4 Ways to Get the Most Out of Your Social Media Marketing

Social media is the “new thing,” everybody is doing it, maybe I should too! Sound familiar?

Don’t do it because everyone else is doing it; do it because it makes sense as part of your overall marketing plan. If I said it once, I said it a million times, social media isn’t a silver bullet! Social media should have a plan just like any other program.

I recently read an article by Clement Yeung in Social Media Examiner, How to Get the M.O.S.T. From Your Social Media Marketing  that  highlights steps we all can take to get the M.O.S.T. out of social media. Here are some highlights:

M. Marketing Intelligence. Do your research. Who do you want to reach? Use tools like forums, key word searches and Google trends to see what’s out there.

O. Set your objectives. Sowhat do you want to accomplish? Become a thought leader? Improve SEO?

S. Strategy. Create a social media strategy with a plan of action.

T. Tactics. Do you want to build a branded blog site or just create an online presence?

Once you establish a plan, then identify the social tools you should use to reach your audience. Go where they are whether that will be Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook or YouTube. Interact with them and start building relationships. If you have a blog, start driving them there versus your website.

If you apply the same disciplines to social as you do to other programs, you will be successful.

If you like this post, you may want to read:

Are you Using a Blog to Reach the Professional Tradesmen?

Have you Started a Company Blog? Maybe you Should.

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Make Your B-to-B E-mail Campaign to Tradesmen a Success

E-mailYou need to connect quickly in the subject line in order for them to open an e-mail. Look beyond pitching your product and talk about issues that hit their hot button. Don’t know what those are? ASK!

Tradesmen are busy people like the rest of us, and when they get a marketing e-mail, you had better make clear (WIIFM) what’s in it for me in the subject line. They want to know  how your product or service will help them on a jobsite.

According to MailerMailer, 74% of all e-mails are opened within 24 hours. Which means if the email isn’t opened soon, then it probably wont be.

I read a post recently form Arthur Middleton, Making your B-to-B e-mail campaign a success, which he outlines 4 tactics that will help you become a reliable source of info. Here is my take on them as it relates to my audience, the professional tradesmen:

  1. Be a e-newsletter publisher. Look beyond just promoting your products and talk about industry issues that are affecting tradesmen. Give them inside information on marketing trends.
  2. Leverage the knowledge you get from these contractors. Find out how and why contractors make their decisions. Ask them to be on an advisory panel or participate in a contractor study.
  3. Preview your e-mail. Make sure preview panes are very much on point because if you don’t make your point quickly, they won’t open your e-mail.
  4. Create a mobile version. These contractors use mobile devices to stay connected, so make sure to use a smaller version of your logo, and state your claim (WIIFM) within the first few sentences.

Those are my thoughts, I’d like to hear yours.

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