As B2B marketers, we know the growing importance of B2B social media. We know it’s a necessary tool for seed nurturing and demand generation, but in many cases, B2B marketers are still not sure where to begin. The following 10 tips from the Definitive Guide to Social Media will help you understand what components are essential to grasp, use and focus on.
1. Develop a plan – Ask yourself these three questions:
WHO – Who is your target audience? Do you have a buyer persona?
HOW – How can you deploy social media tactics for measurable success? What KPIs are important to your brand?
WHAT – What goals or objectives do you want to accomplish? Increase brand awareness? Improve engagement?
2. Blog – This plays a key role in lead nurturing and educating prospects. Therefore, its pertinent that you:
Update often
Create thought leadership content
Add a human touch
Provide insight into company & products/services
Develop linkbait & use anchor text links
3. Twitter 101
Create a full account – Always create your account with a full profile: picture, bio, link to company website and customized background.
Follow with relevance – Connect to significant people, thought leaders, industry experts and encourage others to follow you.
Tweet daily, multiple times daily – Include links, RT followers, be interesting.
4. Facebook 101
DON’T friend people you don’t know. DO ask people if you can friend them, particularly if you’ve only spoken to them on the phone.
DO take advantage of privacy settings to manage personal and business content separately
DO use Facebook status updates to include powerful tidbits of information, similar to Tweets. DON’T update what you had for breakfast unless it’s somehow relevant to your audience.
DO add a picture.
DO create a Facebook page for your business, especially if you aren’t comfortable with a personal profile.
DO post events and create groups. This will help develop your following.
5. LinkedIn 101
Connections – Connect only to those who are relevant. You can actually be banned for trying to connect with people you don’t know. However, it’s fine to connect with those whom you do know but only in a professional capacity without a personal connection.
Timeliness – Send connections shortly after meeting with someone so he/she remembers you.
Complete profile – Provide as much detail as possible, what you’re looking for out of the site and include a picture to ‘humanize’ the profile.
Recommendations – Request from individuals that can leave positive feedback and comments about your company.
6. Online Video Sites – These are great B2B marketing tools.
These sites include mainly YouTube but also Vimeo and Viddler. This provides a great opportunity to build awareness, demonstrate thought leadership and drive business. It also offers the chance to improve SEO, creating a greater likelihood your company will appear in search engines. Sites to test for your marketing include:
YouTube
Vimeo
Viddler
7. Bookmarking Sites – These allow users to share websites and content they find interesting. Sites like Delicious, Digg and StumbleUpon house lists of websites, blog and articles categorized by tags and topics. Use these sites to:
Gain referrals
Build a community
Increase brand awareness
8. Leverage widgets – Widgets are stand-alone tools or applications that provide dynamic content.
It’s very important widgets are relevant and useful, as it’s easy to get lost amongst the masses. Widgets make great viral marketing for companies by offering unique, easy-to-use content that’s visually appealing.
9. Share – The age old lesson of giving to others.
But in this instance we aren’t referring to cookies in the lunch room, instead we’re referencing document or presentation sharing. Encouraging sharing from those researching your content by providing presentations and documents via sites like SlideShare and Scribd. This increases the propensity that visitors re-share this information on their own blogs.
10. Photos – Pictures are great tools to give your company personality and life.
Prospects researching company events, conferences and offices love visual elements, as well. Tell a story through photos deliver dynamic content.
These 10 tips make a great start to help you ease into B2B social media. By downloading The Definitive Guide to Social Media from Marketo, you can learn even more about implementation and analysis. Discover the ROI of social media and how to implement tactics throughout each stage of the revenue cycle.
This content was originally posted by Maria Pergolino on http://blog.marketo.com/
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Friday, July 16, 2010
Facebook Marketing: Ultimate Guide
It is an overused practice to start from some "shocking" stats and dissertate on how Facebook is powerful and important for business. So, I will just consider you all know what is Facebook and how cool it is.
What you're about to read is a step-by-step SMM strategy for promoting your business on Facebook. I've gathered all the best practices and tips that I have used myself, together with some advice that I haven't tried but am confident will work well. Ok. That's enough for the intro, let's go!
Where To Start?
1. Brand Ambassador.
First of all, don't use your personal account to promote your business, unless you want your customers to see your childhood pictures and lulz from the recent party. You can create another (purely business oriented) instance of yourself or hire someone to become your brand ambassador. This will be the person who represents your business online and handles all communications, so the info on the profile should be brief and clear and all the pictures neat and professional. Remember that users will associate your business with this guy.
Power Tip: Create a separate e-mail account in Gmail and import all the e-mail addresses of your clients there. Now when you use this account to create a new Facebook profile - the system will automatically find all of your clients in your address book and suggest to add them as your friends on Facebook! What a great start!
2. Creating a Facebook page.
Promotion on Facebook is all about having a page for your business. To create one, go to http://www.facebook.com/pages/ and click the "+ Create a Page" button.
