by tradesmeninsights | Jan 17, 2012 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
If you’re not on LinkedIn you should be, and if you are, when was the last time you updated your page?
Did you set goals when you first went on, but as time has passed you kind of let it slip a little? You and 131 million of your possible friends are on this site. How many are you connected with?
Let’s review some basics and make sure we’re all on track.
- Profile page – Great place to make a good impression. Have you updated your photo or are you using one from 10 years ago? How about your accomplishments? I’m sure if you haven’t touched it for a while, something good must have happened at work that you could highlight. Have any other things changed like you started a Twitter account, a blog or new website? Be sure to include links.
- Key words – SEO is king. When was the last time you looked at key words within your profile? The best place to do this is on the summary section.
- Adding to your network – It was easy when you just started to get a list of contacts linked in. But what about all those grandiose plans of adding so many new contacts each week? I’m sure you haven’t stopped taking phone calls or going to meetings? What ever happened to asking them to link in with you? At least then when you do a posting, you’ll be getting it in front of them. I admit I’m as guilty as everyone else, but I’m back on track now to add at least 3 contacts a week. What’s your goal?
- Status updates – So what good is 500 connections if you never connect? You need to be active and say something. It doesn’t have to be something original. It could be something as simple as a comment and link to a morning news story that might have some impact on your industry. Try to do at least one a day. Lunchtime is LinkedIn’s prime time.
- Groups – This is the “holy grail” as far as I’m concerned. 80% of members belong to at least one group. Search and join relevant groups. They allow you to join as many as 50. Talk about shooting fish in a barrel…where else can you find a group of like-minded individuals to hold a conversation with? A great place to build relationships and also build your visibility and credibility as an expert in the field.
Those are some of my thoughts on recommitting to using a great networking site. What are you doing to capitalize on LinkedIn?
by tradesmeninsights | Jan 10, 2012 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tools, Social Marketing
Content is King for more than one reason. One of the reasons we want to put out good-quality content is to become the thought leader in our market segment.
Content like white papers, fact sheets, case histories and webinars are just a few examples and might be used at different stages of the sales funnel. Online content is the fuel for new leads in the B2B arena.
It stands to reason that if people see that you both identify problems/issues and address possible solutions, that you not only will accomplish the first goal, but they might even identify themselves as a possible new lead.
A recent survey from MarketingSherpa was highlighted in a post in eMarketer.com that highlighted the kind of content customers are looking for. Highlights include:
- Why content marketing is essential to B2B leads.
- How B2B buyers use content.
- What type of content is best for generating leads.
- How marketers can leverage content marketing formats.
Sonnhalter is partnering with Joe Pulizzi, a nationally-known content marketing expert and founder of the Content Marketing Institute, in hosting a webinar on the growing area of content marketing for B2B. This free, one-hour webinar will be Thursday, February 2, 2012 at 1:00 p.m. EST. Participants can click here to register for the “8 Content Initiatives You Need to Seriously Consider for 2012” webinar.
by tradesmeninsights | Jan 5, 2012 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Trends, Social Marketing
Content marketing expert and founder of the Content Marketing Institute, Joe Pulizzi will review the practice of content marketing and why it’s one of the fastest growing areas of marketing today. In this hour presentation, Joe will discuss eight initiatives that all marketers need to consider now when it comes to corporate storytelling and social media.
Joe is a leading author, speaker and strategist for content marketing. Joe is the founder of the Content Marketing Institute and the CEO of SocialTract. He’s also co-authored Get Content Get Customers and Managing Content Marketing: The Real World Guide for Creating Passionate Subscribers to Your Brand.
I’ve heard Joe present before, and you are in for a real treat. Please join us on February 2nd at 1 PM EST for this free, informative presentation. Joe will also be taking questions at the end.
This webinar is available on our YouTube channel – click here.
by tradesmeninsights | Dec 21, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
For those of us who do blog, we do it because in the big picture, it’s the hub of the marketing wheel and everything else we do should revolve around and integrate with the blog.
So here are some quick tips that I’ve come up with since I started blogging three years ago that will help you gain readership and credibility.
- Give your readers what they want – give them solutions to their problems.
- Get to the point – do a good detailed headline and then deliver on the message.
- Keep it simple – don’t try to impress people with fancy words, get to the solution and do it in a conversational tone.
- Keep it on point – don’t ramble onto other topics.
- Give examples – show what other people are doing and ask for feedback.
So how did I do?
by tradesmeninsights | Dec 20, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Trends, Social Marketing, Twitter
I can’t believe that many marketers still ignore customers who are dissatisfied. Especially since most of the complaints make their way to social sites.
Ignoring them won’t make the problem go away, and if the non-responsiveness continues, you may get a tweet with #FAIL attached to it and you’ll be part of an elite group (where you don’t want to be in) who have failed their customers. This is more of a problem for B-to-C companies than B-to-B, but none the less, you still shouldn’t ignore people. Fear and lack of resources are cited as the two most reasons why companies don’t respond. You probably should rethink your priorities.
According to a recent survey done by eMarketer.com, only 34% used social media to respond.
Another study by Maritz and Evolve24 showed that only 29% of the tweet gripes were responded to. As Jay Baer says, these channels are the social telephone. You’re missing the boat for several reasons. One is that 83% of those who complain online want to be answered there. Secondly, those who complain on Twitter are already disproportionately upset and ignoring them will only add gas to the fire.
People complain on Twitter because they have already went through traditional means with no resolution. I can attest to this as I’m still fighting with Travelers Insurance on a hail claim on my roof. After getting nowhere with the local adjusters, I was venting on Twitter about it and lo and behold, I got a Tweet back asking me to call an advocacy number. While it didn’t solve my problem (they sent my complaint back to the local adjuster and now I’m one of his favorite people), at least I thought they tried to defuse the situation.
Research has shown that social media users want to be responded to even if a company wants to take the conversation offline. At least they acknowledged you.
So what are you doing to handle complaints on social media?
