In the beginning, there was Social Media. The first sites are still around, but they are mainly useful for personal social activities. They can be used for "Business to Consumer" marketing, but the true B2B marketing campaigns should be run through the SM sites that are business oriented. Examples would be FaceBook, LinkedIn, MeetUp, PartnerUp and more. As you read below, you will see why I like these sites much better than the original SM sites for business.
The System - Step by Step:
Throwing "you know what" against the wall and hoping it sticks is the way most people think of, and use, SM in their marketing methods...and the reason it fails. They have no planned out system in place to maximize it effectively, so in their eyes it doesn't work for their business...and they'd be wrong. You need a "step by step" system to implement SM as a marketing tool, just like any other more traditional marketing method. You wouldn't place an ad using any of the traditional medium and expect it to work unless you also had "steps" laid out as a follow up to do something with the names and information you gained from that ad. That ad is just part of a cohesive system, as is the use of SM. The main differences is the ability of SM based marketing to reach far more people, and focused people, as well as being able to do this at a much lower cost.
So here is my system for using SM for business along with a brief explanation of each (details below). Keep in mind that if you only use parts it won't work as well (if at all), so use it all...with the restrictions:
- Join the different Social Media Sites and set up a "professional Profile"...not a personal one. This is your professional resume'.
- Join many "groups" found there and "follow ONLY" some discussions. Don't answer any questions or post any comments...yet. This will be explained below.
- Set up your blogs...yes blogs. You will probably use more than one.
- Now join in on the discussions by answering questions. You can even start your own discussion or group if you want.
- Get educated on how to do this better by joining an online educational source that will continually add to your knowledge and tools to implement this system to its peak efficiency.
The System Parts - Join the Sites
Join a number of these business oriented SM sites and post a professional profile. It is very important that the posting looks professional in every way...especially in content. Think of it as your resume'. Put on it what you would normally put on a resume' that you would give to out at an interview. If you don't want a potential employer looking at your vacation shots...don't put them here. Use the ability to add digital media like slide shows (not vacation ones), video, links to websites and other groups you participate in and more. This can also contribute to a higher Search Engine ranking if you learn how to do it right.
Also, as a side note, it isn't important how many "followers" you have on these SM sites, so turn that off. Your marketing focus is NOT to your SM followers, but it is to the connections to them. More importantly, as you will see as Step #4 is explained below, you will get your clients from the discussion groups you participate in.
The System - Join the Groups
Here is where you start to market yourself...the operative word being "start". This is also a very important part of the educational process within the steps. Remember, I said earlier that at this point you should not be participating in these discussion yet. You're not ready yet. You may be able to answer the questions, but using this system there is much more to it than that. It comes down to your ability to answer and hold them. Relating this to more traditional marketing methods, you would never expect very good results from an ad you placed in a newspaper that would lead a potential client to your store if the store was empty would you? If you answer the question at this point, that's exactly what you're doing. The idea is to get business from this, right? If your answer is successful, meaning your client is interested in finding out more about you, but you have nowhere to send them to, they will be lost. All you've done is give a way a free answer, that has gotten them interested (excited), but since you are not prepared to close the deal, you just sold your concept/answer for a competitor...because the client will find your competitor instead.
As I mentioned, this is the start of your educational process of how to use this system. Here is what you will be learning:
- What groups actually have your potential clients in them. Don't just join groups that are made up of other businesses just like your's...unless they will be buying your product or service. This type of group can be valuable for networking for knowledge, but not for getting clients. Join groups that are related to your product/service, but they don't have to be exactly on topic for it. Join groups, monitor them, see what they are discussing and see if you can contribute in a way that will lead the followers back to you. Join as many as you want...they are free to join.
- How to answer, and not answer, questions that are posted. Have you ever been involved with a discussion, anywhere, that has been going on for a while, and have someone come up out of the blue and say, "Hi, my name is Hotshot Salesperson, I overheard your conversation and I think I can help. Here is my card, call me tomorrow". Don't you just want to....? Well, if you think that's obnoxious, and I might add very ineffective, then don't do it here either. It still amazes me how many times I see this on these discussions. Someone comes from nowhere,...keep in mind that there are always more people monitoring these discussions than actually posting to them, but I digress,... Where was I, right,...someone comes out of nowhere and says, "I have what you are looking for, I'm the best, here is my email/website/number, contact me later and I can
help(sell) you what you need". It doesn't work...ever. Don't do it. Learning how to answer the questions is a very important part of the system. I just stated what I hope was an obvious example of what not to do. There are many other good and bad ways to answer the questions, so before you actually start answering them, learn how. Monitor the discussions first, figure out what appeals to you, and follow that direction.
The System - Set up your Blogs
Think of you blogs as your online brochure...and other sales material. You can post anything you want to say about any topic related to your business here...and it can be to the minute. This means you can actually answer the questions posted on a discussion forum with a brand new posting on your blog that you just put on there based on the question. In other words, just before you answered the question on the discussion group, you posted a detailed answer on your blog. Now, when you answer the question, you send them to the detailed blog answer. The more times you post, the more "brochures" you have just produced that are specific to the market. How expensive would that be to produce, and distribute, if they were actual hard copies? Now, place you blog address on all of your traditional marketing pieces and this posting becomes it's own version of "multitasking".
You can set up pages within your blog that are always easily accessed from every individual posting. These would be the standard marketing materials you would want everyone to always have access to. On my Architectural blog I have my Portfolio and my Catalog of Plans as separate pages that I keep up to date and are visible and accessible to everyone at all times.
Once you have your blogs set up as you want, with a variety of information that shows who you are and what you can do, you are then ready to go onto the next step in the system...
The System - Discussion Group Participation
Now that you understand 'how" to answer the questions, and you have a "place to send them" for more detailed up to the minute answers, start answering the questions. What is important here is that you actually answer the question...and don't just send them to your blog. The answer needs to be full of valuable information that not only answers the question but leaves the readers (remember, others will be monitoring this...not just the person that posed the question) wanting more, and thus wanting to visit your blog. Make sure you answers include your business signature with contact info (email) and links to the details (website and blog). If they are interested in "who this person is" and "what they can do for me" you need to provide a way of finding out. They can click on your name to open your business profile, and your signature will give them the means to find out more...just like you planned.
You see why it is important to execute step #3 before you go onto step #4. If you go directly from step #2 to 4, the answer will be incomplete and you will lose control over the reader...and potential client.
The System - Education
What you see here is an explanation of the system and why you would use it. As to how to use it more efficiently you need to join an educational group that can provide you with this knowledge. There are many of them out there, and they are usually not free, but well worth the expense. Make sure the education is continuously updated, that the group provides access to them for specific answers, and also the tools needed to put all the marketing "add ons" like video, mass mailing, SEO support, auto-responders (very important) and more. There is so much to learn that too many people bi-pass this with the idea they don't need it...wrong. You wouldn't build a house, perform surgery, cut hair or cook without learning how, so why would you attempt to do something that is so crucial to your business survival without learning how to do it right first?
This works - try it
I hear many people question the ability of using SM in their marketing campaigns as a true source of growing their business. The reasons are usually based on a lack of understanding of how to use it. Like I mentioned above, you can't just throw it against the wall and expect it to stick. You can't just blindly go through the motions without a map/system laid out to follow and expect it to work...because it won't.
Just follow the complete system above, educate yourself as to "why and how" so you can make efficient choices as to applying each step, and I can't think of very many, if any, business models that can't benefit from this....and the best part of all, is it's so cost effective you can make mistakes along the way and learn even more.