Power Tip: "Page Name" is one of the the strongest ranking factors on Facebook search. Don't miss the opportunity to add some keywords you wish to rank for as you are not allowed to change your page name later.
Configuring Your Facebook Page
1. Profile picture & avatar.
Profile picture is one of the few things in the design of your page that you can actually customize, so be sure to make the most of it. Here are two great articles that will help you: "5 Creative Ways to Hack Your Profile Photo"; "Making the Most of Your Facebook Profile Picture".
2. Page info.
The next important thing to do is fill your Facebook page with information about your business. Most of it is stored under the "Info" tab, which you cannot remove or hide. Lots of people visit it, so work hard to make your info as brief and engaging as you can. "Think SEO" and use your keywords, as each of the tabs is indexable by the search engines.
Power Tip: if you type a URL starting from http:// in the info box under your profile picture, Facebook will turn it into a clickable link. So you can easily refer your visitors to your website, blog or twitter account.
3. Applications.
* Static FBML (Facebook Markup Language) - allows you to create 10 additional tabs, which can contain HTML/CSS, Flash, FBML, iframes and FBJS;
* NetworkedBlogs - allows you to post your RSS and Atom feeds directly to your wall;
* Twitter Tab - posts your twitter updates to a separate tab;
* Extended Info - adds an additional box which supports html/fbml, images, video and music to the left sidebar of your page;
* Fan Appz & Promotions - helps you handle all kinds of contests, sweepstakes & give aways.
Tip: you'll probably end up with lots of tabs by adding various applications. However you can easily drag them around if you think that some of them are more important.
4. Vanity URL.
To be able to convert your ugly "326727833086?ref=sgm&ajaxpipe=1&__a=7" URL into something fancy-looking, like "http://facebook.com/mybusinesspage" you need to have at least 25 fans. Once you do - go to http://www.facebook.com/username/ and click the "Set a username for your Pages" link at the bottom.
5. Custom landing page.
You need an attractive landing page, which will convert your visitors into fans. Here is when the FBML application comes into play. Using HTML, CSS, FBJS and even flash you can create awesome landing pages that people will not only "like", but link to, and suggest to friends.
Tip: If you've got no development skills you can find some nice facebook FBML page templates that have just started to appear around the template stores.
What To Expect?
Before we start reviewing various Facebook promotion techniques, I'd like to clear things up a little bit. Essentially when someone "Likes" your Facebook page, they will be notified every time you update its status, it's almost the same as following someone on Twitter. To have your message spread on Twitter you need to have your followers retweet your post so that their followers could see it and retweet in turn. On Facebook, the principle is a bit more sophisticated: when someone likes or comments your status update, this fact is being reflected in his profile. And when your status update gets a decent amount of "likes" and comments it is promoted to the Top News section of a user's News Feed, so that more people could see it.
Now let's refer to a famous "90:9:1 Social Behaviors Rule" to understand what it takes for your message to become visible.
Let's consider that "Heavy Contributors" are those ready to comment on your update, "Intermittent" ones will probably "like" it, and "Lurkers" will read it or just scroll through. Say your page has 100 fans. Knowing the fact that only 12%-20% of all your "Fans" will see your status update in their Live Feed, we can see that:
I hope this delivers a clear understanding that Facebook promotion takes an enormous amount of effort to become successful.
Promoting Your Facebook Page Internally.
1. Using your Brand Ambassador.
* Add to friends any people that may be your potential customers or somehow relate to your business. Recently, Facebook has added Skype integration, which can suggest you some Facebook friends from the list of your Skype contacts. Once you have a decent amount of friends use the "Suggest to friends" and "Share" buttons to promote your Facebook page to them;
* Use Facebook Search to discover relevant pages, groups, events, people and even messages. With Search you can easily track any mentions of your brand and provide feedback - people really love that;
* Once you join pages, groups and events, you are able to participate in the conversation, which is a great way of direct promotion. Moreover you can see the list of the group members and easily add them to friends;
* Communicate. Once someone comments on your new status, a photo, or anything else - answer back. Moreover you need to make people love your brand and become active contributors and then brand ambassadors. 1/4 of search results on each big brand is UGC (User Generated Content).
Power Tip: When composing a message put the @ symbol and start typing the name of your business page to mention it, just like you mention someone on Twitter. This can be used as a signature to your updates.
2. Keep the page fresh and interesting.
People join your page hoping to receive some interesting stuff from you, so do not disappoint them. Facebookers usually prefer pictures, videos and links to plain text updates. Here is a comprehensive list of things that you should keep in mind to avoid losing your fans: don't post too many updates; don't automate your content; don't be a duplicate of your website and don't be boring. Your page wall is your social proof and a signal for people to get involved.
3. Cheat a bit.
Ask fellow staff & your team members to post "likes" and comments on each of your status updates to boost its rankings. Only status updates with 5 or more "likes" and comments show up in the Top News section. This will also make your wall look "alive", which will inspire your fans to be more active on your page and participate in the conversation.
