Conferences and expos generally last a few days and then you have to wait a year for the next one. During that moment in time, thousands of exhibitors, attendees, media and professionals flock to one location to all meet each other to do business and find out what's new in the industry.
There are generally a few months of ramp up to the show when exhibitors reach out to attendees, pitch the media and set up meetings through the various social networks and apps that are provided by the show.
There is so much news, information and rich media that exhibitors can publish digitally to send out to the attendees and media when they exhibit at a show. Standing at a booth is great, but they need to do everything possible to get people to come over and learn more about them.
Think of it as a pyramid with the show at the top, exhibitors in the middle and attendees at the bottom. Your goal is to harness the power at each level. So here are three ways that a show can crowdsource content that creates a win/win/win scenario for everyone.
1. The show sharing the exhibitor news/information digitally
Exhibitors produce a lot of news and information that they want everyone at the show to know about. Make sure to ask them for all of it so that you (the show organizer) can use that content for marketing, social media and PR outreach for the media.
By sharing the exhibitor news, you can better inform everyone coming to the show what they can expect, help them find what they want and support your exhibitors to strengthen your relationships.
2. The exhibitor sharing all of their information digitally
Show organizers need to encourage their exhibitors to share their news and information before the show starts to reach a community that they can't. Every company has some type of following — whether it be big or small — that the show can tap into by having their exhibitors share their news with them.
This will not only help educate the exhibitor's community but will also make them more aware of the show and curious about what else is there.
3. Attendees of the show and everyone who can't be there sharing the news
At this point, the show community is saturated with the organizers and exhibitors sharing news, but there is still huge potential for more reach. Virality occurs when everyone not involved directly shares the news because they find it interesting and can reach the masses that would otherwise be impossible.
Bonus: The news is online digitally for serendipitous discovery
If all of this news is online before, during and after a show, it can still be found, shared and discovered at all times. You can't boil the ocean at once, but you can definitely do it over time.
Exhibitors are paying top dollar for a booth, marketing collateral materials, props and handouts, travel and hotel accommodations for the staff to attend the show, so why not make the most of it? Help exhibitors complement their physical presence with a digital one.
