by tradesmeninsights | Aug 12, 2009 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
Most of us think if we wanted to share a link to something of interest that the logical way to do that would be through e-mails. Not according to a recent article in the E-Marketer Newsletter that cites AddToAny, a creator of content sharing and web publishing tools, that Facebook accounts for 24% of uses of the widget to share links to articles, videos and other content. E-mail only accounts for 11.1%. Social media has overtaken e-mail in terms of worldwide reach.
What that means to B-to-B marketers is that they should reconsider how they deliver links. By using a social media outlet like Facebook or Twitter, you not only deliver your message and link, but you’re continuing to increase your awareness and improve your search rankings and site traffic.
Nice bonus don’t you think?
by tradesmeninsights | Jul 21, 2009 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
Social media has dominated the news lately, and many marketers are considering moving out of traditional e-mail programs and focusing more on social. My advice to them is that neither one is the answer by itself, especially when it comes to reaching professional tradesmen who are slower to jump on the social bandwagon.
Social elements are just more tools marketing can use to gain attention and begin a dialog. Until social media came along, a good e-mail campaign only had their web site to fall back on for support. Social media complements e-mail efforts. B-to-B marketers who want to stay on top of their game must learn how to make them work together.
Here are 4 tips to get the best out of both worlds:
- Create ONE strategy – Create the objective and then see how each element can help you meet those objectives. By working towards one goal, you’ll be much more effective in the long run.
- Create content simultaneously – You need to make sure messages are coordinated (and are using the same voice) and are working together and not against each other. You don’t want to be duplicating content.
- Utilize sites like Facebook and LinkedIn – These and other sites allow groups to their group members. Make sure when sending messages to these groups to target your message.
- Use e-mail to give them something special whether it’s a sneak preview of a new product, a discount on a current one or some scoop about an upcoming company event or trade show activity. Then make it easy for them to share. Encourage them to share the news with their friends on LinkedIn or Facebook.
Make the most out of your marketing program by making the elements work together.
I’d like to hear what you’re doing to maximize your efforts using social and e-mails.
Here are some other posts that might be of interest to you:
7 Ways to Combine Social Media with E-mail to Reach the Professional Tradesman
Stay Up on New Trends But Don’t Forget Old Friends
by tradesmeninsights | Jul 14, 2009 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
I’ve been saying for some time now that B-to-B marketers, and especially those in the industrial section, need to start embracing social media. Recently BtoB magazine hosted a Netmarketing breakfast in New York. Among the panel members were: Paul Dunay – Avaya Inc., Robert DeRobertis – GP DSP division of Analog devices, Rick Short – Indium Corp. and Gary Spangler – Dupont Electronic and Communications Technologies. Here are some nuggets from the meeting for you to ponder on:
- Paul Dunay said, “You must bring valuable content that adds to the discussion. We’re using Twitter as a teaser channel, Facebook as a hub of information, Forums as a type of help desk and Blogs as our corporate voice.”
- Robert DeRobertis said, “You have to link your social marketing to financial results, noting that internal transparency helps guide both strategic and budgetary direction.” DeRobertis’ program is driven by an understanding of his customers’ buying process which means staying up on important influencers and offering “test drives” which are special offers to see how their audience reacts.
- Gary Spangler cautioned the audience to go slow and have a plan for social media. “The social train is coming, but you don’t have to get on all the cars at once.”
- Rick Short uses real employees in his outbound programs, making his company more human and approachable. “Turn your company inside out. Customers want transparency, they want the real deal.”
They all agreed that your strategy should include listening, supporting customers, embracing product ideas and energizing the communities that you serve.
See videos of the speakers
by tradesmeninsights | Jun 30, 2009 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
So, you’ve been reading about all this social media stuff…your friends have been talking about Facebook or Twitter, but you haven’t yet taken the plunge. Come on in, the water is fine. The longer you wait, the farther behind you’re going to be. Social media has made it to the mainstream which means businesses (you) need to get on board.
The best way to learn is by doing it yourself. Don’t worry, you can’t break anything. This whole social thing can be overwhelming, so I’d recommend you start off slow, and as you get comfortable, expand your horizons. If you want to get up to speed quicker, I’d recommend hiring a coach. When we decided to get into the social market, we wanted to be up and running in a short period of time, so we hired a coach that helped us identify our niche for a blog, and helped not only set up the basic accounts (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter), but helped us to get our networking going. Your timeline will be dependent on what you want to accomplish. If you are going after the professional tradesman or other industrial-type markets and want to ramp up your activity quickly, we do offer a program to help you do that, and if you want more information, you can click here.
Here’s what we are recommending to our clients who want to get started:
- LinkedIn. Beyond the basic profile info, make sure you link to your web site and eventually your blog (if you decide to do). Start inviting your friends and business associates to join (you might be surprised as to how many are already on). Join groups that are appropriate to your industry and start watching and participating in discussions, surveys, etc. Once you start getting a following, you can start asking for recommendations. Also consider starting your own group. Our agency started our own group, Sonnhalter.
- Facebook. You need to make a choice of either doing a personal or company profile. Once that’s determined, you need to fill out the profile making sure to include your web site and leave room for a link to your blog (again, if you plan on doing one). Facebook also offers pages, which are set up similar to profiles, except people are fans of pages making it a good option for companies, products or brands. You need a profile before you can create a page. On Facebook, you can also add photos (either personal or work-related depending on how you set up your site). Start inviting friends and engage in the conversations.
- Twitter. Sign up and start adding followers. Rule of thumb is if someone follows you, you should reciprocate. The idea is to have more people following you than you are them. Twitter has some useful tools, one of which I’d recommend you start off with is Twilert. This is a tool where you can put in search terms (about your company, its products or your competitor), and they will identify any tweets that have mentioned those terms.
- Google. Through Google, you can set up Google Alerts which again uses search terms and gives you daily updates on the latest web and news pages on the Google web search. They also have a tool called Google Reader which lets you assemble, in one place, all of your reading resources and links from various sources.
(Remember, our target audience is manufacturers who want to sell to the professional tradesmen, but these suggestions apply across the board.)
A link you will find interesting from Nicky Jameson, How to create your own social networking site on a shoe string.
Suggested reading, Monitoring the Social Web, by Larry Weber
Comic courtesy of Automation.com
by tradesmeninsights | Jun 23, 2009 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
For manufacturers who are targeting the professional tradesman, we think creating a Facebook page instead of a group is the better choice. Facebook pages let you connect directly without having to connect to a personal account if you create a group. Think of your Brand as a rock star who wants to stay connected to your fans.
More importantly, you want to build a fan base. To create a fan page, go to fan and create a new page. Both you and your friends can post photos and comments, you can share updates, create upcoming events (or new product announcements) very easily. The whole idea of social media is networking and building relationships, so we need to make it as easy as possible for tradesmen to have access to you. Pages are also indexed by external search engines and groups are not.
Groups, on the other hand, have options for privacy settings (which means there’s another layer to go through to get in). Groups are limited to 5000 members (they won’t let you do e-mail blasts to anything over that). This is great if you’re in charge of a class reunion or some other group that needs a common place to communicate.
Facebook has continued its tremendous growth, according to Compete; it grew from 104 million to 113 million monthly uniques; an 8.54% increase. Visits grew from 1.63 billion to 1.74 billion, solidifying Facebook’s position as the number 3 site on the Internet.
You should take advantage of this network. What are you doing to capitalize on your Facebook account? I’d like to hear from you.