4. Fill in your page with media content.
* Upload pictures of your products/services, your office and your team at work to make your company easier to relate to;
* Encourage your fans to post pictures of how they use your product;
* Upload pictures from each event you host and tag your fans there;
* Post videos of your team members talks;
* Show your products/services in action;
* Use video to respond to your fans (Bill Clinton frequently does video responses on his page).
5. Treat your fans.
You need to offer your fans something special and reward them. For instance 1-800-FLOWER Facebook page shows the discount code only when you click the "Like" button.
You can make some special offers, which are available to your Facebook fans only and are not announced outside of Facebook. It's dead easy to reward your loyal fans by promoting them to the admins of your page, which will most likely turn them into enthusiastic brand ambassadors. Anyway, if there is some prominent fan - he should be publicly rewarded.
6. Send an update to Fans.
Direct messaging is a very powerful tool, but do not misuse it. Think twice before sending a message to all of your fans - it should be really valuable if you don't want everyone to ignore it or get irritated.
Tip: Facebook allows you to send targeted updates. Think of a way you could use that feature for your business.
7. Ask your fans for help.
Now and then you can post a status update asking your fans to help build the community by suggesting your page to their friends. Just refer them to "Suggest to Friends" and "Share" links on your page and measure their response.
8. Build partnerships with other pages.
Notice that each page on Facebook has an "Add to my Page's Favorites" button. When you do this, the logo of this page appears in a special "Favorite Pages" box on your own page. People see it and they might click the link to find out more about this page.
Your aim here is to build partnerships within your niche and be "favourited" as much as possible. Add to favorites pages that you like or that your business is related to and inform their owners about it with a wall post or a private message. Most likely you will be "favorited" back.
9. Use the applications.
There are a lot of crazy apps that you can use to promote yourself. You can even develop one of your own if your budget allows that. But how do the viral applications work in common?
You need something that people would willingly launch. This might be a game or a quiz or any other kind of dynamic content that most people love. Once a person has his score, bagde, vitual gift or any other result - the application publishes it to his wall so that all his friends could see it. The application should have a clear call to action, so that new people could easily get engaged. If the application has some kind of a High Score - people will play it again and again till they outrank their friends. You can (should) use the apps for sweepstakes and giveaways - people love them a lot.
10. Spy!
Yes! Always keep an eye on your competitors, especially on those outranking you. Check what they do and if you consider it to be a successful strategy - do the same. When they fail - try to avoid their mistakes. Anyway, you should always be informed on what others are doing to promote themselves.
11. Ads?
Indeed the most common way to promote your page. But before you use it, check out these stats:
Promoting Your Facebook Page Externally.
1. Facebook for webites.
The Facebook team has come a long way toward making your website more personalized and social. There is a list of great social plugins that can be easily embedded into your website and drive lots of new visitors: "Like Button" plugin, which is almost everywhere now, "Like Box", which let's you become a fan of the website without leaving the page, "Live Stream" which is often used while broadcasting some event. Try them on your website and see what happens next.
2. "Like" and "Share" buttons.
These two are so powerful that they require a separate paragraph. Once you own an online store - those buttons are of exceptional value. Whenever you find something that appeals to you in an online store - you no longer need to copy the URL and send it to your friends to ask for their opinion. Just press the "Like" button. They will see that and comment on it. This applies to photos, videos, games, blog posts, reviews - literally anything that can be found on the web.
3. Put a link everywhere.
Once you have a website, you put its address everywhere - e-mail signatures, forum signatures, twitter info, author bio section, LinkedIn profile, links section of your blog. Do exactly the same with your Facebook page. Highlight your Facebook presence at offline events, print it on your business card, use every opportunity you have.
Power Tip: Take some twitter auto follow script that follows a person whenever he has specific keywords in his tweet. Some percent of the people you've followed will follow you back. Write an engaging request to join your Facebook page and set it as an automatic direct message to people, who have just followed you. Being launched, this system will drive some new fans to your Facebook page on a regular basis.
4. Using video.
Almost every video sharing service allows you to annotate your videos with links. This is a great way to drive some new fans onto your Facebook page. You can make viral videos, funny videos, tutorials, explanations, presentations etc. and include a link to your Facebook page with a request to join. Works perfectly!
5. Other services.
There are a lot of websites where you can get some targeted audience. For instance, upon writing this guide I've gone though dozens of presentations at SlideShare and Scribd. There I've seen many referrals to join Facebook pages specialized on marketing, and I did join some of them truthfully as I enjoyed their presentations. Examine carefully all the websites where you post information or showcase your services and think of the way you could refer people to your Facebook page.
Power Tip: In case you have some kind of a digital product - create a torrent with some demos, name it with trending keywords and upload to all torrent trackers you can find. In the info or in the comments section add a link to your Facebook page. Then go to your analytics and watch your numbers grow.
