by tradespeopleinsights | Jul 20, 2010 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
60% of companies using social media have no plan. Shooting from the hip does not make sense. Your purpose should dictate strategy.
Companies are going about social strategy backwards, by first concentrating on the tools and technologies instead of focusing on what they want to achieve. My understanding of social media and how to use it was greatly expedited because my rifled focus on applying it for new business.
A survey conducted by marketing firm Digital Brand Expressions found that 78 percent of client companies responding to their survey said they use social media, but only 41 percent said they have a strategic plan in place to direct their social media efforts.
Other key findings from this survey that should be of interest:
- Of the companies that have no plan in place, 88% agree that it is important.
- Of those companies that work from some plan, 94% said that marketing activities are included in the plan.
- 71% of those with a plan said their Marketing Department is the group with the primary responsibility for creating and maintaining the firm’s social media presence.
- Of the planners, 71% indicate they use social media for public relations communications while 55% said that they used social media for sales-related activities. A surprisingly small percentage (16%) say their HR team is using social media for recruiting, employee retention, training and development, etc. and 26% use it for customer service.
- Social media efforts are being led primarily by Marketing (71%) and PR (29%) departments.
- Even among those with a plan, few (29%) have written policies and communications protocols in place, leaving the organization exposed to problems arising out of employees communicating in ways that inadvertently hurt, rather than help, their company brands.
“It’s fairly well established that social media is a channel that businesses must participate in, leaving CEOs with the new challenge of planning and implementing brand aligned initiatives enterprise-wide,” said Veronica Fielding, president and CEO of Digital Brand Expressions.
Click on the link to download a PDF copy of: Corporate Social Media Report
If you like this post, these others might be of interest to you:
Social Media Catching on in the B-to-B Markets
Social Media Marketing Continues to Grow: Great Way to Reach the Professional Tradesmen.
by tradespeopleinsights | Jul 15, 2010 | Marketing Trends, Social Marketing
This should not be news to anyone in the Industrial or B-to-B space. We have always been lagging when it comes to new technology. When the web started in the early 90s, we were some of the last to jump on board. So it should be understandable that we lag our B-to-C counterparts according to a recent article in eMarketer.com on a survey by White Horse.
Here are some interesting observations:
- 33% of B-to-B marketers said there was low executive interest/buy in.
- 25% said they have to learn more about social media to justify an investment.
- 46% of B-to-B marketers said social media was perceived as irrelevant to their company.
What does this mean to folks like us that have realized that social can play an important part in our long-term strategy to become the thought leaders in our category? It means we’re winning! Our competitors will finally “get it” and jump in. But if you’ve done your job correctly, you will have already established relationships and will be well ahead of them.
Let’s hope your competitors are real slow adapters!
Here are some related posts that might help you get ahead of your competitors:
10 Engagement Tactics That Will Help B-to-B Marketers
Social Media: Here’s a Manufacturer That’s Getting it Right
Social Media: 4 Signs Your Tradesmen Want to Hear From You.
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by tradespeopleinsights | Jul 14, 2010 | Marketing Tools, Twitter
If you don’t talk up your brand on Twitter and other social sites, you’re missing the boat.
This according to a recent post on eMarketer.com from ROI Research. A study in April of 2010 found that at least once a week, 33% of active Twitter users shared opinions about companies or products, while 32% make recommendations and 30% ask for them.
According to Daina Middleton, CEO of Performics who commissioned the study “Social networking has greatly contributed to the shift from strict consumerism to more lively, two-way participation between Brands and everyday customers.”
If you like this, you should like:
How to Engage the Professional Tradesmen on Twitter
Awareness of Twitter has Exploded: Great Way to Reach the Professional Tradesmen
Want to Find out if Professional Tradesmen are Active on Twitter?
If you like these, please pass it on to a friend.
by tradespeopleinsights | Jul 13, 2010 | Marketing Tools, Marketing Trends, Social Marketing
What’s one of the most important tools a contractor has with him? If you said his phone, you win the prize!
With the advent of smart phones like the iPhone and now the Android, there are opportunities to reach your customer on a job site. Are you planning that far ahead?
According to the Yankee Group, US mobile application revenues will jump from 1.6 billion this year to 11 billion by 2014. Nearly 1/3 of these apps are purchased.
Caterpiller announce in January of 2011 an application for mobile phones that will allow a user from a smart phone to access a dealer close to them for status on what kind of equipment is available for rent.
Now I’m not suggesting that you charge for an app or even try to sell something through the phone, but what I am suggesting is you might want to have an app that contractors can have on their phone where you can tell them about the newest widget and give them instant access to you.
What are your thoughts on mobile apps?
by tradespeopleinsights | Jul 8, 2010 | Marketing Trends, Social Marketing, Twitter
In our day-to-day marketing for manufacturers, we focus on selling the products or services they offer. We talk about the features and benefits and how we can solve their problems. A good and sometimes a one-way conversation centered around us.
Then we jump into social media and expect the same tactics to apply. Unfortunately, they don’t. Social is about building relationships and thought leadership, not trying to sell the features and benefits of a certain product.
According to an article in eMarketer.com, a recent study by LeadForce1 suggests that visitors to B-to-B websites directed from social media are generally uninterested in product or contact pages.
They go there to find out more about us, read our blogs (thought leadership) or check out our management team.
Similar results are found when being referred by Twitter.
The study suggests that social network users are willing to follow the company to check out content, but unlikely to make the jump to the product or sales side of the site.
What are your thoughts on this?
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by tradespeopleinsights | Jul 7, 2010 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tools, Social Marketing, Twitter
Twitter is one of the most useful social media tools we use to drive traffic. For it to be effective, you first need to determine key words and phrases that fit into your space.
Twitter has tools as well as third parties that can help. I recently read an article by Adam Holden-Bache in Social Media B2B where he outlines some tips on fine-tuning your audience searches. Here are some highlights:
- Determine key words and phrases – Go to Google AdWords Keyword Tool and enter some key words. For example, air conditioning heating gets an average 550,000 monthly hits and 450,000 are local searches
- Search Twitter by key words – Twitter Advance Search, take what you find on Google and plug into Twitter
- Optimize tweets for inbound opportunities – Use Google Reader and select Twitter Search Feed. When you click on “show details,” it tells you when most activities are taking place so you know when to Tweet
- Use Buzzom.com to search Twitter Bios – Search key words that would describe the people that buy your products, such as remodeling contractors
- Use Twellow.com to search business categories – This is a directory of Twitter accounts and you can search broad categories to identify people who are in the energy market, aerospace or green
These are some great tips. Do you have any to share?
If you like this article, you may like:
How to Engage the Professional Tradesmen on Twitter
Awareness of Twitter has Exploded: Great Way to Reach the Professional Tradesmen
