Social Media B2B recently published a fantastic blog post with very practical tips for integrating social media into your marketing plan. I have added to their tips other ideas I have seen used – or used myself – to bring you these 7 straightforward ways to improve your marketing efforts across the board.
1. Put your website in sync with your marketing plan.
If you are promoting something via social media – from a white paper to an ebook, guide, free trial or sample, or demo – make sure you send people somewhere on your website where they will find what they are looking for. It could be a landing page specifcially created for the campaign, or just an existing page on your website. Whatever it is, you need to make sure that it will lead people through the necessary steps they need to follow to get whatever it is you are promoting.
2. Make it easy for visitors to discover useful content.
Once you have someone on your website, whether it is that campaign-specific landing page or an existing page, keep them there with more useful content. Add links to additional content they might like, like other blog posts, ebooks, free samples, etc.
3. Add social buttons everywhere.
Add links to your social profiles wherever it makes sense – your blog, home page, landing pages, “contact us” page, and even in your team’s bios (linking to their accounts, obviously – as long as they are using them for work-related purposes only). Make sure you tell your Web visitors what kind of information they can expect to receive when they follow you on Facebook or Twitter.
4. Support advertising.
If traditional print advertising still generates enough leads to make it cost-effective, don’t stop. Help it deliver an even higher return on investment by creating a blog post that provides more information on what you mentioned in the ad. You can also add a QR code to the ad that links to a page on your website.
5. Socialize email.
Go beyond adding social media buttons to valuable email marketing messages. Use social media to ask people to sign up for your email list and announce when those emails are going out.
6. Generate leads with keywords.
Search Twitter and LinkedIn for keywords that aren’t just industry-specific, but pain-point-specific as well. People complain about problems when they are looking for a solution, so take advantage of that!
7. Promote events.
Promote events on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and, if you are a bricks-and-mortar business, Foursquare. Add links to information in a blog post, a landing page with more information, and/or a site where they can RSVP or buy tickets (like EventBrite). If you use Foursquare, add a special badge for the event – or a special badge for your best customers only.
Image courtesy of creative design agency Arrae