Wheew... That's the end of my guide. Sure there's a lot more to add, but I tried to keep my tactics brief, to leave some space for your imagination. I'm sure each of you can invent lots of fantastic ways to use Facebook for SMM. I am open for any questions, shoot!
The blog was originally posted on SEOmoz: http://www.seomoz.org/blog/facebook-marketing-ultimate-guide
It is an overused practice to start from some "shocking" stats and dissertate on how Facebook is powerful and important for business. So, I will just consider you all know what is Facebook and how cool it is.
What you're about to read is a step-by-step SMM strategy for promoting your business on Facebook. I've gathered all the best practices and tips that I have used myself, together with some advice that I haven't tried but am confident will work well. Ok. That's enough for the intro, let's go!
Where To Start?
1. Brand Ambassador.
First of all, don't use your personal account to promote your business, unless you want your customers to see your childhood pictures and lulz from the recent party. You can create another (purely business oriented) instance of yourself or hire someone to become your brand ambassador. This will be the person who represents your business online and handles all communications, so the info on the profile should be brief and clear and all the pictures neat and professional. Remember that users will associate your business with this guy.
Power Tip: Create a separate e-mail account in Gmail and import all the e-mail addresses of your clients there. Now when you use this account to create a new Facebook profile - the system will automatically find all of your clients in your address book and suggest to add them as your friends on Facebook! What a great start!
2. Creating a Facebook page.
Promotion on Facebook is all about having a page for your business. To create one, go to http://www.facebook.com/pages/ and click the "+ Create a Page" button.
Power Tip: "Page Name" is one of the the strongest ranking factors on Facebook search. Don't miss the opportunity to add some keywords you wish to rank for as you are not allowed to change your page name later.
Configuring Your Facebook Page
1. Profile picture & avatar.
Profile picture is one of the few things in the design of your page that you can actually customize, so be sure to make the most of it. Here are two great articles that will help you: "5 Creative Ways to Hack Your Profile Photo"; "Making the Most of Your Facebook Profile Picture".
2. Page info.
The next important thing to do is fill your Facebook page with information about your business. Most of it is stored under the "Info" tab, which you cannot remove or hide. Lots of people visit it, so work hard to make your info as brief and engaging as you can. "Think SEO" and use your keywords, as each of the tabs is indexable by the search engines.
Power Tip: if you type a URL starting from http:// in the info box under your profile picture, Facebook will turn it into a clickable link. So you can easily refer your visitors to your website, blog or twitter account.
3. Applications.
* Static FBML (Facebook Markup Language) - allows you to create 10 additional tabs, which can contain HTML/CSS, Flash, FBML, iframes and FBJS;
* NetworkedBlogs - allows you to post your RSS and Atom feeds directly to your wall;
* Twitter Tab - posts your twitter updates to a separate tab;
* Extended Info - adds an additional box which supports html/fbml, images, video and music to the left sidebar of your page;
* Fan Appz & Promotions - helps you handle all kinds of contests, sweepstakes & give aways.
Tip: you'll probably end up with lots of tabs by adding various applications. However you can easily drag them around if you think that some of them are more important.
4. Vanity URL.
To be able to convert your ugly "326727833086?ref=sgm&ajaxpipe=1&__a=7" URL into something fancy-looking, like "http://facebook.com/mybusinesspage" you need to have at least 25 fans. Once you do - go to http://www.facebook.com/username/ and click the "Set a username for your Pages" link at the bottom.
5. Custom landing page.
You need an attractive landing page, which will convert your visitors into fans. Here is when the FBML application comes into play. Using HTML, CSS, FBJS and even flash you can create awesome landing pages that people will not only "like", but link to, and suggest to friends.
Tip: If you've got no development skills you can find some nice facebook FBML page templates that have just started to appear around the template stores.
What To Expect?
Before we start reviewing various Facebook promotion techniques, I'd like to clear things up a little bit. Essentially when someone "Likes" your Facebook page, they will be notified every time you update its status, it's almost the same as following someone on Twitter. To have your message spread on Twitter you need to have your followers retweet your post so that their followers could see it and retweet in turn. On Facebook, the principle is a bit more sophisticated: when someone likes or comments your status update, this fact is being reflected in his profile. And when your status update gets a decent amount of "likes" and comments it is promoted to the Top News section of a user's News Feed, so that more people could see it.
Now let's refer to a famous "90:9:1 Social Behaviors Rule" to understand what it takes for your message to become visible.
Let's consider that "Heavy Contributors" are those ready to comment on your update, "Intermittent" ones will probably "like" it, and "Lurkers" will read it or just scroll through. Say your page has 100 fans. Knowing the fact that only 12%-20% of all your "Fans" will see your status update in their Live Feed, we can see that:
I hope this delivers a clear understanding that Facebook promotion takes an enormous amount of effort to become successful.
Promoting Your Facebook Page Internally.
