b2b social media marketing

March 7, 2014March 24, 2014

3 Social Media Marketing Goof-ups You Probably Have Fallen Prey to

I would be sounding too mainstream when I say social media marketing has transfigured the approach we had towards marketing the products of a brand.

The conventional ways to advertise the offerings of companies had become obsolete, to say the least. We needed a fresh approach that would reboot our stratagem and generate a curiosity and interest among our customers one more time. And this is what social media helped us to achieve, ever so seamlessly.

But with all said and done, there are a number of goof-ups that brands unintentionally fall prey to, which fail to bring in the results. While some page owners complain that their page and the corresponding posts fail to get as many likes and shares as they would want, others have complains of an altogether different, but much too common, nature. They are worried about that fact that even though they get some incredible response from their followers on social media in the form of Likes, Shares, Retweets, etc. they do not see much improvement in the sales.

Simply put, the number of hits on their social media accounts do not translate into buyers, and that is something that bothers them – justifiably so.

$Smiley face$

So, how do they go past these barriers, which in the first place, they don’t know the cause for being there? However, when your social media marketing endeavors is not bringing the desirable results for you, or for that matter, failing to make any impact, it is most likely that the problem lies within your strategies around it. Here are the 3 mistakes you might be making:

Being Too Fancy, Too Funny

Let’s say, if you are managing the page of a Cola brand, you have a target audience that mostly consists of youth. So, posting fancy and funny stuff might just do the trick. But when you are managing the Facebook page of a multinational automobile brand, there has to be more sophistication on the page. You can’t post jokes around Rajnikanth or Justin Bieber and expect more people turning up at your counter to buy cars. Posting funny stuff isn’t bad, but you should make it more attuned to the taste of your audience, which aren’t there just to like and share your posts.

They may have joined you on social media to keep themselves updated with the latest offerings and services by you. Make it a point that at least twice in a week you post something that creates a brand recall value.

Not Interacting with the Followers

Wasn’t that the purpose of the whole exercise? To create a platform that helps your customers interact with you in a more amicable environment? So, why are blatantly ignoring their comments when they enquire about certain products? Once you have created a brand page, you need to ensure that you get involved in one to one conversations and reply to each comment that pertains to your services and products. By doing this, you are only making your customers feel more welcomed. Otherwise, you aren’t making full use of the platform.

Doing Excessive Promotion

So, there is another extreme end of the spectrum. At this end, there are page managers who keep bombarding their followers with the strictly product-oriented posts. Agreed, that was the intention, but when every posts of yours is centered on product promotion, and there is no fun at all, the Unlikes will soon start pouring in. So, try to be on a balanced ground.

Drive these 3 mistakes out of your social media marketing stratagem and you just might have the results you are looking for.

About the auhor:

Maria Mincey is a PHP Development expert who seamlessly delivers focus in her writings. She works for Xicom Technologies, a Offshore PHP Development Company. You can connect with Maria on LinkedIn, Google Plus, Facebook and Twitter.

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August 11, 2012March 24, 2014

Marketing with VIDEO CONFERENCING / WEBINARS

This technology can change the world !

Facts :

· Google loves Video !

· Cisco predict there will be a 10 fold increase in the use of Video Conferencing/Webinars over the next 5 years

· Internet Video traffic is now 40% of consumer internet

· People retain 10% of what they hear, but 50% of what they see

· Video is the single, most effective form of communication

· Companies continue to look for additional creative marketing platforms

· ‘Old school’ marketing is no longer effective

What is a Video Conference / Webinar ?

Called by many names a Video Conference, a Video Meeting or a Webinar – all meaning the same thing. It is an highly effective, browser based, simple to use virtual Video Meeting Room, where, at the click of a button with a link, you are able to host large or small online meetings with people locally or globally, to connect, communicate and collaborate.

Access to online meetings is now available on most ‘smart phones’.

Some are saying it is the ‘new’ business card.

Many have not yet fully embraced or grasped the power of this technology, perhaps for fear of losing ‘the personal’ touch or the ‘face to face’ meeting scenario. However, we cannot stop progress and this is where things are headed if you want to see it.

‘Going green’ is what the world is advocating and what better way to save on time, energy, airfares, hotel accommodation, increase productivity and ultimately save money, than by hosting meetings, trainings, launches etc online.

This could be perceived as an adjunct marketing platform, or an additional marketing tool to what you already have in place.

The marketplace has become global and this technology enables you to go global with ease.

General features –

· Attract and drive more people to your business

· Share Powerpoint presentations

· Share ideas

· Share Videos

· Show websites

· Share photos

· Review contracts or documents in a safe and secure environment

· Share your desktop

· Use the white boarding feature, with interactive tools, like drawing and highlighting, to make it simpler for your attendees to collaborate with you.

