’t want to get uncomfortable and learn something new. If we look at social media as an essential method of communication and an extension of your customer service instead of a marketing channel, the ROI conversations end.
My goal in attending the EDPA event was to pick up a few pearls of wisdom from some of the other exhibit companies out there doing social media well. I’d still like to do that. More importantly, I’d like to build my community of tradeshow professionals in order to learn, engage and help become incredible resources for our clients.
