Boost Trade Show Traffic with Twitter

I've recently transitioned into a Marketing role dealing heavily in the coordination and marketing of trade shows.  The first thing I did in my new role was get our sales guys up and running on Twitter.  When it comes to social media, the baby boomers of the business usually tell me "I don't get it," or, "you'll have to do it for me."  While there are great ways to automate your social media initiatives, Twitter is best used live and in action.  This isn't a post to teach you how to use Twitter, but why it is crucial to utilize Twitter at trade shows because, one, it creates a buzz factor.  Two, people who aren't at the show can still connect in a low cost learning environment. Three, personal meetings.  Four, 'following' shows you care.  Five, comarketing opportunities.

Twitter allows for you to tag your customers, vendors, suppliers, in your updates-DO IT!  If they're on Twitter, they want to engage, so why aren't you?  Most trade shows have a customized #hashtag that allows for visibility of other exhibitors and attendees and makes finding them simple.  For example, we recently attended the MDM East trade show in New York.  #Hashtag MDMEast. It's as simple as that to search and find others tweeting and engaging online about the show.  The more people you engage with, the more they tag you, the more they retweet you, therefore systematically making your business the best party at the show!

Some companies have to tighten their belts and can't always attend or exhibit at the shows that they want to. Instead, they are getting in on the action and finding new resources (or suppliers, ahem, you) through Twitter while at work.

Again, by searching your trade show's #hashtag, you are able to find others that are tweeting, sharing, exhibiting, and attending the show.  Why not take advantage of this and request meetings with potential clients?

Follow your prospective clients!  Show that you care about their business by engaging, following, retweeting, etc.  Instead of just grabbing a business card from every booth or passerby, see what social media platforms they use and follow them!  What's more, they'll more likely remember you if you took your lead generation further than just grabbing their card or scanning their badge.

My favorite way to start a trade show conversation is to tag or retweet the show management company. UBM Canon is a popular one (see tweet pictured).  10 times out of 10 they will retweet you or favorite your tweet, or both-which brings us back to point #1-creating buzz.

Socializing your trade show will bring awareness to your booth and business.  Sharing is caring, try it at your next show and see what kind of buzz you can create, all from the convenience of your mobile phone. What other ways have you used Twitter for lead generation at trade shows?

Happy Tweeting!

Calculate Return on Investment (ROI) for your Social Media Efforts

ROI is return on investment, TLV is the average amount of revenue paid to a business by a customer over the lifetime of the relationship (and not just based on one average sale, but rather over the course of the business relationship).  So, it is also crucial to know what your customer retention rate is before you calculate TLV.  Finally, COCA is the cost of customer acquisition.  It’s the total amount invested to bring in a customer.  To calculate COCA, you add all of the costs involved in the marketing, salaries, overhead, etc.  

So, let’s say we have the following:

TLV=$700K

COCA=$15K

We would then calculate the ROI with this equation:

700K-15K/15K = 45.66%

It is important when using social media as a marketer because we can use this information to help lower your COCA.  Furthermore, many social media sites are generally free for business usage, and as such, can significantly lower your COCA.

Social Networking Sites Analysis

Among some of the most popular sites like Facebook, Twitter, Wordpress, and Pinterest, businesses have created the most valuable advertising for their brand yet - word-of-mouth advertising.  Its ease of use, application to measure effectiveness, and ability to reach niche target markets are why they have become a successful and affordable source of advertising for many businesses.

Facebook has pioneered the domino like effect of social media with their use of likes and shares.  When a user “likes” something, it’s like saying they are validating the brand, product, or service.  This then is shared and liked by their friends, then their friends, and consequently creates a waterfall of liking and sharing across the web.  Facebook has incorporated promotions to generate more followers.  For instance, a restaurant can post a coupon for a free meal available for individuals that either like or share their page or post.  This increases the brands over-all follower base and target reach to consumers of all ages.  Since Facebook has become more of a communication hub for friends, family, and acquaintances, the reach for who sees likes and shares is insurmountable.  

