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If you are in charge of marketing, you are up to your ears with to-do lists this week getting ready for Monaco. Confirming stand technician’s access credentials for set up, collecting RSVPs for your press visits, packing up brochures and oh yeah… you have to issue just one last press release before everything kicks off. You just realised that the gadgets you ordered have your logo printed in the wrong pantone colour and the boss has just passed by your office and asked you to find three more hotel rooms for the team and a meeting room for a pre-show management meeting. All this and you have to remember to somehow get a haircut, pick up your dry cleaning and get some sleep in before the 4-day, 24-hour marathon that is the Monaco Yacht Show.
Sound familiar? I imagine dealing with your social media presence may be the last thing on your mind. You’ve already posted that your company is at MYS and that you’d love to meet potential customers yadda yadda yadda, but that’s about the extent of what you have done so far. Whether you are part of a big brokerage firm, or a boutique yachting supplier, here are some quick and dirty tips for you to get your social in order for #MYS2017.
1. Know the #hashtags
If you haven’t figured out what the official hashtags are yet for the show then drop everything and memorize these right now: #MYS2017 // #MonacoYachtShow. Also, if you love Instagram, like we do, you need to follow and tag @mys_monaco or @MYSCaptainCrew (which is the official account for the Monaco Yacht Show Captains and Crew Lounge) in every post you put out from now going forward.
2. Start sharing your teasers. Right. Now.
If you have a teaser image, or video, of what you’ll be presenting next week at the show start getting that out daily, right now and everywhere. There are lots of new products and services being debuted at this year’s Show so stop duty-free shopping at the airport, head to the lounge and take a few minutes to get that out.
3. Personalise your campaign
Those who have been working ahead of the game may have created a speciality hashtag specific to your company’s campaign for this year’s Show. Give it a shot if you haven’t to add something new to the mix, but if you want to repeat it in 2018 you’ll need to start earlier to get real leverage out of it. #buyyouryachtMYS2017
4. Invite people for a catch up
Incredibly, so few people will take the time to write a personal invitation to visit a stand or organise a meeting via LinkedIn. Take an hour this weekend, go through your contacts and do just that. If you are really pro-active send your colleagues a short script to copy and paste (include all the details of where the company’s stand is and/or any special events) and encourage them to invite their connections to stop by for a coffee and a chat.
5. Keep promoting
Are you sponsoring a party next week? Even if it is strictly invite only, don’t leave all the promotion to the organizers. Get out a few posts to promote your involvement to your followers. After all you spent the money in sponsoring the event… you might as well get as much visibility out of it as you can.
6. Talk to the press
Send a few key press an invite to stop by and visit to learn more about [why my company is so great]. But leave out the words “innovative”, “leading” and “foremost” PLEASE! Give them a hint at the story you want to communicate. The press appreciates having some insight on story ideas.
7. Remember, social is now
Stop thinking about social media in the past tense and look forward. If you only share at the end of the day, after it’s all over, you don’t give your followers the opportunity to join in on the fun. Think into the future and get news out early (and then keep everyone updated throughout the day via your social channels).
8. Get organised
This is one of the busiest (if not the busiest) show on the planet. So, think ahead and identify WHO is going to be in charge of real-time social media posting at the Show. Regardless of the size of your team, one person should be designated to do the posting. (That is, if you haven’t hired experts like us to do it for you… shameless plug 😉 ). You can only pre-schedule so many posts… The most valuable ones will be those you do ad hoc from the quayside.
9. Every image counts
Images are important. If the social media designee will be dedicating a few hours throughout the day to tweeting and Facebooking then make sure you have a few others helping out with taking photos and video as they walk around the show. After all, you can’t have one person be everywhere at once.
10. Write about it
Write a blog post about participating in the show. If you have a dedicated area on your company website it shouldn’t take too long to create a captivating, call-to-action for your followers to stop by and see you at MYS. Max 400-500 words is all you need and this is also a great nugget to share in the following days on your social channels.
Look forward to seeing you at #MYS2017!
