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How to Use Content Marketing on LinkedIn

July 22nd, 2011 :: Monika Jansen

This entry is part 1 of 4 in the series Using content to market with social media

In the final installment of this four-part series on using content to market and generate leads via social media, we’ll take a look at LinkedIn, which is, unfortunately, the most underutilized social media platform of the Big Three (Twitter and Facebook are the other two).

Sharing useful, interesting content on LinkedIn is just as important as elsewhere, but few people actually do so. Too bad, because LinkedIn is one of the best ways to generate leads, especially if you’re in B2B or B2G.

The reason: It’s so easy to find out who your target audience is, as they (hopefully) filled out detailed profiles when they joined. You know where they work, where they used to work, if you have any shared connections, and so on.

Plus, the people you are connected with on LinkedIn are people you have met personally via work, trade shows, conferences or networking events. They expressed interest in keeping in touch with you because they like you, think you could work together down the road, think you can refer business to each other, or just want access to your connections.

Some of your connections are potential customers, but everyone is a potential referral source if you are active enough. Share anything that positions you as a thought leader (company news is OK to share every once in a while).

What to share:

Blog posts
White papers
Articles
Press releases
Ebooks
Guides

Two more things to do:

Answer Questions

If you click on More in the top navigation bar on LinkeIn, the drop-down menu includes Answers. Answer questions about your industry on a regular basis, and you’ll develop a reputation as an expert and great source of information.

Get Recommendations

It is so easy to forget to do this, but routinely ask for recommendations, which lend credibility and authority. It’s a great way for everyone to see (in their weekly LinkedIn update) how awesome your clients think you are.

Image Courtesy: Flickr user crazyoctopus (Creative Commons)

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

How to Get Started Using Content Marketing on Social Media

July 13th, 2011 :: Monika Jansen

This entry is part 2 of 4 in the series Using content to market with social media

By now, I am sure you’ve heard the phrase “Content is king.” Whether we’re talking about your website or your Facebook page, the only way you can connect with your target market online and convince them that you are the person they need to do business with is by producing and sharing useful, interesting content on a consistent basis.

In this four-part series on using content to market and generate leads via social media, we’ll take a look at Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn separately, as you have different audiences on each.

Facebook fans are interested in your product, service and/or company. They like what you’re doing, so there are a lot of potential clients and referral sources on Facbook who want to interact with your brand.

Twitter followers are mostly strangers who are interested in your industry but maybe not you specifically. Tweet broad, industry-specific content (I have generated leads through Twitter this way), with maybe a little about your company sprinkled in. No sales pitches.

LinkedIn connections are people you have met personally via work or networking events. Even as adults, we get judged by the company we keep, and that is no different online. Some are potential customers, but everyone is a potential referral source if you are active enough in your account.

First up, though, you need to create content. The fastest way to do this is by segmenting your target market, listing their pain points, and describing how your company, products and/or services solves those issues.

Now you can write blog posts, articles, white papers, a guide, how to, FAQ, newsletter, etc. based on those pain points/solutions.

One super important thing to remember: Do not publish the same content across social media channels at the same time. Remember, your audience on Twitter is much different from your audience on LinkedIn: Your Twitter followers are mostly strangers while you personally know a vast majority of your LinkedIn connections.

Next up: Content marketing on Facebook

Image Courtesy: Flickr user webtreats (Creative Commons)

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Tags: content marketing, Facebook, LinkedIn, Marketing, social media, Twitter, writing
Posted in Marketing, Social Media | No Comments »

Want to Really Increase Your Website Traffic? Try SocialToaster

June 3rd, 2011 :: Monika Jansen

If you’re a small business, one of the goals of your marketing strategy is to drive more traffic to your website, where you can convert those visitors into leads.

To generate traffic, you need to publish great content that is interesting and useful to your target market. You can write a blog, newsletter, white papers, press releases, articles, how-to guides, whatever, and then you’ll push out all of that content to your audience via email or social media.

Well, how about tapping into an audience on social media that goes way beyond your followers?

