ASIS 2014 Proves Social Media Works

  • By Ginger Hill
  • Oct 08, 2014

I understand that parts of the security industry are rather “hush-hush,” and can’t and shouldn’t be discussed openly; however, it seems that the security industry as a whole is coming out of its shell a bit, at least on social media platforms, Twitter in particular.

As most of you know, I am an avid tweeter and quite frankly, I love it. It’s amazing to connect with people from all over the globe who I may have never gotten the chance to meet. And, as I walked around the ASIS 2014 showroom floor, I was happy to see a large number of security professionals tweeting, some for the first time ever.

Some companies were tweeting about their new products while others were taking pictures of their booth and tweeting it for the world to see. Still others were tweeting selfies with their company’s hashtag attached. All of these strategies, extremely effective; however, one strategy stood out to me: tweeting directly to journalists, inviting them to their booth.

I received several tweets from companies using my twitter handle (@GingerHill13) personally inviting me to come by their booth to check out their new products or even grab some free swag and rest for a bit. (By the way, a booth with fluffy carpet and a comfy chair is the BEST thing companies can offer to journalists running around the showroom floor.)

So, why was this strategy so smart?

When you receive a personal invitation, it’s difficult to say no. As companies invited me to come by their booths, I felt a bit obligated to at least stop by and say hi. When I did, I would usually take a picture of the booth or a selfie and tweet this to my followers. The company got exposure to about 10,000 people that they may have never come into contact with between my Twitter followers and Security Today’s Twitter followers.

Don’t be afraid to step out of the box and try something new. Twitter can be overwhelming and a bit scary, just like anything new, but by developing a strategy, this gives you a goal to accomplish which will help drive the types of Tweets you tweet!

About the Author

Ginger Hill is Group Social Media Manager.

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