1. Using your Brand Ambassador.
* Add to friends any people that may be your potential customers or somehow relate to your business. Recently, Facebook has added Skype integration, which can suggest you some Facebook friends from the list of your Skype contacts. Once you have a decent amount of friends use the "Suggest to friends" and "Share" buttons to promote your Facebook page to them;
* Use Facebook Search to discover relevant pages, groups, events, people and even messages. With Search you can easily track any mentions of your brand and provide feedback - people really love that;
* Once you join pages, groups and events, you are able to participate in the conversation, which is a great way of direct promotion. Moreover you can see the list of the group members and easily add them to friends;
* Communicate. Once someone comments on your new status, a photo, or anything else - answer back. Moreover you need to make people love your brand and become active contributors and then brand ambassadors. 1/4 of search results on each big brand is UGC (User Generated Content).
Power Tip: When composing a message put the @ symbol and start typing the name of your business page to mention it, just like you mention someone on Twitter. This can be used as a signature to your updates.
2. Keep the page fresh and interesting.
People join your page hoping to receive some interesting stuff from you, so do not disappoint them. Facebookers usually prefer pictures, videos and links to plain text updates. Here is a comprehensive list of things that you should keep in mind to avoid losing your fans: don't post too many updates; don't automate your content; don't be a duplicate of your website and don't be boring. Your page wall is your social proof and a signal for people to get involved.
3. Cheat a bit.
Ask fellow staff & your team members to post "likes" and comments on each of your status updates to boost its rankings. Only status updates with 5 or more "likes" and comments show up in the Top News section. This will also make your wall look "alive", which will inspire your fans to be more active on your page and participate in the conversation.
4. Fill in your page with media content.
* Upload pictures of your products/services, your office and your team at work to make your company easier to relate to;
* Encourage your fans to post pictures of how they use your product;
* Upload pictures from each event you host and tag your fans there;
* Post videos of your team members talks;
* Show your products/services in action;
* Use video to respond to your fans (Bill Clinton frequently does video responses on his page).
5. Treat your fans.
You need to offer your fans something special and reward them. For instance 1-800-FLOWER Facebook page shows the discount code only when you click the "Like" button.
You can make some special offers, which are available to your Facebook fans only and are not announced outside of Facebook. It's dead easy to reward your loyal fans by promoting them to the admins of your page, which will most likely turn them into enthusiastic brand ambassadors. Anyway, if there is some prominent fan - he should be publicly rewarded.
6. Send an update to Fans.
Direct messaging is a very powerful tool, but do not misuse it. Think twice before sending a message to all of your fans - it should be really valuable if you don't want everyone to ignore it or get irritated.
Tip: Facebook allows you to send targeted updates. Think of a way you could use that feature for your business.
7. Ask your fans for help.
Now and then you can post a status update asking your fans to help build the community by suggesting your page to their friends. Just refer them to "Suggest to Friends" and "Share" links on your page and measure their response.
8. Build partnerships with other pages.
Notice that each page on Facebook has an "Add to my Page's Favorites" button. When you do this, the logo of this page appears in a special "Favorite Pages" box on your own page. People see it and they might click the link to find out more about this page.
Your aim here is to build partnerships within your niche and be "favourited" as much as possible. Add to favorites pages that you like or that your business is related to and inform their owners about it with a wall post or a private message. Most likely you will be "favorited" back.
9. Use the applications.
There are a lot of crazy apps that you can use to promote yourself. You can even develop one of your own if your budget allows that. But how do the viral applications work in common?
You need something that people would willingly launch. This might be a game or a quiz or any other kind of dynamic content that most people love. Once a person has his score, bagde, vitual gift or any other result - the application publishes it to his wall so that all his friends could see it. The application should have a clear call to action, so that new people could easily get engaged. If the application has some kind of a High Score - people will play it again and again till they outrank their friends. You can (should) use the apps for sweepstakes and giveaways - people love them a lot.
10. Spy!
Yes! Always keep an eye on your competitors, especially on those outranking you. Check what they do and if you consider it to be a successful strategy - do the same. When they fail - try to avoid their mistakes. Anyway, you should always be informed on what others are doing to promote themselves.
11. Ads?
Indeed the most common way to promote your page. But before you use it, check out these stats:
Promoting Your Facebook Page Externally.
1. Facebook for webites.
The Facebook team has come a long way toward making your website more personalized and social. There is a list of great social plugins that can be easily embedded into your website and drive lots of new visitors: "Like Button" plugin, which is almost everywhere now, "Like Box", which let's you become a fan of the website without leaving the page, "Live Stream" which is often used while broadcasting some event. Try them on your website and see what happens next.
2. "Like" and "Share" buttons.
These two are so powerful that they require a separate paragraph. Once you own an online store - those buttons are of exceptional value. Whenever you find something that appeals to you in an online store - you no longer need to copy the URL and send it to your friends to ask for their opinion. Just press the "Like" button. They will see that and comment on it. This applies to photos, videos, games, blog posts, reviews - literally anything that can be found on the web.
