by tradespeopleinsights | Jul 19, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
Why are you either doing or considering social media as part of your marketing mix? Hopefully the answer is to ultimately get new customers. If that’s the case, you first need to build your followers and start having conversations with them. It’s a process and it doesn’t happen over night. Here are 3 tips on building followers:
- Content – Without it you won’t have anything to bring to the table. Come up with topic categories that would be applicable to your target audience and then put together an editorial calendar to make sure each topic is covered on a regular basis.
- You don’t have to the have all the answers – Rely on others in the field. Comment on what they say and put your take on it. Talk about industry issues and trends.
- Engage – Not everyone who reads your posts will be motivated to either share it or comment on it. But those that do open the door for you to engage them in further conversation. Sometimes your readers see you commenting and jump into the conversation.
Those are some of my tips on getting followers. What are you doing?
by tradespeopleinsights | Jul 14, 2011 | Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
I can’t believe the year is already half over. Where does the time go? I thought I’d share the top read posts so for the second quarter of 2011 just in case you may have missed them. Enjoy.
- 5 Reasons Why Social Media Doesn’t Work.
- Social Media: Who Uses It and Why?
- Social Media Introverts: Here Are Ways For You to Come Out of the Closet.
- Manufacturers: Are You Taking Advantage of QR Codes?
- Content is King: 10 Tips on Effective Writing.
by tradespeopleinsights | Jul 13, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
Social media gives all of us the opportunity to reach out to a wider circle of folks that share the same interests as we do. It’s up to us to decide how and when to pursue those contacts and hopefully turn them into relationships.
Heidi Cohen wrote an interesting post recently, 10 Social Media Lessons in Being Human that I think sums up very well some lessons we all can take to heart and hopefully make a difference in the real world we live in. Here are some highlights:
- Share your passion with people
- Each of us are our own brand
- We all have the power to change the world
- Persuade those that are already listening to you
- Don’t forget to say thank you
Powerful stuff! What would you add to the list?
by tradespeopleinsights | Jul 12, 2011 | Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
If you’re in charge of an event, whether it’s a presentation, seminar, webinar, virtual meeting, trade show or sales meeting, if you want to shake it up a little, try using Twitter as an interactive part of the program.
What a great way to engage people, see what people are thinking and you can even field questions. Here are some tips on how to use Twitter successfully for events:
- Create a hashtag – These will identify your specific activity. That way anyone posting or following the hashtag will see what everyone else is commenting.
- Promote the hashtag – Depending on how large the event is, there are various ways to let people know how to follow the event. If you’re putting on an association meeting or a global conference, you may be able to get someone to sponsor the promotions and signage.
- Inform the presenters that live tweeting will be going on. Most folks that do this have a screen on stage so the audience can participate.
- If there are multiple presenters, make sure that the audience knows their Twitter handles.
- Make sure wifi is available – you can’t tweet if you can’t get on the net. I know I’ve been in ballrooms listening to speakers where there is no access. This is not good.
Those are some of my suggestions. Care to share yours?
by tradespeopleinsights | Jul 7, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Traditional Marketing
Contrary to what people might say, email marketing is still a very effective marketing tool. The key to a successful program lies in the list. If you’ve ever done any email marketing, you know you can rent lists or have publications send out a message on your behalf.
But the best lists are the home-grown ones that you nuture from within. These can come from exisiting customers, potentials for trade shows or ad campaigns, but the key in the cases other than your current customers is having them give up their email address and opt-in to all the great things you want to send them. That’s where a good opt-in page comes in.
I recently read a post in CopyBlogger, 7 Steps to an Email Opt-in Page That Works that made several good points. Here are a few highlights that may seem obvious, but aren’t always followed:
- Determine who you want – this will determine the message you create.
- What do you want from them – you want them to sign up, so get to the point – one point.
- What should it include – a headline, benefits (what’s in it for me), call-to-action and actual opt-in form.
- How much info should you ask for – the more you ask for, the less will sign up.
Don’t overcomplicate an opt-in page. Use my old standby- KISS.
by tradespeopleinsights | Jul 6, 2011 | Social Marketing
If you do a blog, you know what kind of time commitment you have in order to keep those posts coming out on a regular basis.
There’s no reason you have to be the originator of all the content. Beyond having other associates within your firm write about their areas of expertise, you should consider getting some outside perspectives. As long as you set the parameters and let them know your objectives and target audiences, there should be no problems. Here are some reasons why you should consider them:
- Areas of expertise – Let’s face it, we al know something about everything, but it’s impossible to be an expert in everything. So why not ask the experts to contribute their thoughts.
- Different perspective – Even if you are an expert in the field, it’s good to get another point of view for your readers.
- Attract new readers – Guest bloggers have their own audiences, and by making sure you use their names in the keyword tags, they will attract new eyes to your site. Hopefully the guest blogger will promote it to their current followers.
- Reduces your content creation – Let’s face it, we all could use a break from the daily grind, so it’s a win-win for everyone.
Those are some reasons why I ask experts on the field to contribute. What are your reasons?
