Digital PR for trade shows isn’t just about press coverage. It involves a strategic approach to amplifying your presence, generating buzz before you arrive and keeping your brand front of mind long after the event ends.
Exhibitions and trade shows can be part of a strategic brand strategy to network and find prospective customers, but with hundreds of stands, standing out is not easy. This is where digital PR comes in.
What is digital PR?
Firstly, before we dive into our top digital PR tips trade shows and exhibitions, let’s break down what digital PR really means.
Digital PR builds on the foundations of traditional public relations, combining storytelling and media outreach with the power of online platforms. In B2B marketing, it goes beyond press coverage in magazines, placing a strong emphasis on earning backlinks, boosting SEO and driving online visibility.
Through strategic B2B digital PR, construction and manufacturing brands can expand their reach, tap into new markets and be visible in a crowded digital landscape. It also creates valuable opportunities for social media engagement, including collaborations with industry influencers to generate interest and media coverage during and after exhibitions.
From securing articles in the most relevant publications to positioning your brand as a thought leader, digital PR is about meeting your audience where they are and keeping your presence strong long after the exhibition ends.
5 Digital PR tactics for trade shows
- Pre-event: Create a story before the show even starts
You don’t need to wait until the event to get attention. In fact, the real visibility starts weeks and even months before the exhibition. Use your website, email campaigns and social channels to let your audience know you’ll be attending and where to find you.
We often pitch stories to trade publications and industry media ahead of time, as editors are looking for stories linked to major exhibitions. Give them something newsworthy, such as a product launch, a brand story or a thought leadership article to really gain their interest.
Working with our construction and manufacturing clients to write content, we help to maximise their presence at trade shows. Most recently, we’ve invited editors to join our clients at a major international rail exhibition in Germany, including hosting an event, providing product demonstrations and enabling journalists and influencers to get a preview of our client’s new product.
We also seek and secure speaker and panel opportunities, positioning our clients as thought leaders in front of the right audiences. Whether it’s delivering a keynote, joining an expert panel or leading a technical workshop, these opportunities not only boost brand credibility but also create valuable opportunities to reach potential customers, partners and industry influencers.
- Leverage social media influencers
Influencer marketing isn’t just for consumer brands. In B2B construction and manufacturing industries, experts and influencers have just as much impact, helping your brand to amplify its voice and reach wider markets.
Working with a digital PR and social media agency like ourselves, we can help you partner with relevant influencers to talk about your appearance at trade shows and products. Here are some ways to engage with industry influencers:
- Invite them to your stand for demos or interviews
- Create an after-event evening show providing an exclusive look into products
- Encourage them to share behind the scene content across social media
- Offer incentives for engaging content
For more tips and guidance on engaging with industry influencers and navigating the influencer world, read our guide to B2B influencer marketing.
- Create shareable content
You’re already at the exhibition, talking to partners, launching products or speaking on panels. Utilise all of this to capture content during the event.
- Share behind the scenes videos of setting up your booth
- Video a day in the life at a trade show
- Listen to speakers and post thought leadership takeaways
- Interview your team at the booth showcasing why people should visit your stand
- Post a Q&A from your team, clients and visitors on the exhibition floor
- Engage with the right channels
Many exhibitions have official pages and digital communities, even sharing their own hashtags and live streams. Utilise this to join the conversation and create your own engaging content.
- Use official event hashtags to show up in real-time discussions
- Tag the event organisers and sponsors in social media content
- Comment and interact with other exhibitors and media accounts
- See if the event organisers are holding a live stream and ask if there is a possibility that your expert can be interviewed.
- Share post-event coverage
Digital PR campaigns don’t just end when the trade show does. After the event, you have the opportunity to write compelling recap blogs and thank you posts, to sharing key take aways, securing post-event press coverage and engaging with influencers, all of which we can handle for you.
With the right digital PR strategy for trade shows, we can transform a single day exhibition into weeks of visibility, media exposure and thought leadership opportunities.
For B2B brands, exhibitions are more than just a networking gig, it’s an opportunity to tell your story to a highly relevant audience. With a PR agency that specialises in digital PR for construction, manufacturing, engineering and industrial sectors, we can amplify your brand, secure media coverage, build lasting relationships and cut through the noise at exhibitions.
Next time you plan your exhibition strategy, don’t just think about designs and printed materials. Think about your online presence and creating a lasting impact.
As a dedicated manufacturing and construction PR agency based in South Yorkshire, we have vast experience in creating digital PR campaigns for B2B clients. We also have an extensive network of B2B influencers across LinkedIn, TikTok and Instagram.
If you’re interested in exploring digital PR for trade shows or influencer marketing for your brand, don’t hesitate to get in touch.