3. Put a link everywhere.
Once you have a website, you put its address everywhere - e-mail signatures, forum signatures, twitter info, author bio section, LinkedIn profile, links section of your blog. Do exactly the same with your Facebook page. Highlight your Facebook presence at offline events, print it on your business card, use every opportunity you have.
Power Tip: Take some twitter auto follow script that follows a person whenever he has specific keywords in his tweet. Some percent of the people you've followed will follow you back. Write an engaging request to join your Facebook page and set it as an automatic direct message to people, who have just followed you. Being launched, this system will drive some new fans to your Facebook page on a regular basis.
4. Using video.
Almost every video sharing service allows you to annotate your videos with links. This is a great way to drive some new fans onto your Facebook page. You can make viral videos, funny videos, tutorials, explanations, presentations etc. and include a link to your Facebook page with a request to join. Works perfectly!
5. Other services.
There are a lot of websites where you can get some targeted audience. For instance, upon writing this guide I've gone though dozens of presentations at SlideShare and Scribd. There I've seen many referrals to join Facebook pages specialized on marketing, and I did join some of them truthfully as I enjoyed their presentations. Examine carefully all the websites where you post information or showcase your services and think of the way you could refer people to your Facebook page.
Power Tip: In case you have some kind of a digital product - create a torrent with some demos, name it with trending keywords and upload to all torrent trackers you can find. In the info or in the comments section add a link to your Facebook page. Then go to your analytics and watch your numbers grow.
Wheew... That's the end of my guide. Sure there's a lot more to add, but I tried to keep my tactics brief, to leave some space for your imagination. I'm sure each of you can invent lots of fantastic ways to use Facebook for SMM. I am open for any questions, shoot!
The blog was originally posted on SEOmoz: http://www.seomoz.org/blog/facebook-marketing-ultimate-guide
Monday, July 12, 2010
Attend our CAMA meeting this Wednesday and be entered in to a raffle for a free OMS ticket $369 value http://tinyurl.com/l6gef3
Saturday, July 10, 2010
CAMA Members: Get 20% off the Online Marketing Summit this Friday the 16th in Charlotte http://tinyurl.com/l6gef3
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Social CRM: The Latest Evolution for Managing Customer Relationships
The days are long gone when sales representatives could rely on their ability to “read” prospects to make the sale, thanks to buyers researching their purchases online.
The need to better understand online behaviors to convert leads jump-started the evolution of customer relationship management (CRM). With CRM, organizations benefit from increased operational effectiveness, easier access to data and improved collaboration.
Now, as the CRM evolution continues, the notion of social CRM has empowered organizations – especially sales adn support departments within these organizations –to connect with customers and prospects on an even greater level.
Integrating social media with traditional CRM has enabled organizations to:
1. Focus more on conversations than strictly on automated processes.
2. Progress beyond tracking and reporting on prospect information, and instead become integral parts of communities.
3. Attract prospects online who are searching for answers to business challenges by providing relevant content and information.
4. Activate the intersection of marketing, customer services and sales to attract hotter sales leads.
“Social CRM isn’t just about bolting on a new plug-in to your system like a new air foil on your minivan, but instead a new way of doing business,” Jeremiah Owyang wrote in a recent blog post on his Web Strategy blog. “The promise of social CRM says that companies are truly listening to their customers wherever they are, responding, anticipating and making the commitment to improve products and services.”
One very vital element of social CRM is social selling, which leverages Web 2.0 technologies to provide sophisticated sales insight. That insight enables sales to act as experts in the product selection process instead of negotiators.
True social selling tools enable sales to better understand, prioritize and interact with the hottest leads and opportunities to quickly close more business by:
• Receiving updates about lead activity via email or mobile device
• Using Outlook to reach prospects and sending data to their CRM
• Providing the option to pass back leads to marketing for further nurturing
• Using RSS to send different types of prospect information into one system
• Accessing sites like Demandbase, LinkedIn and Jigsaw from the tools already in use
• Sorting leads in their CRM by priority, allowing sales to contact leads when they need the most attention
• Monitoring key moments and behaviors that matter to sales, and notifying them of such behavior
When engaging with customers socially, they have a high propensity to share that experience with their networks. And the efficacy of this is strong – according to Marketing Sherpa, 87% of consumers trust a friend’s recommendation over a critic’s.
With a predicted 34% compound annual growth rate of social media spending through 2014 according to data from Forrester, our prediction for 2010 is the growth of social CRM will be strong.
This article was reposted from Marketo. Link: http://blog.marketo.com/blog/2010/06/social-crm-the-latest-evolution-for-managing-customer-relationships.html
The need to better understand online behaviors to convert leads jump-started the evolution of customer relationship management (CRM). With CRM, organizations benefit from increased operational effectiveness, easier access to data and improved collaboration.
