Bespoke exhibition stands can generate good results for your business, be it sales or leads. But often, their lifespan only lasts the duration of the event. For a longer-lasting impact, you need to look for ways to give your stand a life outside the event. One of the most effective ways to do this is by integrating social media with your exhibition stands.
As of April 2024, there were approximately 5.07 billion social media users worldwide. That is a large audience that could be reached and puts into perspective the small number of people who attend the event. This is why adding social media to your exhibition stand design can have such a great impact, as it raises awareness of your brand and attendance at the event across multiple platforms for more eyes to see.
Additionally, social media will last longer than the event, meaning you can extend your stand’s life past the closure of the exhibition.
Of course, social media is an interactive marketing stream which can help your stand get more engagement as people engage with your stand to post on their social media platforms.
As you can see, there are many benefits to integrating social media with your exhibition stand. At Extreme Group, we have over 30 years of experience and have seen this develop, watching the impact it has on the exhibition stands we create and manage.
In this blog, we share three ways to incorporate social media into your exhibition stand to extend its life.
Make profiles easy to find
In order for people to share their experience at your stand with you on social media, they need to be able to find you on the platforms.
Make sure that your social media handles (your brand’s profile names that people can use to search and tag you) are displayed throughout your stand. This could be underneath your logo, next to images, on tables if you have a seating area or a slide on a screen.
An alternative way to integrate social media with your exhibition stand is to add a QR code. Visitors can scan this and be taken directly to your social media pages, where they can immediately share images and follow you.
Add hashtags
While it would be great if people were posting images and experiences about your stand, it would be even better if the posts were grouped for you and others to see and respond to.
You can do this by creating hashtags and displaying them on your stand. Place them next to your social media handles so people know they are related, and use them in your posts.
For hashtags to be effective in integrating social media with your exhibition stand, there are a few best practices to follow when creating them:
- Research hashtags that are used by influencers and people in your industry.
- Keep it short, as longer hashtags are harder to read and give more opportunity for error.
- Don’t create too many. Stick to one or two for optimal impact.
- Be consistent in the capitalisation of words.
- Don’t be afraid to use some humour.
- Avoid spaces and symbols.
- Make sure it is relevant to your services, industry and brand.
Add photo opportunities
If you want people to post about your stand, you have to give them something to post about.
The easiest way to do this is to give them something to experience. Maybe this could be a tasting if you are promoting an ingredient or kitchen appliance, or it could be a replica of your equipment or machinery like Atlas Elektronic did by building a mock submarine, or you could provide photo booth props.
Everyone loves to get a bit silly with a photo booth, and these can be so easy to recreate. You don’t need a professional one to get people interacting. Simply supply a frame, some props and an open space with a blank background.
This is a great way to get visitors engaging with your stand and gives them something fun to share on social media.
Be sure to include your handles and any hashtags on the props – common places are at the bottom of the frame and on some of the props – so that it is obvious how people can tag you.
Make their life even easier by having someone man the station so your guests can easily get group shots with the whole setup in.
Let Our Experts Help
At Extreme Group, we have watched the impact of social media grow, keenly keeping an eye on how such platforms can impact exhibition stands and their goals.
We were quick to start integrating the common platforms on the stands we were designing, and over the years, we have optimised the best ways to combine social media with your exhibition stand for the best results.
As we design your stand or brand environment, working to create something that will promote action and achieve your goals, we will also work with you to seamlessly incorporate your social media channels into the stand to encourage interaction at the event and outside it.
Going beyond design, we also offer a comprehensive logistics and management service, meaning you don’t have to worry about organising anything for the day, so you can be busy interacting with guests while we work hard to make sure everything you need is available for people to snap those pictures and share them online.
Interested in extending your stand’s life beyond the event through social media? Get in touch with us today by calling 01202 620550 or completing our online contact form. We are always happy to discuss ideas and share our knowledge and experience.