Creative Uses :

· WEBINAR SERIES

Develop a series of Webinars over a number of weeks, with content relevant to your clients or prospects. In this space, you can educate and demonstrate the value of your products or services. Guest specialist speakers always add value.

· ANNOUNCEMENTS, NEW PRODUCTS or CAMPAIGNS

Invite your media contacts, industry analysts, clients and prospects. Elevate the level of conversation by inviting specialists in your audience to answer questions and provide input.

· GUEST SPEAKERS

People perceive you differently when they know where you are coming from – eg, reducing your carbon footprint. Attract people ‘through the back door’ by hosting a Video Conference, selecting a relevant and current ’green’ subject matter, with the added attraction of a guest speaker, who should be a well-known expert or specialist in that particular field. Your guest speaker will, in their own right, easily attract a large audience – Everyone benefits.

· BOOK LAUNCHES

A book tour can be very costly. Authors can save a fortune by hosting a virtual book tour. This can be co-marketed with e-commerce book companies, online communities and off-line bookstores, that want to drive traffic to their stores and sites.

· The ARTS

For Movie/TV/Radio/Theatre/Music/Dance Promotions, use Webinars to reach large groups of people to interview actors, singers, dancers, poets, playwrights, producers, choreographers, directors etc. These web events can be conducted with the media, through relevant websites, e-commerce sites, TV, newspaper or magazine, radio web sites.

· ART EXHIBITIONS

Artists across all art form mediums, can use Video Conferencing to go global, communicate and show their art to the world. They could even stream a pre-recorded video on a virtual tour of their art from their own studio or gallery. Inviting a well known art expert as a guest speaker, who in their own rights, will attract numbers to the web event, would be an added bonus.

· MEDIA INTERVIEWS

To better assist journalists with their stories, invite reporters or editors to an online web interview to discuss issues, show products, present information and data.

· MARKET RESEARCH

Focus groups can view and research products through audio, chat or text-based questions. Polls and online surveys are also a popular feature in these focus groups and are available features with this technology.

· SPECIAL EVENTS/TRADE SHOWS/EXHIBITIONS

Create a virtual show in a Video Meeting Room, where different companies can participate in interactive sessions, with people interested in learning more about your company’s products and services. Due to budget and time constraints, people cannot always travel far distances to attend an event. CUSTOMER SERVICE

Give E-Commerce customers live assistance when choosing products. Invite them to a product knowledge session. The Video Meeting Room can feature a live individual or be a pre-recorded session.

• CUSTOMER SERVICE

Give E-Commerce customers live assistance when choosing products. Invite them to a product knowledge session. The Video Meeting Room can feature a live individual or be a pre-recorded session.

· DEMONSTRATING PRODUCTS

Web conferencing is a great way to demonstrate the uses of products.

· EDITING on the fly

Edit on the fly in a safe and secure environment, with people from different geographic regions. Everyone can view the same document simultaneously, so edits can be made quickly and efficiently, without costly delays.

· Editing WEB SITES

This is a highly efficient way to review web pages with a group of people.

· SKILLING, TRAINING

Webinars are becoming increasingly popular and convenient as a training tool.

· RECRUITMENT

Companies can easily go global and hire the best from anywhere in the world, using Video Conferencing as an interviewing tool, inviting prospective employees to interact and collaborate. Here they can upload their resumes and review same with them, together with others, who are part of the hiring process, but are located in other regions.

· CONTACT US

Video Meeting Rooms can be used as a ‘Contact Us’ feature. People can request an instant meeting to talk with you and learn more about what you do.

· INVESTOR RELATIONS

Invite analysts, media and shareholders to a Web Conference for quarterly reviews, announcements and appointments.

· COMMUNITY

A great tool for Community forums and groups to connect, collaborate and communicate on :

o Community issues, problems

o Neighbourhood watches can have a better handle on crime and policing

· COMPANY STAFF, COMMITTEE, SALES or BOARD MEETINGS

More and more businesses are seeing the value of using this technology to communicate and collaborate with employees and management nationally or globally on a more regular basis, saving time, energy, travel, communication bills, accommodation bills, etc, increasing productivity and ultimately saving money.

