by Pavel Solyak
Despite the many benefits and relatively low cost of social media, the majority of B2B marketers are only now considering the implementation of social media initiatives. For some categories, there are still opportunities for leadership and mindshare. At FUSION b2b, we believe every marketer should implement social media as part of an overall marketing program. Here’s several tips to get started.
- Establish Profiles on Key Social Media Networks.
- Create Social Media Hub on your corporate website.
- Inter-link your social media.
- Research.
- Use directories and lists.
- Content.
- Be original.
- Sign-up for Google Alerts.
- Measure.
- Involve employees.
- Encourage Feedback.
- Communicate.
- Don’t Spam.
- Mobile.
- Spread the Word.
- Keep you information up to date.
There are thousands of social networks out there targeted at different communities of people sharing similar interests. Creating profiles on all microsites is a large time-consuming investment. While they may have their place, it makes more sense to concentrate on the top 4 major networks: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn. Keep in mind that Social Media marketing is very dynamic and is likely to change overtime, so it is crucial to keep an eye out for trends and shifts to determine what other social networks would be beneficial. (ex. 2006 MySpace was number one Social Networking Site)
Incorporate social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, YouTube and others into your corporate website. Make sure to have social media links prominently displayed on your site such as “Connect with us on Twitter” or “Become a Fan.” Make sure to have your website in every social media profile you have.
Your social media hub should already be linked to all external corporate social media properties, but don’t forget to inter-link those properties between each other. When your blog is updated – an RSS feed should automatically send a Tweet on twitter and change your status on Facebook and LinkedIn. A new uploaded YouTube video or Flickr Photo should be mentioned in your blog and updated through Facebook.
You want to use Social Media to connect to the right people, which in turn will take some research. Identifying Fans, Friends, Followers and supporters is not an easy task as most have online screen names rather than their actual names. Use your PR and clients lists to connect with publications, dealers, reps, users, thought leaders, trade shows and associations. Invite them to join you, or simply follow them – most will reciprocate.
Twitter directories like WeFollow or Twellow and lists often help identify additional Fans, Friends and Followers. Some social networks will recommend people you should “Friend” or “Follow” based on their interests, location and other factors. Look at who others are following, perhaps you will find their connections relevant. Remember, however, that it’s not about the number of followers, but the quality of them.
This is the ONLY way to succeed on the web – posting well-researched, helpful content. You wouldn’t walk up to a person on the street and start selling them your product. First you have to establish your expertise. Developing quality content for your blogs and social media is no small task, but you can also reference articles written by others by re-tweeting them via tinyURL or posting a link to content relevant to your industry. If your connections like your content, they will keep coming back and recommend you to others.
Create your own relevant content. Examples of relevant content includes: new products, attending trade shows and events, news releases, new brochures, new videos, customer information, market/business info. Don’t just sell – your content needs to be educational and informational. It’s a good idea to provide tips. Don’t be afraid of holding back information.
Google Alerts is a free tool that tracks keywords on the internet and alerts of their popularity. For example you can have a daily email that will notify you when keywords such as “Knaack”, “Weather Guard”, “Construction”, etc. are used. This helps you monitor the conversations and be able to respond to any questions in a timely manner.
Have your agency do periodic category analysis using advance analytic tools to track progress. Is your Social Media strategy working? What tools are most effective? What feedback are you getting from users and followers?
You can have a cool blog and a well-polished Facebook profile, but if there are no social connections –people likely won’t find it or read it. To get your Social Media project of the ground, use the connection you already have – your employees. Ask them to join your network or become a fan, comment on your blog or invite their colleagues to join. Keep in mind, however that not all your employees are right for Social Media. In any company, employees have different levels of passion about their jobs, and it’s your job to find employees who have most passion for what they do. Engage them first, others will follow.
Engage your customers and clients in positive feedback. Ask them to become your friend on the web, leave a comment on your Facebook wall or recommend you on LinkedIn. Ask them to post their suggestions or ideas for future or contribute to your next blog. All those things will generate conversation and buzz around your brand.
Get in a habit of communicating using Facebook and Twitter instead of internal e-mail. Create an event for company party, send out an invite to all your employees, then take some pictures at the event and tag your employees in the picture. Answer general questions using twitter, do updates and alerts, post videos on YouTube.
Social Media is powered by people – real people like you and I. If they feel like someone is soliciting them, they will instantly block you or delete you from their friends. It can happen if you don’t post enough content, or you post too much and too often, your content is not relevant to them, or you are being too pushy with your ideas. Either way, you want to avoid this. Share information, put it out there for people to see, but don’t spam.
Social media is highly integrated with mobile technology (mobile telephones, wi-fi computers, PDA’s). Why not take and upload a picture of your booth at a trade show in real time? Sure, it’s a little blurry and dark, but it’s also original, timely and peaks interest/curiosity. Increasingly social media is going mobile with all the new devices and applications. Time to start using it?
Add social media links wherever you can, not just your web-site. Make sure your e-mail signature has a links to your company’s Facebook or Twitter. Why not have all employees do the same? What about brochures and literature you send to your reps and distributors or PR releases?
Spend time every week to update your social profiles: do updates, add pictures and events, communicate with your friends and followers. The more often your page changes content, the more likely people will come back to it and see what’s new. And not just people, Google crawlers who rank websites put higher weight on those website who change often, thus bumping up your standings with Google and doing wonders for your SEO.
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of the Week
20/01/2010 at 11:19 am Permalink
Good article, thanks for the tips. I especially like your suggestion of using Facebook for invites. The event feature is really nice, I use it all the time in my personal profile for family gatherings and birthday parties. It makes so much more sense to do this for work conferences and meetings rather than send an email. I get hundreds of emails a day, I can’t check them all.