10 of the Best Tips to Get Twitter Followers at Trade Shows

Don’t miss out on these tips to get Twitter followers before you head to your next trade show.

There isn’t much that matches the excitement of a trade show. It’s a chance to immerse yourself in your chosen industry. Everyone can share your joys, your frustrations, your story about that customer who surprised you with an invitation to their wedding.

But trade shows aren’t just for having fun; they’re for promoting your business and making connections. They’re an enormous opportunity for marketing. And to make the most of that marketing, you want to connect with people before, during, and after the event. How? Social media is a proven way to do just that. You just need to follow a few tips to get Twitter followers so you can build relationships far beyond the walls of the trade show.

Why Twitter? It’s certainly not the only social media platform available, but when it comes to trade shows, it is perhaps the quickest and easiest to use. But, of course, if you’re going to use Twitter, you need followers.

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10 Tips to get Twitter followers at your next event

1. Be active on your platform

Maintain a regular presence on Twitter throughout the year. If you only post during an event, people will lose interest. Plus, it looks like you aren’t interested in anything other than marketing.

2. Don’t just market your business

Twitter is for sharing. You can market your business, but you have to be a community member first, and a marketer second. This is true not just at trade shows, but all the time. Contribute to conversations, compliment good ideas, and even mentor similar businesses that might be new to the trade.

3. Be an expert

People come from all over for trade shows. Use your Twitter presence to share information about the show. Post about a cool vendor you met at setup. Tweet the location of the best coffee cart. Mention the great bookstore two blocks away you found on your way in. You get the idea.

4. Use the @ regularly

The “@” is the Twitter version of a direct address. For instance, say the bookstore you found is City Bookstore, and their Twitter handle is @CityBookstore. When you Tweet using the “@CityBookstore”, they get a notification and anyone that sees your comment can click on their name and go straight to their page to find out where they are, their hours, and so forth. And when you mention another business, everyone who follows them sees your comment if they “like” it or reply.

5. Use hashtags

There is a lot of strategy that can go into using hashtags on Twitter, but the gist is that they categorize Tweets, and they’re especially useful for trade shows, conventions, and other significant events. An established trade show probably has a hashtag already, so feel free to use it for anything trade show related. But don’t be afraid to add your own hashtags, too, that relate to your product or service.

6. Don’t spam

You do want to tag people when you mention them, and you do want to use hashtags, but don’t spam. If @CityBookstore doesn’t respond to your earlier Tweet, let it be. Don’t keep tagging them.

7. Make your Twitter handle visible

While most tips to get Twitter followers happen online, this one lives in the physical world. Make sure your Twitter handle is on all of your materials, from business cards to your signage to your marketing material.

8. Make your Tweets visible

This is different from the last one, in that your actual Twitter feed (or the feed from a hashtag of your choosing) becomes visible right there in your booth for everyone to see. Use Everwall to create a customized social media wall that will help spread the word. The # symbol has served many purposes, but using hashtags for business is the newest way to boost a company’s influence and reach.

9. Be sociable

Yes, be sociable online, but carry that over to your in-person interactions, as well. You’ll meet plenty of people, and your winning personality will have them running straight to Twitter to follow you. And since your Twitter handle is on your business card and visible at your booth, it will be easy for them to find you.

10. Schedule Tweets ahead of time

Use a tool like Buffer to schedule some of your Tweets in advance. You can’t plan all of your social media in advance (it is social, after all) but you can schedule some ahead of time, such as your booth location, what products you’ll have with you, or invitations to visit your booth.

Bonus Tip: Quality is better than quantity

No matter how many tips to get Twitter followers you use or master, it’s important to remember that ten dedicated, engaged followers are better than 50 who don’t care about you. So go in with a plan, follow through on your strategy, but don’t get stuck on numbers. Enjoy the trade show, do what you do, and the rest will come naturally.