· DISTANCE EDUCATION

More and more institutions are embracing this technology for :

o Distance learning

o Extra mural classes moderated by Teachers

o Students can ‘study together’ without ‘being together’

o School board meetings

o Teacher training

o Academic contests e.g. debates, with other institutions

· CHURCHES, NGO’s (Charities), CLUBS

Institutions using Webinars can :

o Interact with members and constituents

o Conduct remote study with exchange groups

o Conduct Church meetings

o Conduct Board or Committee meetings

o Host Fundraising campaigns

o Host Planning sessions

o Host Remote counselling

Infographic: Video Conferencing

Heather de Wit considers herself to be an ‘out of the box’ thinker and is happy to share her knowledge on the merits of utilising Video Email and Conferencing/Webinars. Her experience as a sole Entrepreneur for over 20 years spans marketing, advertising and PR. She enjoys creative writing, singing at functions and is a self-taught artist.

Get in touch with heather :

Facebook
LinkedIn
SKYPE : heather.de.wit
Mobile +27824907143+27824907143
EMail: heather@boundless-activities.net

April 24, 2012April 24, 2012

New Data Shows: Social Media Is Getting Results for B2B

Successful companies use every possible communication channel to get in touch with their target audience. They are interested in what their recent and future customers are thinking and communicating about them.

This communication ability helps them to better understand and to serve their audience, which sets them apart from their competition and gives them wide advantages in their business field.

Businesses which are willing to communicate with their audience in blogs and social media show that they care about the people who spend their money with them.

Businesses which avoid an open and authentic communication in blogs and social media show exactly the opposite. Why should the customer than care about to make any further business with them?

Successful businesses in B2C and B2B have embraced the wide opportunities which blogs and social media offers to them to spread the word and to reach their audience where there are around.

Recent data show that B2B marketers are very satisfied with the benefits of their social media marketing:

— Over 56% of B2B marketers acquired new business partnerships through social media, compared to 45% of B2C
— 60% of B2B marketers saw improved search rankings from their social efforts, compared to 50% of B2C
— 69% of B2B marketers are more able to gather marketplace insights from their social efforts, compared to 60% of B2C
— But B2C marketers are better when it comes to developing a loyal fan base (63% of B2C vs. 53% of B2B marketers)

Where are Marketers going in 2012?

LinkedIn

• 76% of B2B marketers will increase their use of LinkedIn
• 55% of B2C marketers will increase their use of LinkedIn

Blogging

• 71% of B2B marketers plan to invest more time in blogging
• 65% of B2C marketers plan to invest more time in blogging

Facebook

• 68% B2B marketers will increase their use of Facebook
• 76% B2C companies will increase their use of Facebook

Infographic: How Engaged is Your Brand?

The 2012 topics of interest for Marketers are:

Marketer B2B and B2C are mostly interested to learn more about ways on how to use Google+, LinkedIn and Twitter for Business.

Marketers are also interested on how to measure the effectiveness of social media, how to converting activities to sales and to learn the best social media tactics.

Do you have position your business for an open and authentic communication with your audience in blogs and social media yet?

October 12, 2011October 12, 2011

Why you should love ugly Tweets and bad Facebook comments

When businesses are thinking of to get into Twitter, and set up a Facebook business page they often are afraid what people can say about them. Maybe they could complain and other will see this and they could lose business and reputation.

But the opposite is the fact!

You should be thankful for everybody who is complaining on Twitter and Facebook. This gives you the opportunity to get in touch and to explain your position.

You better should be worried about the people who do not complain but turn away disappointed from your business and you don’t know why and how to reach them to get the issue fixed.

To simplify social media and to make it work by 100 % for your business you should include all people which work in you company to showcase what they do and to communicate with your customers.

This can be done trough a corporate network of blogs where anybody can write about any topic he or she interested in, independent from the company topics. The same way IBM already does.

You can also motivate the whole staff to Tweet and to get the word out about the company, news, events other interesting topics. The same way like Zappos does.

Activities like a corporate network of blogs, Twitter and Facebook can show a human site of our business and motivate future customers to get in touch with you. The recent customers can become “evangelist” for your business and become your most valuable asset in social media marketing!

To benefit from this tremendous business potential which social media offer to you, you should change your thinking and turn away from the dogma that you have to and must control any communication of your employees!

You need to have effective social media policies in place, train your staff and the most important TRUST your employees and show them that you are willing to hand over control to them.

You also need to ensure yourself that anybody in the company understands the responsibility which accompanies this strategic move! A great way is to establish a self reacting control based on trust where everybody is looking what the colleagues are doing to prevent mistakes.

If anybody misuse trust, than it works like in any other company and business where employees misuse good will. Say good bye to this one and go ahead to work with them who understand and are trustworthy.

Ask your employees to give 100 %, care the same way and take responsibility as you do. Leave them space to make their own decisions. And the one who don’t want to, fire them and look out for people who want!

