Nothing can replace the face-to-face interaction that trade shows provide. But with budgets tight and attendance down, today’s marketers need to ensure that every dollar spent is driving measurable results that add to their company’s bottom line.

Most marketers understand the importance of booth giveaways; they entice people to the table and reinforce a company’s brand. But in today’s economy, spending money on logoed pens or t-shirts that have no measurable ROI attached and no guarantee that they won’t end up in the trash bin makes no sense. So how do you turn that trade show giveaway into a high-performance incentive that captures leads and guarantees customer engagement ? Think digital promotions and social media.

The Multi-Pronged Power of Social Media Promotions

In the past two years, digital incentives have emerged as a powerful trade show tool because, in addition to driving booth traffic and reducing shipping and storage costs, their online delivery enables companies to generate post-show Web traffic.

But with the arrival of social media, savvy trade show marketers can accomplish even more by offering a trade show incentive that integrates digital incentives and online promotions with social media networks such as Facebook to build qualified customer and prospect business networks.

And once trade show attendees are part of your businesses’ social media network, you have an instant way to:

• Share ongoing information, news about your company
• Engage and interact with your customers and prospects
• Build an virtual customer loyalty program

Along with building your business’s social media f an base, you can use a social media promotion to capture valuable data through a survey or quiz. And because the trade show prizes aren’t given away until people become a fan of your Facebook page, measuring ROI is easy.

Three Steps to Launching a Social Media Promotion for Your Next Trade Show

• Team up with a digital promotions specialist that can build an instant win promotion for your Facebook page.
  • If you haven’t already launched a Facebook page for your business, get started now.
• Offer a compelling giveaway, such as a large prizes sweepstakes, or an Instant Win promotion that features guaranteed prizes such as music downloads with the chance to win bigger prizes such as a gift card or iPod.
• Advertise the promotion via company-branded postcards that are given away at your trade show or event. To find out what they have won, prospects must first become a fan on your Facebook page, giving you a forum to keep them engaged and abreast of your company’s news, promotions and new products and services.

Interested in Experiencing the Power of Social Media Promotions? Demo our Instant Win promotion by becoming a fan at facebook.com/rcstrategiesgroup and clicking on the Instant Win button in the top blue navigation bar. As a thank you, you’ll automatically win music downloads and may even walk away with a $20 Amazon gift card or an iPod Touch. Everyone Wins!