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Posts Tagged ‘LinkedIn’

Your Guide to LinkedIn Advertising

January 24th, 2013 :: Monika Jansen

If you’re a B2B company, attracting new customers with pay-per-click (PPC) ads on LinkedIn rather than Google or Facebook may be the way to go. That’s because you can target your ad to specific job titles, job functions, industries, company size, seniority, by LinkedIn Groups, etc. to ensure you are reaching either the end user or the person who makes the purchase decision.

Who you can reach on LinkedIn:

175 million professionals worldwide, 40 million of whom are US-based
7.9 million business decision makers
1.3 million small business owners
4.2 million corporate executives

How it works:

Choose your target demographic and location
Set a budget for clicks ($2 minimum) and the total you want to pay overall ($10 minimum)
Pay $5 activation fee

Types of ads:

Poll ads: Conduct market research and build brand awareness at the same time
Join group ads: If you have a LinkedIn Group, you can advertise it and increase your reputation as a thought leader
Social ads: These ads integrate member activities and information about advertising to target buyers based on what LinkedIn knows about your social network.
Video ads: This is the newest ad type, which lets you add your YouTube video or a 30 second video to ads.

Tips:

Make sure you measure your click-through-rate (CTR) on a regular basis to ensure your ad is working; you want a CTR of 0.025% or better.
Ads with images get 20% more clicks.
Turn your headline into a question to garner more attention.
You can create up to 15 ad variations to figure out which image and text work best.
Target ads to one specific group instead of everyone; the CTO has different priorities and needs than the CIO.

Have you advertised on LinkedIn yet? What about Google or Facebook? What strategies have you used to increase your CTR?

Image courtesy of blog.hubspot.com

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Tags: LinkedIn, Marketing, online advertising, PPC, social media
Posted in Marketing, Social Media | No Comments »

3 Reasons to Stick With Social Media Marketing

December 18th, 2012 :: Monika Jansen

Diving into social media marketing is fun and scary at the same time. When you’ve been at it for a while and you’re not getting the results you want, it can be incredibly frustrating. Why so few likes, comments, retweets, shares? I totally hear you, believe me! Between trying to deal with Facebook’s EdgeRank and timing social media use so people will see your brilliant content, it is easy to give up.

Resist the urge – don’t give up! Here are 3 reasons why (statistics courtesy of HubSpot):

Your demographic is on social media

No matter who your customers are, they are using social media: 83% of 18- to 29- year-olds and 70% of 30-49 year olds are active on it. Even 51% of those 50 and older are active on social media. Whether your business is B2B or B2C, your customers will interact with you on social media if you share engaging, useful content.

Social media use is growing

Your customers are continually joining social media – and using it more and more. Consider these numbers:

Every 60 seconds, 66,000 things are shared on Twitter, 695,000 things are shared on Facebook, and 7,000 things are shared on LinkedIn.
Every day, 700,000 new Facebook accounts are created.
Every week, 7 billion (billion!) things are shared on social media.

The more active you are, the better your chances for engagement.

Social media marketing works

Just because you’re not seeing immediate results on social media (new leads, new customers, higher sales numbers), don’t give up. Marketers are reporting 3 significant results:

91% see improved website traffic due to social media
79% are generating more quality leads than those who don’t use social media
50% have successfully connected with new customers on social networks

Making sure social media marketing works for you is pretty straightforward:

Be real
Be remarkable
Show your appreciation
Make your fans and followers feel special

How has social media helped your business grow?

Image courtesy of englishwithjo.com

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Tags: Facebook, LinkedIn, Marketing, social media, Twitter
Posted in Marketing, Social Media | 2 Comments »

3 Simple Tips for Improving LinkedIn Lead Generation From an Expert

November 26th, 2012 :: Monika Jansen

Ever hear of Neal Schaffer? He was named by Forbes as a Top 30 Social Media Power Influencer. He is a prolific blogger at Windmill Networking, a popular social media conference speaker, and an award-winning author of two books: ”Maximizing LinkedIn for Sales and Social Media Marketing” and “Windmill Networking: Maximizing LinkedIn.”