Here are some ways you can deal with ugly messages in social media:

1. Put the truth out for everybody to see it.
2. Communicate with the person which puts up the negative comment.
3. Be thankful for every customer which gives you a negative comment. He still wants to talk with you!
4. Listen to your customers.
5. Treat your customers ALWAYS with respect.
6. Try to satisfy realistic requests.
7. Show that you care, step back and express regret.
8. Try to offer an alternative.
9. Get into debate and state your point of view.
10. Keep the conversation objective, polite, civil and honest.

As your conversation will stay online forever, anybody can see it and track how you have responded. This can rule about the way how the people perceive you and your business in the future. Keep this in mind!

—How do you deal with ugly Tweets and bad Facebook comments? I am looking forward to your comment.

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September 29, 2010October 12, 2011

3 Tips to Improve Web Ranking

The internet is one of the best ways to promote your business all around the world.

With latest advent in technology, business is now very easy to operate online with the help of a well designed website and search engine optimization techniques.

Search Engines also play a major role in the success of the business as they place your business website in top pages of search.

This article will give a basic guide to seo to increase search engine rankings for your website.

1. Quality Website Design is the key

First important thing that plays a key role in online business success is your website. Your website is the revenue generator. Choosing correct domain name that is easily identified by your customers is the major success factor.
Second thing that is important is how well it is optimized for search engines. Identify the right keywords for your products and then search for the relevant domain name so that it easily helps you to get into top 10 search engine rankings. If your web page is in top 10 pages of search engine rankings, then your search engine marketing techniques are working fine.
Next step is to optimize your serach engine marketing strategy.

2. Search engine placement and optimization

Search engine placement is nothing but getting into search engine eyes for particular keywords used by users in search. This can be achieved by planned search engine optimization strategies.

Suppose if your business is selling WINE, then to get into top pages of search engines for WINE, you need to identify the best keywords to get into top 10 pages of search engines.
Some of the examples of long and short tail keywords just to explain for WINE are “wine spectator”, “wine enthusiast”, “wine racks”, “wine library” and some more.
Keywords help a good deal for your inbound marketing strategies. They help in bringing some quality traffic for your website for people who search for Inbound marketing.

3. SEO for your Search Engine Placement

Now there are different businesses competing online for top 10 search engine rankings.

In order to stay ahead of competitors, you should have an efficient marketing strategy. Each business has its own marketing strategies.

Having an appropriate marketing strategy helps in increasing search engine rankings and thereby lead generation significant for your inbound marketing strategies.

Do you have any tips on how about web ranking improvement? What are they and how do you improve the web ranking for your business?

Start NOW and get Your FREE Website Analysis Today!

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April 19, 2010

Social Marketing is today becoming one of the most important and handsome ways to market online for B2B companies and communities who are engaged in their online business and are expecting to gain huge profits through the same.

In today’s economy B2B companies and marketers are decreasing their offline marketing budgets and spending their more marketing budgets for the online marketing through the powerful Social media and features.

A recent survey by B2B Magazine revealed that over 48% of those surveyed were increasing their social media marketing budget.

How are these Social Media effective???

Social media are the features that allow marketers to bypass the fluffs and knowledge about approximately anything in a very effective and cheap manner.

Social media allows companies to relate to one another as people are now tired of trying that old and traditional methods of marketing.

Social media describes the online technologies and practices that people use to share opinions, insights, experiences, and perspectives with each other.

Social media can take many different forms, including text, images, audio, and video. Popular social mediums include blogs, message boards, podcasts, wikis, social media communites and blogs.

How B2B Marketers use Social Media?

It’s been seen that mostly B2B businesses gets involved with those Social Media where they think that their potential customers already are. They just try to reach them within their target market. Of course some of the traditional marketing team finds it really difficult for to step into the social media but it is not really difficult as it seems and it is not at all difficult to be successful when used using the proper ways.

Social media however enables them to help their customers while engaging in conversation with them. They share all their expertise and knowledge.

Today’s Top Social Media Resources used by Business Leaders

In recent years, it has been seen that top business organizations and also the small business leaders are today in need of the social media resources which helps them to spread them over worldwide though the internet marketing. The top Social Resources used by different Business leaders are Company Blogs, Company / Brand Pages on Social Networking Sites, Webinars / Podcasts, etc.

Company blogs are the great sources of information about business-relevant products, services and the underlying character of a company and are best used resources of all.

Social Media Marketing with IT investments

Business 2 Business (B2B) social media marketing more or less needs marketing and IT to work closely together, as initial steps. These are required to find out the great resources, managing the projects, manage execution, etc. In this initial step the companies which actively pursue B2B social media may require little IT investment before taking on more resource-intensive projects and is therefore become necessary to invest for more profits.

For more on B2B Social Media Marketing, visit the links given below:

Let me know what you think and comment below. I’d love to hear from you.

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