Check out this Baltimore-based startup, SocialToaster. I first wrote about them for Tech Cocktail back in March. I have zero affiliation with them, but their idea – and the technology behind it – is really interesting and super useful for small businesses, so sharing them here at GrowSmartBiz has been on my to-do list for a while.

So, here’s how they work: Ask customers, employees, Facebook fans, and anyone else you’d like to be your ambassador (their term, not mine). You’ll share content with them, and they will spread the content on their social networks (Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and/or LinkedIn). Naturally, there are built-in analytics so you can track website visitors to see which ambassador sent them.

SocialToaster is a great way to gain brand exposure and build up your sales funnel, but it is dependent on you producing content on a regular basis. You don’t need to go crazy writing new stuff all the time, though. If you already blog, you can ask your ambassadors to share your posts. If you publish a newsletter, ask them to share that. Each SocialToaster post contains a unique URL and appears to come from the ambassador themselves, so your clickthrough rates will be higher than traditional online advertising.

So, what’s in it for your ambassadors? Rewards, at least for the people that drive sales leads to you, furnished by sponsors. Recruiting them is up to you. You can send an email to employees, newsletters to customers, post something on Facebook, blog about it, or tweet it – or anything else you can think of.

The SocialToaster software can be integrated with your existing content management and CRM systems including Drupal, WordPress, SugarCRM and SalesForce. As for pricing, you pay a flat monthly subscription fee based on the number of SocialToaster posts you want to push out. Their most basic plan is free.

Image Courtesy: SocialToaster

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Tags: Branding, content, Email marketing, Facebook, LinkedIn, Marketing, MySpace, social media, Social networking, SocialToaster, Startup, Twitter
Posted in Branding, Business Development, Email Marketing, Marketing, Social Media, social media | 1 Comment »

7 Reasons to Start Using Posterous for Online Marketing

June 1st, 2011 :: Monika Jansen

I have a serious love-hate relationship with social media, mostly because it can be a time-suck, so anything that makes managing or using social media easier, I’m all over. And because I’m a big texter and emailer, I really only use social media when absolutely necessary (haven’t been on my personal Facebook page much in a couple of
months, and I miss it exactly this much).

So this is basically my way of saying that I just discovered Posterous, and it’s awesome. The service lets you manage more than 20 social media platforms simply by sending an email. You can update LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Picasa, YouTube – and the list goes on. For small business owners crunched on time but devoted to social media marketing, this is a lifesaver.

Here are 6 more reasons to use Posterous:

1. It is ridiculously easy to use. To do anything, from opening an account to updating social media accounts to sharing an article, you just email post@posterous.com. If you only want to update one social media account, like Twitter, you email twitter@posterous.com.

2. Customize it to your heart’s content. Posterous has a layout similar to a blog, complete with a customized url. You can customize the look, too; always nice
to have that option (this is one of the reasons I hate Facebook—everyone’s page looks the same because there’s only one layout).

3. Add pages, just like on a website. I’m looking around Posterous, and I found the account for a DJ I’ve never heard of, but that doesn’t matter. His site is great. He has 10 pages set up on his account, including a Dates page listing upcoming performances and a Media page containing videos of him performing.

You can add links to a ton of stuff about you: blog posts you’ve written, websites you’re associated with, content on Slideshare, whatever. And of course you can also create an About Me page.

4. Easy way to set up an online photo album. When you email a photo or photos, a photo gallery is automatically created. No more downloading photos from smart phone or camera to hard drive that you then have to upload to whatever site.

5. Write and publish blog posts from your smart phone. Forget dragging a laptop around with you to events just so you can blog about what’s happening. The whole email thing makes it possible to write and publish blog posts when you’re at a conference, meeting, seminar, etc. Just write a blog post in an email and send it off. It’s instantly published.

6. Engagement made easy. You can set up your Posterous account so you will receive alerts via email if someone DMs you from Twitter or posts to one of your other social media accounts. Super handy when you’re on the go and not sitting in front of the computer all day.

The only downside: Their mobile app is available only for the iPhone and Android.

***

Now that I’m done drooling all over Posterous, do you think you’ll start using it?