Now, as the CRM evolution continues, the notion of social CRM has empowered organizations – especially sales adn support departments within these organizations –to connect with customers and prospects on an even greater level.
Integrating social media with traditional CRM has enabled organizations to:
1. Focus more on conversations than strictly on automated processes.
2. Progress beyond tracking and reporting on prospect information, and instead become integral parts of communities.
3. Attract prospects online who are searching for answers to business challenges by providing relevant content and information.
4. Activate the intersection of marketing, customer services and sales to attract hotter sales leads.
“Social CRM isn’t just about bolting on a new plug-in to your system like a new air foil on your minivan, but instead a new way of doing business,” Jeremiah Owyang wrote in a recent blog post on his Web Strategy blog. “The promise of social CRM says that companies are truly listening to their customers wherever they are, responding, anticipating and making the commitment to improve products and services.”
One very vital element of social CRM is social selling, which leverages Web 2.0 technologies to provide sophisticated sales insight. That insight enables sales to act as experts in the product selection process instead of negotiators.
True social selling tools enable sales to better understand, prioritize and interact with the hottest leads and opportunities to quickly close more business by:
• Receiving updates about lead activity via email or mobile device
• Using Outlook to reach prospects and sending data to their CRM
• Providing the option to pass back leads to marketing for further nurturing
• Using RSS to send different types of prospect information into one system
• Accessing sites like Demandbase, LinkedIn and Jigsaw from the tools already in use
• Sorting leads in their CRM by priority, allowing sales to contact leads when they need the most attention
• Monitoring key moments and behaviors that matter to sales, and notifying them of such behavior
When engaging with customers socially, they have a high propensity to share that experience with their networks. And the efficacy of this is strong – according to Marketing Sherpa, 87% of consumers trust a friend’s recommendation over a critic’s.
With a predicted 34% compound annual growth rate of social media spending through 2014 according to data from Forrester, our prediction for 2010 is the growth of social CRM will be strong.
This article was reposted from Marketo. Link: http://blog.marketo.com/blog/2010/06/social-crm-the-latest-evolution-for-managing-customer-relationships.html
Monday, June 7, 2010
Interactions, Engagement & Ecosystems
A "media" model composed of paid, owned and earned efforts is nothing new—however it’s useful to think about this landscape in tandem with the different ways we interact and engage which are enabled through technology. There are essentially three forms of digital engagement which can often overlap (engagement in a single initiative can include all three types) but each form can tend to dominate the experience. It’s important to remember that the type of engagement is contextual to what a participant wants to accomplish.
Types of engagement:
Interactive
This type of engagement is, as its name suggests highly interactive by nature, though what’s worth noting is that there is no social component to it. The primary interaction exists between a person and technology or human to computer. Examples of interactive engagement could be an ATM, or an e-commerce experience or microsites. It can also be a game, video, or any other experience where users engage a system or interact with content. The key distinction is that interactive excludes social interactions between participants.
Social
Social engagement requires the interactions between live human beings (not machines) and/or groups with each other. Most common forms of social engagement can occur on off domain networks such as Facebook and Twitter but can also occur on domain such as corporate blogs or by using the integration of off domain services. The key differentiator for social engagement is that it goes beyond human to computer interaction as described in interactive engagement and usually involves social behavior such as “friending” or human to human direct engagement.
Mobile
Mobile engagement happens exclusively on mobile device as opposed non-mobile device such as a desktop computer. It also takes into context the user behavior of individual(s) who are in mobile situations such as traveling or moving from point A to B. Context in mobile behavior is critical as user activity is influenced by the actual state of being mobile. It’s also worth noting that “mobile” itself may gradually be re-defined over time with devices such at the iPad which blend stationary and mobile behaviors as well as geolocation platforms such as Foursquare which makes mobile activity hyper-local.
Where engagement happens:
Engagement can happen either on domain or off domain and initiatives which include any form of media or content can fall into the following categories:
Paid
Paid efforts always require some type of monetary exchange in order to have initiatives placed on properties whether they be traditional outlets such as display advertising or non traditional outlets such as blogs or advertising within off domain such as Facebook. Paid placement in search initiatives also falls into the category of paid as long as results are tied to non organic or paid searches.
Owned
Owned media typically does not require monetary compensation and can occur on both on and off domain properties that the organization has control over (Facebook pages are off domain, where Websites are on domain but both are owned). Owned properties offer organizations the most control as they can decide what media to promote although off domain properties must be monitored closely as they often support social engagement which cannot be controlled but moderated.
Earned
Earned media nearly always takes place on off domain properties such as forums, blogs, social networks and also mainstream publications. Media is typically earned through word of mouth or unpaid but highly visible results in both search engines and social media referrals. Earned media can also be amplified through outreach initiatives. The core distinction for media which is earned is the absence of overt payment to the property owner for the results.
