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Spotlight Innovators

lectronic Merchant Systems (www.emscorporate.
com), has been helping small and mid-size busi-
ness owners realize their full potential since 1988.
E Headquartered in Northeast Ohio, with sales offic-
es across the country, EMS provides trouble-free deployment
of customizable payment applications to increase business
profitability. EMS serves tens of thousands of retail, internet,
and start-up businesses nationwide, processing over $3 bil-
lion in annual payment card transactions. EMS, a recognized
payments industry leader and brand, increases its clients’
financial wellbeing through its innovative suite of business
solutions, high-quality service and professional employees.

What’s New:
Improve Your Trade Show ROI with Social Media

hether you're an exhibitor or attendee, you want to get the most out of every trade show you attend.
Unfortunately, that doesn't always happen—sometimes you leave a trade show feeling like you wasted
your time and money. Good news: there's a proven way to enhance your trade show experience and get a
W better return on your investment. If you want to generate promising leads, gain better media coverage, or
forge powerful connections in the payments industry, you need to leverage social media, and hashtags are a great place
to start.

Take Transact18 for example. Transact is an electronic payments industry trade show coordinated by the Electronic
Transactions Association (ETA). #ETATransact, and #Transact18 were the official hashtags for this year’s show, held April
17-19, 2018 in Las Vegas, Hashtags auto-categorize social media activity, making it easy for attendees, industry professionals,
and media personnel to read, follow, and contribute to event-related conversations. As of April 2018, Transact's official
hashtag has been viewed more than 17 million times by a potential 2.6 million unique users (as reported by Tweet Binder
analytics). With millions of views, this social media activity generates industry awareness—extending Transact's presence
beyond Las Vegas.

Why You Should Use Official Trade Show Hashtags
As evidenced by the 17 million impressions, an official trade show hashtag is a powerful tool for everyone involved —
whether you're a show sponsor, industry association, exhibitor, or attendee. Hashtags can create a dedicated Twitter feed,
by aggregating show-related tweets to engage target users and prospective attendees and track engagement. These tweets
and other social media activity provide real-time, quantitative data. For instance, Tweet Binder's live infographic displays
total tweets, potential reach, and total contributors. As of April 2018, the most popular #ETATransact contributors, based
on number of followers, included FinTech
leaders, financial services companies, and
global payment gateways.

Twitter and other social media platforms
make it easy to engage key professionals
before, during and after an event. Here’s how
#ETATransact was used at all three stages:

Before the Show: Social media is a great way
to create a buzz before an event. Exhibitors
used the Transact hashtags to promote their
booths. Tweets included the official hashtag
and the company's booth number. Other tweets
tagged fellow exhibitors, posting, "We look
forward to connecting!" The show sponsor,
ETA, also used the hashtag to share application
and registration deadlines and engage with
prospective attendees prior to the event.

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