TRANSACT15 Twitter Mentions Increase 514%

Pre-#TRANSACT15 Twitter tweets (622) have increased 514% over the same prior period measured for #TRANSACT14 (121).  What a pleasant surprise for the pioneering payment marketeers that have been trying to foster the social conversation for several years now at payment industry events.  Heck, there have been some recent regional shows that it felt kind of creepy when you appeared to be the only one trying to develop a social media conversation.

Big kudos to @electranassoc for fostering an environment that encouraged a social media conversation with their brilliant "Team Selfie" contest that pretty much said, "we embrace social media as part of TRANSACT15."  While many trade show organizers feared the demise of their events if the conversation moved online, the Electronic Transactions Association spotted the trends and saw how it could be a benefit.  Fear of VIRTUAL-ONLY trade shows?  Never attended one and probably never will despite my penchant of being an early adopter of all things technology related.

I did a little non-scientific drill down into the aforementioned 565 pre-#TRANSACT15 tweets and categorized them as follows:

- Team Selfie Contest - 21% (congrats to winners @retailcloud and @grpfunding)

- We're coming ... in Booth XXXX - 37%

- TRANSACT15 Happenings - 20%

- Value-Add Show Information - 21%

Congratulations if you or your company has joined in the conversation!  Just using social media to say "Stop by and see us" shows that your business "gets it." But for those of you that added exceptional value to the conversation by posting a tweet that falls into the latter two (2) categories, I salute you.  Here are just a few that I found exceptional value in, added comments after each as well:

It is not just Twitter where you can find social media mentions of TRANSACT15.  I also found the following:

- 21 Instagram posts referencing TRANSACT15

- 2 Facebook Events for TRANSACT15 (created by Swipely & National Merchants Association

- TRANSACT15 has a YouTube channel (I assume it was created by the ETA) with 4 videos and 93 views

But this writer believes that Twitter is by far the premier social media platform for trade show conversations.  Twitter is an up-to-the-second newsfeed that lends itself well to an event's business conversation.  Though Facebook is a great tool for businesses doing paid social, I felt a little awkward joining the TRANSACT15 event groups and publishing this to my timeline. I do have high hopes for the new micro live-streaming platforms like Periscope and Meerkat primarily because they leverage the Twitter ecosystem and also provide real-time news.  Stop by booth #1617 if you want to try out live streaming during TRANSACT15.

So if you have not joined the conversation here are some simple ways you can get started:

LISTEN - Create a Twitter account and periodically search on the hashtag #TRANSACT15

SHARE - Sharing can be as easy as just retweeting what you see value in.  Click the tweet, then click retweet ... it's simple.

CREATE - Share your thoughts, images, videos, and ideas from your own perspective via Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. 

There is an audience out there that wants to hear what you think.  If you have a question or a social strategy you want to talk about ... or want to promote something with a live stream on Meerkat and Periscope just stop by booth #1617 and look me up.  Let's keep the momentum going!