Basically, if you want to know about LinkedIn, you turn to him! Marketo recently published an interview with Neal about using LinkedIn for lead generation. Here are my top 3 takeaways:

1. Stop ignoring your company page

According to Neal, you have to do 3 things to take full advantage of your company page – all of which, I have to say, are pretty darned easy to do:

Build a following with relevant status updates
Include keywords everywhere for SEO purposes
Get recommendations for each of your products or services (rather than your company as a whole)

2. Create content that answers questions

I really love this point Neal makes: People do not call you for an answer – they search the Internet for answers. If you create content that 1) answers questions, and 2) is full of keywords, then people will find you and begin to view you as a thought leader.

3. Use LinkedIn Groups

Share the above content you create in relevant groups. LinkedIn Groups, as Neal points out, are where the professionals are online – they’re not necessarily looking for answers on Facebook, but they are within LinkedIn Groups.

Do the above, and Neal says that people will start finding you. Your status updates will pop up in their network updates. You’ll be discovered through search results. You’ll drive brand awareness and lead generation in groups.

Do you use LinkedIn for lead generation? What tactics have been most successful for you?

Image courtesy of marsdd.com

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Tags: lead generation, LinkedIn, LinkedIn Company Pages, LinkedIn Groups, Marketing, Neal Schaffer
Posted in Marketing, Social Media, Thought Leadership | No Comments »

Case Study: How One Small Business Used LinkedIn to Grow to $5Million in Annual Revenue

October 16th, 2012 :: Monika Jansen

I love case studies, and this is why: where else would you learn how someone grew a business from nothing to $5 million in annual revenue using a social media site? (This blog post is based on one that originally ran in Social Media Examiner.)

Here’s a little background: James Filbird moved to China in 2006 to work on a venture that fell through after only 9 months. He wantd to stay, so he became a business consultant who helps inventors source products in China. He used LinkedIn to generate leads and grew JMF International Trade Group into a successful company.

Here are 7 things that Filbird did – all of which are easy to do:

1. He completed his profile.

Yes, that sounds like a no-brainer, but is your profile complete? The more information you can add, the better, as there are so many ways for people to find you – by location, areas of expertise, groups, alumni networks.

2. He kept his profile up-to-date.

Again, sounds basic, but it’s easy to forget to add a project win or accomplishment. Also, the more recommendations and endorsements the better, as that outside validation adds to your credibility.

3. He uses it every day.

This is something we should all do! Filbird spends up to 2 hours on LinkedIn every day, participating in group discussions and looking for people to connect with. Instead of 2 hours every day, carve out time daily or weekly to use LinkedIn, whether it’s for 15 minutes or an hour.

4. He joined 50 groups (the max).

Filbird said that groups are “where the gold is – people looking for help.” Find relevant groups to join by searching with keywords on the Groups page. Join the active groups that have more comments than discussions (look at the Activity tab in Group Statistics).

5. He takes part in discussions.

He looks through the group digests he receives by email for a handful of groups, and adds valuable insights to any discussions he finds interesting. The more you chime in, the better your chances of being viewed as an influencer in that group.

6. He connects with relevant people.

This is a tactic I use as well – Filbird only connected with people who are relevant to his business, rather than anyone and everyone. When you ask to connect with someone, it is always a good idea to personalize the message and remind the person how you know them or explain why you’d like to connect.

7. He moves conversations offline.

If a LinkedIn conversation is going well, Filbird asks them to connect via Skype. For every 10 people he engages on LinkedIn, 1 develops into a relationship; when that conversation moves to Skype, 1 in 3 results in business. That is a pretty good conversion rate!

Now are you convinced that spending time on LinkedIn is worthwhile?

Image courtesy of library.thinkquest.org

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Tags: James Filbird, lead generation, LinkedIn, Marketing, social media
Posted in Marketing, Social Media | 4 Comments »

5 Common Misconceptions About Social Media – and Why They Are Not True

September 6th, 2012 :: Monika Jansen

Because using social media for marketing is still a relatively young practice, many misconceptions about it continue to float around out there. Here are 5 that I hear all the time, followed by the truth:

1. Social media cannot be used in my industry

Uh, really? Why not? Your customers are people, and chances are they are already using Facebook and LinkedIn – and maybe Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest too. Instead of making broad assumptions, get online and spend 30 minutes searching topics and keywords that are industry-specific. You might be surprised about who is talking about what.