Image by Flickr user yoppy (Creative Commons)

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Tags: blog, blogging, Facebook, LinkedIn, Marketing, online marketing, Picasa, Posterous, slideshare, social media, Twitter, Website, YouTube
Posted in Marketing, Social Media | 5 Comments »

How to Turn a Press Release Into a Marketing Campaign

May 10th, 2011 :: Monika Jansen

So your company has a big announcement to make. You’ve released a new product, added a new service, published an eBook, or launched a webinar series. Awesome! Time to tell the world, so of course one of the first things you’ll do is write a press release.

Once you have written a press release that is chock-full of interesting information that your target market will just gobble up (fingers crossed), don’t limit yourself to distributing it on PRNewswire and PRWeb and, oh yeah, posting it on your website’s news page. Go a step (OK, a few steps) further and turn it into a full-blown marketing campaign.

It’s not that hard—really. Here’s what to do (though not necessarily in this order):

Distribute on Social Media

Post your press release on Facebook, send it out to your Twitter followers, and share it with your network on LinkedIn. You’ll reach a lot of eyeballs this way, and they’re not just any eyeballs, either. They’re the eyeballs of the people who already know and like your company (and maybe you, too).

Pitch Bloggers

Now that I’ve been blogging for Tech Cocktail for a few months, I have started getting pitched directly by companies, which is not only rather flattering, but very helpful since I am the lead editor and therefore in charge of the editorial schedule. I might not be able to write about the company immediately, but anyone who takes the time to email me gets a little gold star next to their email.

If there are bloggers who cover your industry that you read and admire, go ahead and send them your press release (especially if they have a big readership!).

Include in Your Newsletter or Email Marketing

Though you may be very well connected on social media, don’t forget that we are all really busy, forget things, and don’t visit our social networks every day. On the day you publish your big announcement, we could be on vacation. So, distribute your press release in even more places by including it in your e-newsletter or creating a special email announcement.

Add Keywords

Once your press release is out there, you’ll want even more people to find it via search engines. Make sure your press release is loaded up with relevant keywords that will ensure your news pops up when people, especially prospects, are searching for information online.

Branding

Think about all the big marketing campaigns from big companies you see every day. Let’s take Gap, for instance. Their emails, postcards, print ads, online ads and in-store signage all looks the same. That’s because when it comes to marketing, consistency is extremely important. That consistency is what we call branding.

So, no matter where you distribute your press release, keep the tone of voice, style, and look in perfect sync. You should also make sure it is consistent with your overall online presence, from your website to your blog to your online ads.

Image by Flickr user Grant (Creative Commons)

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Tags: bloggers, Branding, Email marketing, Facebook, keywords, LinkedIn, Marketing, marketing campaigns, newsletter, press releases, public relations, Search Marketing, seo, social media, Twitter
Posted in Branding, Email Marketing, Marketing, Search Marketing, Small Business, Social Media, social media | 1 Comment »

How to Find Decision Makers on Social Media

May 6th, 2011 :: Monika Jansen

Though social media is a great way to connect with your target market, using it to find the decision makers you can pitch directly to is not discussed very often. That’s too bad, because social media gives you the tools to not only find them, get introduced to them, and discover what their company is up to, but also to listen to them to learn what they are talking about.

Here’s what to look for on social media to help you find and connect with decision makers:

Title

Whether you are doing a little reconnaissance on LinkedIn or working through the list of people who have downloaded your white paper, the person’s business title will indicate where they fall on the corporate hierarchy and thus whether or not they can make decisions. If you target IT directors, for instance, you don’t want to waste your time on a network administrator, while the CTO might be too high up and therefore too busy to chat with you.

Social Media Updates

Use the information that either the person or their company is pushing out on social media to figure out if they are ready to buy.

Look around on LinkedIn for company news, such as new product or service launches, acquisitions, expansion efforts, and other clues that will tell you how sales-ready they are.

Find them on Twitter and start following their tweets. If they write about something you like, retweet it. If they write about something you can help them with, direct message them.

Follow their company on Facebook if you have not already.

This is not social media-related, but this is another really great way to find out more information about a company: Does their website have a news page? If so, it’ll be full of press releases—a great way to find out more information.

