No matter how many followers you have, there’s always room for more. There are endless tips and tricks for getting more followers on social media. For instance, you can share images your audience relates to, improve your posting times, use strong hashtags, and run fun contests to engage a wider audience.
These are all tried-and-true methods for generating followers, but what if you could generate followers in the real world? In other words, what if you could attend a business conference in another state and generate hundreds of new followers – in person – without engaging anyone through your social media accounts?
You can do exactly that with digital signage. The key is how, when, and where you use this wonderful technology. Used correctly, this technology can generate social media fans and followers virtually anywhere.
1. Start using digital signage at conferences and other gatherings
Do you present at conferences, trade shows, or conventions? What about smaller meetup groups? Start displaying digital signage wherever you host gatherings with a consumer audience.
Craft your ads to encourage people to add you on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc. Show people that your social media profiles are fun by displaying screen shots of your best conversations with fans. Make your messages interactive with a touchscreen display and encourage people to tap or swipe to see more of the fun.
You can also stream a real-time view of your Twitter feed on the side of the screen to capture the excitement as your attendees tweet to their friends about where they are, what they’re learning, and how much fun they’re having. Don’t forget to tell attendees to use your special hashtag.
Not sure you can use this technology in your industry? Think again. Digital signage will work in nearly any industry, as long as you have a captive audience.
If nobody else in your industry has adopted this technology, be the first. Early adopters get an increase in sales and brand awareness sometimes years before their competition begins to consider digital signs.
Digital signage is quickly becoming the standard
Digital signage is a fast-growing industry that’s expected to reach $31.71 billion by 2025. This technology is embraced by many industries including hospitality, education, retail, transportation, corporate, banking, and healthcare.
With digital signage, your company will save money while generating more fans (and possibly more sales). This technology is capable of creating personalized interactive experiences, displaying content on-demand, and is fully controlled in a web browser. This means you don’t need to fly your entire tech team out to an out-of-state conference – they can manage the technology from your office.
2. Incorporate a social media QR code into your digital signage
Even though the QR code didn’t become as popular as expected, it’s still a powerful marketing tool. Once you’ve got digital signage encouraging and inspiring people to follow you, include a QR code that opens your social media profile.
If you’re on multiple social media channels, don’t create a QR code for each platform. You don’t want to overwhelm people with too many choices or they may not scan any of your codes. You could create 5 individual screens that rotate through your social media profiles, but people may not wait for their preferred platform to be shown. If all they see is Twitter and Instagram for the first ten seconds, and they prefer Facebook, they might walk away before your Facebook QR code is displayed.
You want to simplify the process, not make it complicated. Create a QR code that takes the user to a webpage with icons that link to all of your social media profiles. This way, the user will only have to scan one code and then tap an icon to choose the social media platform where they want to follow you.
2. Run a contest and display a live feed of your social media page
Businesses run all kinds of contests on social media. For example, some hold a contest to answers quizzes and riddles, while others ask people to share their experiences with the company’s products or services.
When you run a contest like this, don’t just run it online. Plan these contests for a time when you’ll be hosting a booth at a trade show or running a seminar. Run the contests when you’re more likely to get a lot of people hyped up and excited about posting and sharing.
If your contest has a good prize, you’ll get plenty of activity on your social media account and that’s what you want people to see. Feed that activity to your digital signage in real time, and you’ll get more posts, shares, and contest entries. The more people your contest reaches, the more followers you’re likely to acquire.
Run a contest just for workshop/conference attendees
If you want to be exclusive, run a contest strictly for event attendees. You could simultaneously use the contest as a way to promote your business and future conferences. For example, you could have attendees post about what they learn during each segment of your presentation and randomly choose a winner during each break. The rest of the world will be viewing your event through the eyes of those who are experiencing it in real time, and you’re sure to get more followers.
To make sure everyone is aware of the contest before you announce it, place your digital signage on the wall where attendees wait in line to sign in, pay, and get banded.
3. Offer giveaways for new followers
When generating followers online, it’s impossible to give away prizes to everyone who follows you. The cost would be astronomical. However, if you run an event with a limited number of attendees, you can buy gifts in bulk and get a great deal on the cost.
A great event experience combined with a useful gift will make your attendees feel like they’re getting great value from your organization. Anyone paying for a workshop already has some skin in the game and is committed to whatever cause you’re promoting. A gift is just icing on the cake.
Don’t assume everyone who attends your workshop is already following you on social media. Some people don’t even follow their favorite brands and celebrities until they’re asked. So, don’t be afraid to ask your attendees to follow you on social media.
4. Display digital ads in a social media format
Today’s generation is used to seeing advertisements in Twitter and Instagram feeds. It makes sense to craft your ads, post them to social media, then project your post onto a digital screen as an advertisement. When people walk by a digital ad in the mall that looks like a Twitter feed, it’ll capture more attention than if it looked like a print ad.
5. Find out how other companies are using digital signage
Stuck for ideas? Start attending summits, conferences, and workshops to find out how others are getting followers in person.
Generate followers in person with digital signage
To generate followers with standard social media marketing techniques, you have to be at your computer or mobile device. With digital signage, you can take social media marketing wherever you go and generate followers in person.
If you’re looking for more social media followers, digital signage will give you a fierce advantage over competitors that only know traditional methods. That doesn’t mean you should drop traditional social media marketing methods, but you should use digital signage to supplement your existing strategies.
The projections are solid: if you’re not using digital signage, you’re already behind.
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