Over the past few years there has been a social media evolution taking place with Super Bowl commercials. Super Bowl advertisers are now leveraging social media to allow the audience to build a deeper relationship with the products and brands being advertised. Although advertising during the Super Bowl is too expensive for most B2B marketers, try taking a page out of the Super Bowl advertiser’s social media playbook.

In the B2B world, the trade show is the Super Bowl of the industry it represents. Be it CONEXPO held every three years, or Green Build held every year, the show itself is the event that generates lots of media attention and audience interest in the same way the Super Bowl does. B2B marketers can learn from Super Bowl advertisers, and leverage social media to build stronger relationships within their industry, and among target customers. Leveraging social media in conjunction with a trade show will not only build a stronger relationship with the show attendees, but can extend the marketing reach to all people who are involved in the industry that the trade show represents.

The social interaction does not need to be overly complicated. I actually think that keeping it simple, but integrating with your marketing efforts will deliver the best results. Here are five fairly easy ways to turn any trade show into a marketing Super Bowl:  

1. Review the types of social media the trade show is utilizing. Do they have a Facebook page, LinkedIn Group or Twitter Feed that can be leveraged? 
2. Make sure to include your company’s Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube information on all marketing materials including press releases, ads, and on your website.
3. Consider videotaping and posting to your YouTube channel any demonstrations or presentations that your company is doing at the show. If you have a video that you will be using at the show, post it prior to the show and promote it, just like Volkswagen did with their Passat Little Darth Vader commercial.
4. Leverage the live streaming ability of social media to do live updates about what is happening in your booth. These could include Tweets or Facebook posts.
5. Encourage people to check into your booth with location tagging on either Facebook or Foursquare. To entice check-ins consider a special offer, like a t-shirt or a drawing for a larger prize.

Have you seen any good social media usage at a trade show recently? Please share it with us.