by tradespeopleinsights | Sep 5, 2012 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
Social forums are an ideal way for B-to-B companies to demonstrate their expertise and knowledge. Forums are intended for people to exchange ideas and gather info. There are several to choose from… Quora, HighTable and LinkedIn to name a few. Most of my experience has been using LinkedIn.
A recent article on Social Media Examiner by Kane Russell gives tips on using social forums in a B-to-B setting. Here are some highlights:
- Comment from the perspective of a thought leader – answer questions and provide qualitative and quantitative supporting evidence. Acknowledge alternative solutions.
- Respect other users – don’t argue but address disagreements using examples and data to make your point.
- Join the conversation – respond directly and acknowledge what others have already said.
- Be consistent and cover subject comprehensively – do this on both where you have expertise and on topics outside your business experience.
- Add links where necessary – but make sure they are relevant.
If you haven’t participated in a forum, please expand your horizons and try. It’s a great way to learn and make new friends.
by tradespeopleinsights | Jul 11, 2012 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tools, Social Marketing
For those of you who read me on a regular basis, you know I’m high on LinkedIn and what it can do to help you grow your business contact list. With over 161 million business members, there are certainly opportunities there if you know where and how to look.
That’s why I’m always trying to improve how I use this important business tool. As Reid Hoffman, the founder of LinkedIn says, “It’s better to be the best connected than the most connected.”
Jeff Korhan wrote a great post recently in social media examiner that outlines and shows examples of 10 LinkedIn Tips for Building Your Business. All the tips are free to use. Here are some highlights:
- Use appropriate key words and phrases in your heading and title – they are different and your heading gives you an opportunity to elaborate on your skills and areas of expertise.
- Make sure your online and offline business network are housed within LinkedIn – By linking in other business contacts you ensure its completeness of your entire network.
- Tag your skills and expertise – this helps reinforce your capabilities for those who come across your profile and you can use up to 50 tags.
- Personally welcome those new connections – It only takes a minute and it’s the first step in starting a relationship.
Hopefully you are using and benefiting from using LinkedIn.
by tradespeopleinsights | Mar 20, 2012 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tools, Social Marketing
LinkedIn has always been one of my best sources of activity to my blog. It also allows me to network with others who have the same interest in groups that I join, and I can always count on input from those who are linked with me if I need something or a question answered.
That’s why it wasn’t a big surprise to me when a recent study by HubSpot said that LinkedIn generated the highest visitor to lead conversion rate of 2.74%, almost 3 times higher than both Twitter and Facebook.
I guess that shows me that the people who are on LinkedIn are there for business purposes and are looking to network. So here are some tips on how to leverage LinkedIn:
- Invest the time – develop and nurture your community. Don’t post something for the sake of posting. If you don’t have good content, wait until you do.
- Focus content on what’s working – if blog posts are getting the most traffic, concentrate on doing more of them. If webinars or podcasts create more activity, focus on them.
- Don’t forget lead generation content – call-to-action items need to be included in the mix so you’re continually inviting people to engage.
- Keep learning – don’t take any success for granted. Keep working to improve your content.
Those are some of my thoughts. What are you doing to take advantage of LinkedIn?
by tradespeopleinsights | 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 tradespeopleinsights | Oct 11, 2011 | 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 120 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.
- Groups – This is the “holy grail” as far as I’m concerned. 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?