2. My business is too boring to be good at using social media

Yes, it is much easier to come up with fun status updates, contest ideas, photos and videos if you are a salon and spa rather than an industrial metals manufacturer. So get creative! Ask, “What does my target audience care about? How can I engage them with photos, videos, contests and games?” For example: your employees could do a spoof on a song, changing the words so they are related to your company or industry.

3. Success is measured by quantity (of blog comments, Twitter followers – you name it)

Measuring the effectiveness of your social media marketing efforts by tallying up the number of comments your blog gets, the number of Twitter followers you have, or the number of times a photo is shared is wrong in so many ways. What you need to be measuring is the number of leads you are generating, the quality of the leads, and how many are converting into customers. Customers, not popularity, are what pay the bills.

4. I must have a presence on every single social media network

This is only true if your target market is active – in large numbers – on every single social media network. They probably are not. Find the 2 or 3 networks with the most activity, and focus on those.

5. I don’t have time for social media

You probably do, actually, and that is because being active is not that time-consuming. Just as you devote time to checking email, answering customer queries and keeping up with industry news, you can carve out some time for social media. Set aside 30 minutes to plan out an editorial schedule and decide what you will post when. Once you do that, you will probably only spend 15 or 20 minutes total on your social media accounts every day.

What other misconceptions do you hear about social media? Share them below!

Image courtesy of brainwormproductions.com

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Tags: engagement, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Marketing, Pinterest, social media, social media analytics, social media misconceptions, target market, Twitter
Posted in Marketing, Social Media | 9 Comments »

4 Easy Ways to Generate Leads on Forums

August 29th, 2012 :: Monika Jansen

LinkedIn Groups, Quora and HighTable are all great Q&A forums that allow you to demonstrate your expertise – and demonstrating your expertise and thought leadership is a great way to generate leads and find new clients.

Here’s how:

1. Answer questions

Yes, this is probably obvious, but if you want to really make an impression, you have to go beyond a simple, one-sentence answer. You should back up your answer with statistics or examples of how you’ve successfully done x for clients. Offer tips on how they can do x, along with alternatives they may not have considered.

2. Comment on other answers

If you agree, explain why. If you don’t, be polite and civil while you explain why it might be better to do x this way instead of that way. As above, if you can offer tips on how to do x, all the better.

3. Look for questions on related topics

In business, there is a lot of crossover from one topic and area of expertise to another. Take marketing. Though I am a copywriter and editor, and I know a great deal about social media, branding and marketing strategy. Look for questions on topics that are related to your area of expertise to broaden your reach.

4. Visit forums routinely

As with any part of your marketing strategy, consistency wins the day. Just as you make time to check email and post on your business’s social media accounts every day, visit forums and answer questions on a regular basis, whether it’s once a day or once a week.

If you want to delve into forums deeper, you could start your own forum. However, this is a bit of time commitment that requires continual marketing and engagement. If there are no forums on your topic of expertise, though, it might be worth trying out.

Have you successfully used forums to generate leads? What tactics did you find worked best?

Image courtesy of valdosta.edu

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Tags: forums, HighTable, lead generation, LinkedIn, Marketing, quora, Thought Leadership
Posted in Marketing, Thought Leadership | No Comments »

How B2B Marketers Are Using Social Media

July 30th, 2012 :: Monika Jansen

Marketo published a great infographic (see image) they created with ColumnFive based on the results of a social media marketing survey that Social Media Examiner conducted. More than 3,800 marketers shared how they use social media – and what kind of benefits they are reaping.

A whopping 93% of B2B marketers use social media, an increase of 10% from 2 years ago, and those marketers are experienced: 38.5% of them have 1-3 years of experience using social media.

See how you stack up against them:

Benefits of social media marketing

69% gathered insights on the marketplace
60% improved their search rankings
56% acquired new business partnerships
53% developed loyal fans

Top 6 social media networks used

Facebook (87%)
Twitter (84%)
YouTube or other video site (56%)
LinkedIn (87%)
Blogs (66%)
Google+ (44%)

Looking forward, they want to improve their efforts in 3 areas…

LinkedIn use (76%)
Blogging efforts (71%)
Facebook fan building (68%)

…and they want to learn more about

Measuring social media effectiveness (77%)
Converting activities to sales (72%)
Learn best practices (74%)

So, how do you compare? Leave a comment below and let us know what social media networks you use and how they are benefiting you.