Connections

If your lead is not the decision-maker, search for a mutual connection to him or her on LinkedIn, and ask for an introduction.

The most important part of finding the decision-maker on social media is taking the time to listen to them. Before you know how to approach them and what you should say to them, you have to listen (or, really, read) what they are talking about, looking for, commenting on, and sharing. Hopefully they also share what events they are attending so you know to look for them there.

Of course, if you see them post something that is relevant to your product or service, jump into the conversation. Otherwise, hold back until you can create a compelling pitch that will grab their attention.

Image by Flickr user shining.darkness (Creative Commons)

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Tags: decision makers, Facebook, LinkedIn, news, social media, Twitter, websites
Posted in Marketing, small business, Social Media, social media | No Comments »

Is Your Small Business Ready to Hire? Try These 5 Tips

May 4th, 2011 :: Rieva Lesonsky

By Rieva Lesonsky

Small business hiring is looking up. According to payroll processing company ADP, small businesses added 102,000 new jobs in March, continuing a steady trend of growth.

Is your business ready to hire? If so, here are some tips to do so successfully.

Know what you need. Sit down and assess the duties involved in the job you’re looking to fill. What kind of skills and experience will the person need? Do they need specific training, a certain number of years in the industry, or knowledge of a particular process or software? Also think about the personality traits important for success in the job, whether that’s friendliness, multitasking abilities or attention to detail.
Know where to look. While many small business owners think posting job openings on LinkedIn is just for big businesses, in reality it’s a smart way to find savvy candidates—and be able to check your network of contacts for feedback on the ones you’re considering. (Visit small business deal site Bizy, one of my company’s partners, by May 7 to get substantial discounts on LinkedIn job postings.)
Know what to ask. Before you call in candidates for interviews, make a list of the questions you’ll ask them. Try to keep it open-ended—in other words, use questions that can’t be answered with a “yes” or “no,” but require candidates to explain more and reveal more about themselves in the process.
Know what you can’t ask. Some interview questions are prohibited by law, such as asking candidates about their marital or parental status, religion or physical or mental handicaps. The Department of Labor’s website has information about federal labor laws as well as links to your state’s department of labor for more information.
Know what your staff thinks. Group interviews where several people interview an employee are a hot trend right now. This enables the candidate to see the people he or she would be working with, and allows your employees or key managers to get insights into the candidate as well. Whether you do a full-on interview as a group, or simply get your staff’s input into questions to ask or what they thought of the candidates, getting their feedback is a smart idea.

Image by Flickr user Brenda Gottsabend (Creative Commons)

Follow these steps, and you’ll be one step closer to making the right hiring decision for your business.

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Tags: LinkedIn, small business hiring, Workforce
Posted in Small Business, Workforce | 2 Comments »

Social Media Analysis: Which Sites are Best for Customer Engagement, Branding, CTR, and SEO

April 27th, 2011 :: Monika Jansen

With all the social media sites out there, should you be using any of them besides Facebook and Twitter for marketing your small business?

This is an excellent question, and one that I think about fairly regularly. Luckily, at some point last year I downloaded a fun data sheet, The CMO Guide to the Social Landscape, that was distributed by CMO.com.

The data sheet breaks down all the major social media sites, from Twitter to YouTube, to provide an overview of how each performs in four key categories: customer communication, brand exposure, click-through rates (CTS) and SEO.

Because Twitter and Facebook are discussed ad nauseum everywhere, I will skip those and focus on other social media sites. (But in case you are wondering—big surprise—both Twitter and Facebook received high marks for customer engagement and branding.)

Flickr

In terms of customer engagement and branding, Flickr can really only help you put faces to names and “humanize” your company a bit. Click-through rates are also very low; however, Flickr is great for SEO, which surprised me. According to the guide, Flickr is

…heavily indexed in search engines, passing links and page ranks. Also helps images rank higher in Google Images and in building inbound links.

LinkedIn

When it comes to customer communication, LinkedIn can be used to answer industry-related questions, but not for much else. Click-through rates are not that great, though the few people who do visit your site could be potential customers, and unless someone is searching for your company by name, it won’t really help with SEO either. Instead, LinkedIn is great for personal and company branding and establishing your industry knowledge and expertise.