What This All Means
As stated in the beginning of this piece—much of this should not be new, however it does present new opportunities and challenges for organizations looking to stay in lock step with their customers, consumers and employees. The media ecosystem must be purposefully orchestrated and appear seamless to the individual and groups you are hoping to reach. From a technological perspective, this means potentially adding systems equipped with workflows such as Social Talk or Awareness which allow you to better manage your entire social ecosystem. From a people process, this could mean training and staffing differently. But from the perspective of the people who you want to activate—it simply means that you are relevant to their digital lifestyle. This translates to the the following: we must better understand how people want to engage (IE their motivations and behaviors). For example, the context behind when they want to act "socially" or be left alone and when they are “on the move” vs. stationary. Also, each form of media is its own micro ecosystem within a broader macro media ecosystem—Facebook’s latest addition of community pages could potentially create micro-ecosystems within the broader Facebook environment.
Having intimate knowledge of how these ecosystems thrive (or not) will help us figure out how they can work best together. In other words, get ready to go both wide and deep as you plan digital initiatives. The future of communications will require organizations to be effective both in engaging participants via micro formats while taking a step back and managing media and interactions across the macro (all social, interactive and mobile touch points)—and that’s just on the digital front. The bigger picture? Integration between the digital and real world because this is where it all comes together.
Types of engagement:
Interactive
This type of engagement is, as its name suggests highly interactive by nature, though what’s worth noting is that there is no social component to it. The primary interaction exists between a person and technology or human to computer. Examples of interactive engagement could be an ATM, or an e-commerce experience or microsites. It can also be a game, video, or any other experience where users engage a system or interact with content. The key distinction is that interactive excludes social interactions between participants.
Social
Social engagement requires the interactions between live human beings (not machines) and/or groups with each other. Most common forms of social engagement can occur on off domain networks such as Facebook and Twitter but can also occur on domain such as corporate blogs or by using the integration of off domain services. The key differentiator for social engagement is that it goes beyond human to computer interaction as described in interactive engagement and usually involves social behavior such as “friending” or human to human direct engagement.
Mobile
Mobile engagement happens exclusively on mobile device as opposed non-mobile device such as a desktop computer. It also takes into context the user behavior of individual(s) who are in mobile situations such as traveling or moving from point A to B. Context in mobile behavior is critical as user activity is influenced by the actual state of being mobile. It’s also worth noting that “mobile” itself may gradually be re-defined over time with devices such at the iPad which blend stationary and mobile behaviors as well as geolocation platforms such as Foursquare which makes mobile activity hyper-local.
Where engagement happens:
Engagement can happen either on domain or off domain and initiatives which include any form of media or content can fall into the following categories:
Paid
Paid efforts always require some type of monetary exchange in order to have initiatives placed on properties whether they be traditional outlets such as display advertising or non traditional outlets such as blogs or advertising within off domain such as Facebook. Paid placement in search initiatives also falls into the category of paid as long as results are tied to non organic or paid searches.
Owned
Owned media typically does not require monetary compensation and can occur on both on and off domain properties that the organization has control over (Facebook pages are off domain, where Websites are on domain but both are owned). Owned properties offer organizations the most control as they can decide what media to promote although off domain properties must be monitored closely as they often support social engagement which cannot be controlled but moderated.
Earned
Earned media nearly always takes place on off domain properties such as forums, blogs, social networks and also mainstream publications. Media is typically earned through word of mouth or unpaid but highly visible results in both search engines and social media referrals. Earned media can also be amplified through outreach initiatives. The core distinction for media which is earned is the absence of overt payment to the property owner for the results.
What This All Means
As stated in the beginning of this piece—much of this should not be new, however it does present new opportunities and challenges for organizations looking to stay in lock step with their customers, consumers and employees. The media ecosystem must be purposefully orchestrated and appear seamless to the individual and groups you are hoping to reach. From a technological perspective, this means potentially adding systems equipped with workflows such as Social Talk or Awareness which allow you to better manage your entire social ecosystem. From a people process, this could mean training and staffing differently. But from the perspective of the people who you want to activate—it simply means that you are relevant to their digital lifestyle. This translates to the the following: we must better understand how people want to engage (IE their motivations and behaviors). For example, the context behind when they want to act "socially" or be left alone and when they are “on the move” vs. stationary. Also, each form of media is its own micro ecosystem within a broader macro media ecosystem—Facebook’s latest addition of community pages could potentially create micro-ecosystems within the broader Facebook environment.
Having intimate knowledge of how these ecosystems thrive (or not) will help us figure out how they can work best together. In other words, get ready to go both wide and deep as you plan digital initiatives. The future of communications will require organizations to be effective both in engaging participants via micro formats while taking a step back and managing media and interactions across the macro (all social, interactive and mobile touch points)—and that’s just on the digital front. The bigger picture? Integration between the digital and real world because this is where it all comes together.
This article was originally posted by Logic + Emotion: http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/2010/04/engagement.html
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