Image courtesy of Social Media Examiner

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Tags: B2B marketers, blogs, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Marketing, social media, social media marketing survey, Twitter, YouTube
Posted in Marketing, Social Media | 2 Comments »

5 Easy Ways to Grow Your LinkedIn Network

June 18th, 2012 :: Monika Jansen

LinkedIn can be a powerful platform for growing your professional network – if you know how to leverage it. As with any social network, focusing on the right strategies will give you the best results. Here are five strategies specifically designed for LinkedIn that can help you tap into this career-building resource.

1. Commit to Your Status

To stay top of mind with your network, you should commit to updating your LinkedIn status frequently and regularly. Unlike with Facebook, LinkedIn members tend to visit the site only a few times per week. So you have fewer opportunities to get noticed when people sign in and view their home feeds. New introductions and business opportunities are your rewards when you stay active on LinkedIn.

Try to update your status about three times per day, and share and comment on other people’s updates at least once per day as well. To keep your network growing, send an invitation to connect to at least one new person each day. You can also start and/or participate in LinkedIn Group Discussions and answer questions about three times per week to open yourself to new network members.

2. Continuously Connect

Plenty of opportunities to connect on LinkedIn await you, if you know where to look. The network’s People You May Know feature was recently enhanced, so scan it every time you log in for possible connections.

Include all colleges and graduate schools you attended, and don’t forget about your high school, too. Fill out your profile, including your geographical location, as thoroughly as possible to expand your results, and try LinkedIn’s Alumni search feature for more targeted searching.

3. Time it Right

Frequent and consistent activity is important, but timing your activity appropriately also can yield better results. LinkedIn members are more active in the afternoons, and they tend to use the mobile site more in the evenings. Plan your participation activities during these times to increase your chances of being seen.

However, you should experiment with the timing of your activity to find what works best for your industry. Try different times, recording how much engagement you get each day. After a couple of weeks, check for patterns, and arrange your activity around those times.

4. Be Part of The Group

LinkedIn Groups are active hubs of communication, so you should definitely start participating if you haven’t already. It is not enough simply to join; you must be an active group member by jumping into conversations and adding value to the topics.

An easy way to get involved is to ask for advice from a targeted niche within LinkedIn. Each response presents not only a potential solution to your issue, but also a potential connection to add to your network.

5. Share Quality Content

What you share on LinkedIn will help define you as a valuable member of the community and a trusted authority within your industry. Be sure to share helpful and relevant news, articles and insights if you want to foster a top-notch community.

The key is to share content that will attract the kind of audience you are seeking on LinkedIn. However, don’t stop at sharing – strive to be a resource and to create dialogue with your connections around their content as well.

***

These five simple tips will help you grow a LinkedIn network to be proud of. And, to get the conversation going, why not ask the LinkedIn community itself for advice on nurturing a prosperous network?

Image courtesy of Forbes.com

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Tags: LinkedIn, Marketing, social media
Posted in Marketing, Social Media | No Comments »

Who Were the Major Social Media Players of 2011?

January 26th, 2012 :: Monika Jansen

From social media IPO activity to the entrance of several upstarts, the U.S. social networking market is strong – and exciting. comScore recently released its report, “It’s a Social World: Top 10 Need-to-Knows About Social Networking and Where It’s Headed,” an in-depth look at the global social networking market. Here are some highlights from the U.S. market:

Facebook on top

It’s no surprise that Facebook is still the top U.S. social networking site, boasting 166 million unique visitors in November. And, how much time are we really spending on Facebook? The average user spent 6.6 hours in November, up 37 percent in the past year.

We’re number two!

LinkedIn and Twitter have been vying for the number two spot in audience size for a while now. Twitter took second place in November with 35.4 million unique visitors, only slightly ahead of LinkedIn with 35 million unique visitors.

MySpace still alive and kicking

Even though we don’t hear much about MySpace these days, the network is still holding its own. MySpace is currently in fourth place with 25 million unique visitors; however, its audience has declined steadily over the past two years.

