Tradeshow Marketing: CosmoProf 2014

Posted on July 21, 2014 Updated on July 21, 2014

CosmoProf North America is a B2B tradeshow that focuses on the beauty industry. Attendees range from hair and nail care professionals to wellness center and spa owners. For this week’s class assignment, I have been asked to follow CosmoProf on social media and analyze their social media strategy from an external perspective. The show, which took place July 13-17 was  interesting to follow and not at all what I expected. While I am no stranger to social media engagement tradeshow strategies, the beauty industry was not the type of tradeshow I’m used to. Even though this show was not centered on the wire and cable industry (what I’m accustomed to), the social media strategy shared many of the same techniques and elements. Below, you will find an outline of how CosmoProf utilized each social media channel before, during, and after the show. Some channels were used well. However, the social media plan for other channels may need to be reconsidered prior to next year’s show. While these are just my opinions, I have represented my company at dozens of tradeshows within the past several years and have learned a thing or two by means of trial and error.

Basic Show Numbers (Based on Information from CosmoProf’s Website):

• 26,000+ Visitors, Representing 104 Countries
• 911 Exhibitors, Representing 37 Countries
• 278 Accredited Members of the Press in Attendance

Facebook: Does CosmoProf Exhibit the True Face of Beauty?

With over 5,000 fans, CosmoProf’s Facebook page represents 19% of the registered show attendees. One of the first things I noticed about their Facebook page is the use of hashtags. Although Facebook gives you the option to use hashtags, you don’t see them very often. Although it is great that the brand is embracing hashtags, many people don’t use hashtags to search on Facebook. Another thing that I noticed about the Facebook page is how images are used. Some of the images are not optimized for Facebook viewing. The coverpage image, for example, is partially covered up by homepage buttons. Perhaps this image was reused and not primarily created for Facebook. I hope the text in the bottom right corner isn’t very important.

 

*Note: Image is Cut-off on Right Side*

Prior to the show, the page was used to promote the upcoming show and encourage  attendees to become involved in social media. I really like how the page encourages their B2B audience to interact not only with their page but with other B2B companies in the industry. Teaser posts were also created to talk about the speakers that were attending the show.

During the show, CosmoProf was actively posting on Facebook. Interestingly enough, there were no social media posts for four days prior to the show or on the first day. Perhaps the person in charge of social media got overwhelmed and forgot about posting on Facebook? It happens. For the remainder of the show, posts were created that promoted products and gave daily recaps of the show. There were not very many posts. The posts that they did have didn’t seem to resonate with their audience, as the number of likes and shares were very low. There was no interaction on Facebook after the show ended. I would have liked to seen a “Thank You for Attending” post to close out the show.

Twitter: Beautiful Tweets Are in the Air

CosmoProf’s Twitter page has 2,942 followers. While this is half the amount of followers from their Facebook page, their Twitter followers seem to be more engaged. Quality over quantity, right? The Twitter page is monitored and managed year-round. Posts range from how to’s for the B2B beauty industry to industry wide topics such as Birchbox moving into retail. There is a wealth of information on this page that doesn’t necessarily pertain to the tradeshow. This created value for the target audience.

*Notice the Lack of Images and a Cohesive Hashtag*

My first impression of show from following on Twitter was “Wow. There must be a lot of nail polish booths”, as the majority of images that were posted on twitter were focused on nail polish. Although there were a lot of posts about other products as well, there weren’t any pictures associated with those posts. During the show, there was a good mix of retweets and original posts. I was glad to see how many attendees interacted with the show on Twitter. From my experience, Twitter is the best social media outlet for use as part of a tradeshow strategy. One thing that the tweets lacked was a common show-specific hashtag. While it looks like some attendees tried to start a hashtag, it didn’t take off. The conversation seemed to be a bit all over the place because there was no hashtag holding everything together. For tradeshow marketing, hastags are like Spanx… without them, your stuff goes everywhere! I was glad to see that there was an official closing post for Twitter.

Instagram: A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

With almost 2,900 followers, the CosmoProf Instagram should be a staple in the company’s integrated marketing strategy for the show. However, while there were several posts for the show, I feel like Instagram was underutilized. The most user engagement for the tradeshow occurred on Instagram. With the beauty industry being so image driven, more photos should have been taken and shared. On Facebook and Twitter, you had a handful of interactions. On Instagram, however, posts had an average of 50 likes each. This helps tell you what your audience wants to see.

During the show, product/exhibitor posts were made. Many of these images were also used on Twitter. One thing that I have to be critical about is the low quality of images that were used. Some of the images were really dark and hard to see while others seemed random and unrelated to the show. I feel like there should have been more though put into the photo content on the page. Like Facebook, there was no closing post thanking attendees for a great show.

 

Other Social Media Pages and the Website:

Along with Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, CosmoProf has Pinterest and LinkedIn pages. There may be some engagement on their LinkedIn group, however, it is set to private. Also, it’s difficult to determine when posts were created on Pinterest. I feel like these social media channels were left out of the IMC strategy.

Aside from the social media icons on their website, CosmoProf doesn’t seem to integrate their website with social media. For the beauty industry, I feel like there should be more integration and consistency between sites. I also feel that their website design should be more reflective of the industry. It seems very plain and generic. With all the glitz and glamor of the industry, it deserves more!

The exhibitors obviously have awesome products and there is large attendee base. This tradeshow has the potential to embrace social media and use it to their advantage. They could create large social media walls (TV monitors) that display the recent Twitter feed and Instagram posts. This would encourage their audience to become more involved. Unfortunately, I didn’t see a lot of this. I hate to say it, but tradeshows for the wire and cable industry leverage social media way better than this.

What’s the Bottom Line?

If there was indeed a social media strategy for the show, it was very hard to determine what it was. Because social media is so big and can be leveraged to better reach and engage with your audience, you can’t afford to let it be an afterthought. It needs to be incorporated into the show strategy from the very beginning. Even your website needs to reflect your social media involvement and take on characteristics of your industry. What does your audience want to see? What will they see with your exhibitors? The energy level given off by the show and the show exhibitors need to match. I see so much potential for next year’s show. By making social media part of your overall strategy, you will see a big difference in your attendees and exhibitors. Great products and companies deserve a great show!