by tradespeopleinsights | Mar 23, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
If you’re active on Twitter, you probably have gotten a “thanks for the RT.” Saying “thank you” helps build brand loyalty and brings a conversational aspect to your tweets. We all struggle on what’s the correct etiquette for thanking someone on Twitter. Do you always have to say thanks? Are there other ways to show your gratitude?
Angie Schottmuller from Interactive Artisan recently did a guest post on Jay Baer’s Convince and Covert that was right on target with helpful do’s and don’ts regarding etiquette. Here are some highlights:
DO’s
- Follow the user – Review their profile and if they are a good fit, follow them.
- Reciprocate – Scan their tweets and see if one is applicable for you to RT.
- Retweet a Retweet – This is a good way to recognize the user and put quality content back into the stream.
- Conversational Mention – Reply with a conversational response about the post to get a discussion going.
DON’Ts
- Don’t put numerous RT’s back-to-back.
- Avoid peak content hours.
- Don’t put out a generic thanks. Always include a hashtag.
If you like this post, you might like:
7 Ways to Use Twitter to Generate Traffic and Leads.
by tradespeopleinsights | Mar 22, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
If you’re into social media, you’re doing it with a purpose in mind. You have a story to tell and you want to tell it to a certain type of person. This holds true no matter what type of marketing you’re doing (traditional or social).
But when you’re developing your content, do you ever consider at what stage your reader is at in the buying cycle? By segmenting your content to include all stages of a buying process (awareness, consideration, evaluation and purchase), you’ll be sure to hit all your potentials at their stage in the buying process.
I recently read a post from AdamHolden-Bach from Mass Transmit called Using Content Marketing to Understand Your B2B Audience that I thought was spot on.
Here are some highlights on segmenting your markets:
- Awareness – These folks have just begun the process. Provide educational content (blogs, white papers, webinars) and make it easy for them to receive it (do make them register to get it).
- Consideration – Once they know about you they want to know how you stack up against the competition. Provide them product comparisons, case studies or other material that shows why your product is better.
- Evaluation – They want to understand the solutions you provide and how they would benefit their business.
- Purchase – Use social channels to broadcast new products, upgrades, special offers to help incentivize the customer.
As you’re creating content, identify which stage it falls into. Use tracking methods over time, for instance to gauge interest and tell you at what stage most of your audience is at in the sales cycle.
What are you doing to segment your marketing?
If you liked this post, you may also like:
2011 Trends: Content Marketing is Critical for Social Media Success
2011 Trends for B-to-B Bloggers
by tradespeopleinsights | Mar 17, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tools, Traditional Marketing
2D bar codes are growing in use across the world (usage quadrupled in 2010) and the USA for the first time leading in the number of scans according to 3GVision.
Businesses that don’t understand how to use 2D codes think that they’re just a way to drive people through to a mobile landing page. But businesses that get it are using them in a variety of new and innovative ways — all of which lead to increased customer loyalty and greater revenue per customer. I recently read a post by Jamie Turner from 60 Second Marketer that outlined several ways businesses can take advantage of these 2D codes. I’d like to share some highlights from his post along with some insights from my perspective:
- Websites – Add a 2D code to the contact page so visitors can download your contact info to their smartphones.
- Business Cards – Add the code to your card for the same reason as the website.
- LinkedIn & Facebook – Add the code and position yourself as a forward innovative thinker.
- In-Store Point of Sale & Coupons – Provide instant coupons at the counter of your distributor.
- Packaging – A great way to differentiate yourself at the store level and give your customer reasons to buy. It also helps in the Big Box stores where you are restricted to their rules on merchandising and promotions.
These are some of the ways I see manufacturers using 2D codes to set themselves apart.
What are you doing to capitalize on these codes?
If you like this post, you may be interested in:
QR Codes: Are Manufacturers Missing an Opportunity?
by tradespeopleinsights | Mar 16, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
You need to know, like and trust someone before you’ll recommend them, right?
That holds true not only in our day-to-day interactions (human), as well as our relationships online. Social media has put the power in the hands of the consumer and is rapidly closing the gap with word of mouth.
A recent post on eMarketer.com was highlighting a recent study by Global WebIndex “Annual Report 2011” that outlines the shift in behavior regading social media. Highlights include that usage of social sites are shifting from creating content to distributing it.
The human element remains key when it comes to trust. An example is users worldwide reported nearly a 50% increase in their trust for social network contacts.
So what does this mean for you and me? It means people who know, like and trust us, whether it’s in person or on a social site, are more likely to listen to a recommendation from you. Pretty neat if you ask me, and it reinforces what lots of people are saying about starting to build relationships on the social platform.
So what are you doing to build that trust so people are asking you for recommendations?
by tradespeopleinsights | Mar 15, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Trends, Social Marketing
Here’s an interesting interview in The Smart Van from one our own, Aylie Fifer, on how the aging workforce may put companies at risk and what they need to know about technology trends.
The interview highlights areas on how service firms are using social, how the older generation can learn from the younger ones and the role of mobile devices and what impact they will have moving forward.
by tradespeopleinsights | Mar 10, 2011 | Marketing Trends, Social Marketing
This is the second year that GlobalSpec has surveyed engineering, technical, industrial and manufacturing professionals on how they are using social media. You can download a free copy of the complete report here: http://tinyurl.com/4wcq8nf.
The survey shows that for work-related purposes, this audience is slow adopters. This audience is largely passive in that it prefers to read and watch content as opposed to creating it. They are increasing in certain areas, but aren’t progressing as fast as the rest of the world.
This is good news or bad news depending on how you look at it. I’m an optimist, so I’ll take the good news angle. This is a great opportunity for those of you who have this segment targeted. Why, because you know in most cases, engineers and manufacturing folks are meticulous when it comes to getting/evaluating info. They are slow to move and want to be sure that both the product and the company are meeting their overall objectives which takes time. Social is an additional tool that can give you more face time with potentials, help position yourself as an expert and eventually engage them to ask questions.
So the question you have to ask yourself is, how can I use social to attract potentials? Here are some suggestions:
- Blog about interesting application or trends in specific industries.
- Create a LinkedIn group, then network with users of those products to start discussions.
- Company Facebook page that shows your fans about your company’s involvement in the community.
- YouTube video that shows your product in action.
- “Customer only” forum where they can talk to each other.
- A Twitter account to send followers links of interesting products and industry news.
Think of this as a good opportunity to touch your potential customers in another way.
