How are B2B companies using social media?
Wondering what the “cool kids” are doing? Wondering how social media really relates to your business? You’re not alone. The promise of social media is real, but distinctly different for B2B companies.
The most effective usage is to build brand reputation, followed by building awareness.
Not sure how to get started integrating social media into your marketing plan?
Here’s my take:
Start with LinkedIn. Get your sales guys, managers and leaders on LinkedIn, building their online network of industry contacts. Post status updates that (over time) educate customers on your broader expertise.
For instance:
“Giving a lunch-and-learn on …”
“Headed downtown to train partners on new software”
“Launching … for new tech applications”
“Recruiting for … to expand …”
You get the idea…
After that, add in LinkedIn discussion groups and Q&A.
And after that, move to Twitter & Facebook. (Auto-posting from LinkedIn helps.) These are most useful for new product launches, promos, contests, e-commerce, etc.”Teasing” the customer with coming innovation, products & contests are effective here.
So, how are you using social media? Experimenting? Embracing? What’s worked for you? What hasn’t?
Posted by
Beth Shope on Tue, Sep 28, 2010 @ 09:25 PM
Building brand reputation and awareness are most effective uses–closing sales, the least.
Posted by
Beth Shope on Thu, Jul 30, 2009 @ 03:00 PM
Preparing for a trade show can be a daunting task, and in Optics and some of the other highly-targeted industries we serve, one of the most successful ways to connect and reconnect with prospects. Trade shows are nutty times, though, and inevitably you will forget something. Be prepared. Before the craziness begins, and the deadlines are breathing down your neck and UPS is knocking on your door, take ten minutes to write out a list of things that you need to take… I read a great article by Candy Adams , “Don’t Leave Home Without It”
So, thanks to Candy, we now have a great place to start:
- Cargo Boxes – trust me you will need extras when you are repacking your booth.
- Portable Strapping Kit – you gotta have something to hold your cargo boxes to the pallet
- Bubble Wrap
- Tape of all shapes and colors
- Black Stretch Tape
- Tear-by-Hand Tape (Scotch makes a good one.)
- Gaffer Tape – aka. Fabric or Cloth Tape, the stuff the sound guys use; it’s great for taping cords to the floor, etc.
- Double Sided Adhesive Tape
- Velcro – great for just about everything.
- Instant Carpet Stain Remover – Because no, your morning latte displayed on the white carpet in the middle of your booth is not the best way to greet customers… you know, we’ve all done it.
- Novus Polishes – to make your booth shine.
- Box Cutters – remember to pack this item in the pallets that are being shipped, they look down on it at the airport these days, but believe me they are more useful than the pair of dull scissors you can borrow from your neighbor.
- Permanent Markers – for touching up your booth and/or marking items & boxes.
- Portable Vacuum – just a little Dirt Devil will do, but it will save you the cost of paying the union workers to do it at night, and you can do touch ups during the day.
So, print this out and put it in your show folder… we can design beautiful booths, but we’d sure like to help you keep them that way!
We’re thankful to see businesses excelling in this tough market. Many of them are winning by:
Turning their smart business actions into marketing assets
Bright idea: create a white paper and article on your patented technology or sustainable business practices. White papers are the 2nd most popular tool for business marketing.
Improving their ability to compete globally
Bright idea: translate a section of your website to increase your search rankings for foreign prospects. (Especially as more and more foreign companies use Google Translate to search for vendors.)
Concentrating on ROI
Bright idea: with email campaigns and online advertising, on-hand stats make it easy to test what works before significant spend. The secret is to watch a few metrics consistently.
Focusing on competitive advantage
Bright idea: When in doubt, ask. Ask your customers why they bought, and how you’re different (then institutionalize the process).
It comes down to this: rather than being all things to all people, those who are winning are tightly targeting the right buyers with the right message. We’re looking forward to helping you do the same.
Michele Gleber, President
PLS is looking for ways to better serve our customers and colleagues. Your input matters — please take our brief (5-minute) survey.
Posted by
Beth Shope on Wed, Apr 01, 2009 @ 02:28 PM
Sometimes our biggest threats are our greatest opportunities. Those who embrace change can grow innovate, streamline and expand markets. As companies look to cut costs and optimize marketing spend, it pays to look at others’ plans for the new year:
Our Advice?
Spend precious resources on what works, and eliminate or simplify what doesn’t. Here’s how:
- Understand your current costs and 2009 budget constraints.
- Gather data points:
- Website stats like unique visits per month
- Number of new contacts in your database
- Source of your last 10 deals
- Examine for trends. Does an upswing in web visits tie to an event?
- Gather and assess your current marketing assets (e.g., identity, coll-ateral, website):
- What’s outdated or off-target?
- What can be reused or repurposed?
- What’s your best sales vehicle (web ad campaign, tradeshow/event)?
- What’s used inconsistently?
- Set a marketing plan including budget, schedule, priorities and timing. Need help? The PLS marketing assessment can help you build on what’s working, and simplify and turn around what’s not.
Michele Gleber, President
Posted by
Beth Shope on Sat, Jan 24, 2009 @ 12:49 PM
Welcome to the inaugural posting of the PLS blog. In marketing and software development, like much of life, everything changes, but lots stays the same. Look for lessons learned over years of working with companies of every size, in industries from high tech to homebuilding. Their common denominators? B2B companies selling complex products or services, and a mission to:
Expand markets
Reposition in an existing market
Expand sales channels
Launch a new product or service
Merge or acquire, and create a unified brand for the new entity
We’re developing new techniques every day for growing sales, so check back for ideas, both cutting edge and tried-and-true.