YouTube

YouTube is a great way to engage your customers with funny and/or informative videos, and if you really build and promote your YouTube channel, it is one of the most powerful branding tools available. Because videos tend to rank high in search engines, it is great for SEO. However, YouTube is not the best way to drive traffic to your website, since traffic is directed right to the videos. If you want to drive click-through rates, add a hyperlink in the video description.

Digg

Because Digg is a social news sharing site, it is not the best way to communicate directly with customers. However, it gets high marks in the other three categories. There are lots of branding opportunities, especially to promote objective press and blog coverage of your company. If you post something that becomes popular, you will see a huge spike in website traffic and links from bloggers, both of which will help with SEO. Even if your posts aren’t super popular, SEO will still be goosed, thanks to indexing.

StumbleUpon

Another social news community, which means the chances of reaching your customers are not that great. You can buy targeted ads on StumbleUpon, which is good for brand exposure, but it can get expensive. Instead, StumbleUpon excels at driving traffic to websites and SEO, because it

…enables a diverse range of people to discover your content and share links via the su.pr link shortener on Twitter.

If your story makes it to the top StumbleUpon page for its tag, SEO will be helped considerably, especially since the site’s large use baser makes it easy for people to find and link to your content.

***

What other social media sites have you found helpful for marketing online? Leave a comment below!

Image by Flickr user webtreats (Creative Commons)

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Tags: Branding, click-through rates, CTR, customer engagement, Digg, Facebook, Flickr, LinkedIn, Marketing, seo, social media, StumbleUpon, Twitter, YouTube
Posted in Branding, Marketing, Search Marketing, Small Business, Social Media | 2 Comments »

3 Lead Generation Case Studies: How Content, SEO, Social Media, and Lead Nurturing Can Increase Sales

March 30th, 2011 :: Monika Jansen

One of the hardest things for most small business owners to do is generate leads. Doing so effectively and efficiently is key, but of course that’s easier said than done. However, if you don’t do something, your sales will growth might plummet, just like it did for the Legos at left. Because it is best to learn from others than to make mistakes that can be avoided, here are three case studies, courtesy of an eBook co-written by HubSpot and Marketing Sherpa, that illustrate B2B lead generation problems and their solutions. The results are outstanding!

Makana Solutions

What they do: Subscription‐based software that helps organizations perform sales compensation planning.

Problem: The software is a new concept (this task is normally done manually) and their target market is composed of companies with 50 or fewer sales reps. Because prospects don’t know this software exists, they are not actively looking for it; therefore, creating demand and awareness are key to generating leads.

Solution: Makana transformed their website into an online destination for sales compensation planning best practices and practical advice. To do so, they added educational content, such as sample plans and webinars, they optimized their website for search using high-value keywords, and they used paid search to generate additional leads. They also added all Web leads to a customer relationship management program for follow-up.

Result: After three months, website traffic increased 200 percent, lead generation rates tripled, and lead conversion rates doubled.

BreakingPoint

What they do: Provide cyber-security solutions

Problem: They are a startup with limited funds and a target audience of security and quality assurance professionals in R&D laboratories who hate marketing.

Solution: A social media strategy that would create strong relationships with hard‐to‐find prospects and turn them into leads. BreakingPoint took a multi-pronged approach that included:

Starting a blog
Scanning social media for relevant conversations to follow
Using Twitter to share info, post fun stuff and conduct informal polls
Creating a LinkedIn group that focused on the industry, not the company
Tweaking their press releases by adding links to their website and distributing them via Qeb-based services more frequently
Promoting their social media channels on their website and in e-signatures
Measuring everything

Result: After six months, leads from the Web shot up to 55 percent of all leads.

IBM Cognos

What they do: Business intelligence software

Problem: Longer sales cycles and buying committees composed of more people were making traditional tactics less effective at driving sales. Email marketing, for instance, saw click-through rates (CTR) plummet.

Solution: IBM Cognos put lead nurturing processes in place that positioned the company as a thought leader, generated demand, and supported the sales team. To read these goals, they overhauled their website to provide useful content, such as white papers and demos, and they organized all the content and information by product line and industry. They also created a lead‐nurturing program based on the prospect’s profile, and they analyzed and tested the program to ensure they were getting results.

