I don’t need to tell you that in this economy, it’s more important than ever to find ways that can help your trade show business stand above the crowd. Not only do you want to keep competition at bay, but you also want to use the best tradeshow marketing approaches that can help you succeed. And in today’s world, Social Media has become the ticket for attracting new business.

Social Media: It’s here to Stay

Although social media has already made a huge impact in the marketplace, there are still many conventions and trade show organizations that are not taking full advantage of this newer way to communicate with potential buyers. In case you’re a little behind the times, Facebook and other social media networks such as Linkedin, Twitter, YouTube and MySpace allow you to participate in a dialogue that takes place online. It is by far one of the best ways to promote your trade show because your audience is vast.

Take Advantage of Social Media

For the sake of this article, let’s talk about Facebook in particular, as it has become an important component of countless businesses on the net. Why has it grown in popularity? When you think about all the people that are now using Facebook, the potential buyers waiting to learn about your trade show and product are almost inconceivable. The numbers in fact are staggering.

Statistics say that approximately 500 million people are already using Facebook and the numbers are growing every day. Statistically, 50% of active users log onto Facebook in any given day. Each average user has 130 friends and people spend over 700 billion minutes per month on face book. In addition, there are more than 70 translations available on the site. Since April 2010, approximately 10,000 new websites have integrated with Facebook every day. Overall, more than 2 million websites have integrated with Facebook. In fact, every month, more than 250 million people engage with Facebook on external websites.

So, if you plan on implementing convention marketing strategies that present your company or product at a trade show, the prospect of reaching a phenomenal number of buyers via social media is off the charts. And since everyone wants to know what’s hot, you can get a jump on your trade fair or exposition by sharing information on Facebook long before buyers arrive at your trade show.

What Social Media Achieves

The most important aspect about using social media for convention marketing and trade show attractions is that it draws in attention, generates conversation and encourages contacts. In a nutshell, you can use Facebook or other social media outlets to gain new clients, stay in touch with current clients, share information about your products and promote your tradeshow attractions without spending a penny. Yes, you heard me. Social media such as Facebook can support you in leveraging your business because it allows you to share important details about your products or services free of charge. You can also advertise, but we’ll leave that subject for another article.

Social Media Helps Improve on Buyer Relations

Social media has certainly become the most definitive aspect of this new technological age. So, in the game of trade show and convention marketing, it is unquestionable that social media can help improve on buyer relations. Why not take advantage of Facebook by creating a Facebook page thereby giving your business a strong identity on the web? You can use Facebook to post pictures, messages, and even videos. Remember, every time one person becomes a fan of your Facebook page, all their friends see the same page. And what that means to you is unparalleled exposure of your product or company.

Jonathan Edelman provides helpful advice about trade show strategies. With years of experience in the trenches, he is an expert on booth displays, follow up techniques, and using trade show marketing strategies to boost revenue.