The concept of social media walls is rich with potential and is a great way to help your trade show display stand out. The gist of any social media wall is as follows: you gather all relevant social media output regarding your company at a trade show and then put it on display for other attendees to see. While this may sound simple, you need to ensure that your design is clever and that you execute it with precision in order to get the full value.
Here are 10 elements of successful social media walls that will help you deliver a bigger impact at your next trade show.
1.) Bring Your Social Media Wall to Life
Instead of just showing content with basic templates, you can create custom templates to match the event you’re attending. Your templates can feature anything from your company logo and website to social media covers with hearts exploding out of them. There is a design template for every company that matches up with their brand and the event you’re attending.
2.) Images, Images, and More Images
There are few things people enjoy seeing more than their name in the lights. One of these things is their picture! Photos of attendees interacting with products are among the most common types of photos shared via social media walls. So how do you present these photos? You can go with any one of a number of styles – big photos, square photos, circle photos, small photos, scrolling photos, and bursting photos are among some of the more popular options. More importantly, you’ll want all of your photos to move. After all, nobody likes anything static these days.
3.) Put Your Content in Motion
Animating is a key element to any successful social media wall since it causes people to stop and look. Your audience’s messages and pictures can float, flip, scroll, and pop. No matter how you animate your user-generated content, it will make your social media wall more interesting.
4.) Highlight Your Brand via Your Social Media Wall
You’ll want to showcase your brand colors, themes, and logo on your social media wall. You can even include the event’s logo and the hashtag you want people to include in the message/photo they share. Don’t forget the include the main message or call-to-action that you want attendees to remember.
5.) Incorporate Branded Slide Shows
You can include slides featuring full-screen graphics at various intervals. These full-screen slides can highlight your products, offers, branding, or other important announcements. You can highlight speakers, industry thought leaders, and much, much more. If you’re presenting on multiple screens, you can create and time your slides to match your marketing objectives.
6.) Create Games and Include Leaderboards on Your Social Media Wall
This is a great way to encourage attendee participation. You also get visuals that constantly update when you incorporate some sort of competition, such as ranking those who share the most content (messages, photos, retweets, etc.). You can also include prizes for those who share the most content.
7.) Include Social Videos on Your Social Media Wall
Video content is among the most powerful social content that you can share these days, so encourage attendees to capture and share short videos.
8.) Frame User Content with Cool Fames and Bright Colors
Framing social shares in different shapes and sizes is a great way to separate content. You can use bright colors to make images even more vivid and make them pop. Bright colors are by no means a requirement, especially if they don’t coordinate with your branding.
9.) Incorporate WordClouds
Popular WordClouds allow attendees to literally see the “buzz” of the show. You can include WordClouds that feature the most shared terms in the messages shared via your social media wall.
10.) Social Metrics
Social media walls are a great way to reveal the amount and timing of social activity associated with the event. You can share these metrics via enticing graphics that feature vibrant colors and interesting designs.
Closing Thoughts
Social media walls are a great way to drive engagement among attendees who visit your trade show display. When executed correctly with great design your company can improve its event ROI and increase overall brand awareness too. All in all, social media walls have the potential to make a lasting impact on both current and potential clients who visit your display.
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