Upstarts worth mentioning

Three newish social networks are gaining prominence – and audience members – while introducing fresh engagement tactics. Tumblr has increased its U.S. visits by 131 percent since November 2010, to 15.9 million. Tumblr is also winning points for engagement and is second only to Facebook, as its average user spends 2.4 hours on the site each month.

Google+ has gotten plenty of attention this year, and it got plenty of traffic, too. In November, the site received 15.2 million unique visits, just behind Tumblr. What’s really exciting about Google+ is its future: its integration with other Google products make it an important one to watch in 2012.

Finally, Pinterest, which I recently wrote about, deserves kudos for its quick rise in the social networking ranks. Since May 2011, Pinterest has soared from 418,000 unique visitors to nearly 4.9 million in November. Its engagement rates are impressive, too, with the average visitor spending nearly an hour and a half on the site each month. Add to that the fact that users spend more than 15 minutes on Pinterest per visit, making the site third in consumer engagement.

Even though Facebook currently remains the clear leader in the U.S. social networking market, there is plenty of room for other players to shake up the industry with new innovations. 2012 looks to be equally exciting on the social media front, so be sure to watch for emerging trends.

Image courtesy of creative design agency Arrae

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Tags: comScore, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Marketing, MySpace, Pinterest, social media, Tumblr, Twitter
Posted in Marketing, Social Media | No Comments »

5 Social Media Stats for Marketers

December 27th, 2011 :: Monika Jansen

The more you know about social media and its expanding user base, the better you can harness its communication powers for your marketing campaign. Luckily for you and me, the people at HubSpot and MarketingCharts regularly compile exhaustive data about social media sites and the folks who use them. I downloaded their PowerPoint presentation chock-full of revealing statistics that can guide you as you plan and implement your social media marketing campaign. I chose a handful of stats to share with you here.

If you’re not a numbers person, I promise it won’t be too painful. But, if you like to see exactly where your social media marketing efforts stands, roll up your sleeves and dig in!

1. People love hanging out on Facebook

You probably know that Facebook dominates the social space, but did you know just how dominant this powerhouse is? Facebook users spend an average of seven hours, 46 minutes per month on the site. Users of runner-up AOL Media Network spend only two hours, 52 minutes per month. So, users spend five more hours per month on Facebook than on its closest competitor, time-wise. These results are a good indicator of where you should be spending your time, too!

2. LinkedIn is great for marketing and PR

Don’t count out LinkedIn. Research shows a trend in LinkedIn’s growth over the past year. In one month (August – September, 2011), LinkedIn grew its U.S. market share of visits from 0.57% to 0.64%. It’s also a favorite among journalists; 92% of business journalists have a LinkedIn account. If PR is part of your job, you may want to try pitching on this site. And if you’re a B-to-B marketer, you should absolutely be using LinkedIn Groups to communicate with your customers, as the site hosts numerous professional and industry networking Groups.

3. Go mobile

Marketers should be watching the convergence of social and mobile closely. This year, twice as many people age 55 and over visited social networks on their mobile phones, compared to last year. Your customers are mobile, and you should be, too.

4. Social media influences purchases…

Social sites impact 35% of buying behaviors. That’s right–your tweets and wall posts have the power to directly affect purchasing decisions. Why not offer coupons and specials through social media channels to entice your customers even more?

5. …but is still intimidating to marketers

If you’re intimidated by social media, you’re not alone. 68% of CMOs reported being challenged by social media. Respondents described feeling unprepared for the demands of marketing on social networks.

Even after dividing respondents into two groups (outperforming and underperforming), 66% of the top CMO’s reported feeling unprepared for social media marketing.

So, what do you do? Do as I do, and look to the top experts for advice. I subscribe to tons of industry newsletters and read loads of reports and blogs just to stay on top of what’s coming next in social media marketing.

With so many opportunities for engagement and an ever-expanding reach, social media is proving to be a commanding force in digital marketing. To access the full PowerPoint presentation, visit HubSpot’s website.

Image courtesy of creative design agency Arrae

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Tags: Facebook, LinkedIn, Marketing, marketing statistics, mobile, online buying, pr, public relations, social media
Posted in Marketing, Social Media | 1 Comment »

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Posts Tagged ‘LinkedIn’

4 Easy Ways to Generate Leads on Forums