Result: Open rates increased from 13.2 percent to 33.3 percent, CTR increased from 0.09 percent to 15.5 percent, response rate increased from 0.05 percent to 17.5 percent, and costs‐per‐lead decreased by 30 percent to 40 percent. Better alignment between sales and marketing goals allowed the marketing team to generate 30 percent of all leads per quarter.

Image by Flickr user Mark Anderson (Creative Commons)

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Tags: BreakingPoint, content, CRM, CTR, educational content, Email marketing, Hubspot, IBM Cognos, lead generation, lead generation case studies, lead nurturing, LinkedIn, Makana Solutions, Marketing Sherpa, paid search, press releases, seo, social media, social media strategy, Thought Leadership, Twitter, webinars
Posted in Marketing, Search Marketing, Small Business, Social Media, Thought Leadership | 4 Comments »

How to Use LinkedIn for Lead Generation

December 9th, 2010 :: Monika Jansen

LinkedIn is an oft-overlooked social media platform for lead generation, which is too bad. For B2B companies, and especially companies that offer professional services (like mine!), it can be a great source of clients.

I’m sure you’ve heard that at least once, but be honest: do you really take the time to use LinkedIn to your advantage? The more active you are on LinkedIn (don’t forget that the people in your network are alerted to any changes or updates to your profile), the better a source of leads it will be.

The beauty of LinkedIn is how quickly you can network from the comfort of your office. No getting up early to attend a breakfast event, no interrupting your day to attend a lunch, no battling rush hour traffic to attend an evening event (when you’d rather be home with your family). Time to stop ignoring LinkedIn and start using it!

Here are six ways to use LinkedIn for lead generation:

1. Join Groups and Engage In the Conversations.

If you don’t belong to any groups yet, it’s really easy to join. Click on Groups in the top navigation bar on your page and do a keyword search to find relevant groups to join. You can join groups in your industry/field and groups in your target market.

Once you’re a member of a group, make sure you engage in the conversations that are happening, and maybe once a week or once a month, start your own. The more other people in the group see your name pop up, the better. They’ll begin to associate you with the topics you address and come to think of you as an expert in your field. Great way to build thought leadership!

2. Answer Questions.

Click on More in the top navigation bar. The drop down menu will include Answers. You can ask a question, answer questions posed by people in your network, or answer questions by people who are not in your network. Filter by industry or keyword. Again a great way to get your name out there and develop a reputation as an expert in your field and trustworthy source of information!

3. Keep Your Profile Updated.

Easy to forget to do this! Be sure you include the keywords you use for search engine optimization in your profile so people who are conducting a LinkedIn search will find you.

4. Post Content.

Share news, blog posts, white papers, articles, press releases, and any other content your network may find useful. You can connect your LinkedIn and Twitter accounts to automate the process since you will probably be sharing that same information on Twitter anyway.

5. Prospect!

You can quickly conduct a search to find people in your target market. In a box on the right side of your profile page is “Your LinkedIn Network,” which shows the number of people you are connected with as well as the number of new people in your network. Click on the link to the new people in your network and you’ll go to the Find People page. You can conduct a keyword-based search filtered by location, industry, relationship to you, company size, Fortune 1000 and more.

Once you have your list of prospects, ask for an introduction from the people in your network who are 1^st connections with both you and the prospect. It is very bad form to contact a stranger on LinkedIn (but it’s amazing how many people do it anyway!).

6. Get Recommendations.

It is so easy to forget to do this, but routinely ask for recommendations. When you finish a project or sale, ask your main point of contact for a recommendation (after connecting with them, of course!). Recommendations lend credibility and authority—when someone is conducting a search on LinkedIn, they’ll get to see how awesome your clients think you are.

Have you succesfully used LinkedIn in other ways to generate leads?

Image by Flickr user BinkieXXX (Creative Commons)

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Tags: lead generation, LinkedIn, Marketing, networking, social media
Posted in Marketing, Search Marketing, Small Business, Social Media | 2 Comments »