Similar, Twitter is also a hub for liking, sharing, and re-tweeting of content.  Its purpose is much of the same as Facebook in the fact that it allows for liking and sharing of other people’s content.  It’s a bit different in the fact that you are only allowed to share 140 characters or less, however, has the same effect as Facebook in the fact that it allows consumers to like and share content that they approve of.  I personally use twitter because I find the “trending” topics to be interesting.  It’s fun to be able to find and talk to people from all over the world about live topics and events.  Last Sunday, while watching the American Music Awards, I was on Twitter following the tweets of celebrities and others related to the event.  For a business, the ability to become a “trending” topic can create a global word of mouth regarding your brand, which no other form of advertisement has the ability to do in such a quick amount of time.  For example, Radovan had a Rapid-Response Twitter Campaign in 2011.  On the brink of a historic snowstorm, social media was buzzing with news and updates about the weather.  The campaign engaged a virtual snowball fight that had more than 1,000 consumers changing their profile picture to a Rayovac-branded widget and hurling #snowballs at friends and family on global proportions.  Not only was the brand able to engage, it was shared, liked, and re-tweeted across the globe over a 48 hour period.

Sites like Wordpress have given businesses an affordable way to create websites for their companies.  Small businesses are now able to create content curation sites and links in relation to their product or services, further creating validity in their market.  Wordpress has enabled businesses to compete with larger corporations in being able to compete online as well as offline.

            

Pinterest is an online cork or pin board where users can create boards for subjects that they like.  This is kind of like content curation in pin board style.  It’s a way for businesses to create interest in a product or service by creating intriguing online images that are pinned and re-pinned by millions of users.  What’s so great about this is the “pin” widget that can be added to a user’s task bar.  From there businesses can easily “pin” items for their website, blog, etc.  Just like Twitter, and Facebook, the act of “pinning” is creating a word-of-mouth advertisement by sharing ideas from user to user.

            

One of the best ways to manage a brand’s social media sites is to invest in a social media management platform like HootSuite.  HootSuite is affordable software that allows users to sync content across all their social media sites by the use of calendars and scheduling.  Software like HootSuite is going to give businesses the best strategy in managing their content timing.

References 

Joe Plummer, S. R. (2007). The Online Advertising Playbook. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Mobile Devices, Marketing, and Social Media

Mobile devices have changed the way the world does business, interacts with family, watches television, listens to the radio, and the list goes on.  There are now 5 billion mobile subscriptions worldwide, which is shadowing access of PCs, landlines and televisions combined.  Thus, mobile devices not only qualify as revolutionary, they are now known for being the most sweeping set of media of our time, or anytime for that matter (Kerley, 2013).  While the internet established information on a much larger scale, and social media has allowed us to connect with others across the globe, mobile guarantees that we are always connected and always working.  From news, to social media, music, sports, and more, mobile access to the world wide web has proven to be the game changer in business to business and our everyday lives.

To illustrate, even traditional enterprise-computing giant IBM predicts that mobile applications will exceed traditional platforms in the enterprise market by 2015 as the popularity of smartphones and tablets continues to surge (Kerley, 2013).  What surprises me about this is that there are still people who are hostile at the thought of having access to social media during working hours, or work email when you are "off the clock."  Mobile is creating a disappearing line between our personal and our professional lives.

Nevertheless, mobile is how professionals stay in contact with their teams, stay abreast of breaking developments in their industries, and stay competitive in a 24-7 global business world (Kerley, 2013).  However, with all the staggering statistics of mobile devices taking over, there are still some companies that are argumentative to the thought of business in a social and mobile world.  I've heard B2B businesses say more than once, "we aren't selling shoes."  It's important to be able to advise our superiors, and change the minds of our leaders when it comes to utilizing social media and mobile in a B2B world. The common misconception is the thought that professionals disconnect from their mobile devices and social media when they are not at work, when in fact, the opposite is true.      

Tablets have fueled the continued rise of eBooks: Digital consumers read more books a year on average than their print-only counterparts, and 41% of tablet owners have used their device to access books (How Content Is Being Consumed On Mobile Devices, 2012). Tablets, like Barnes and Noble's The Nook, and Amazon's Kindle, started out as a reading device, which has launched the sales of eBooks making them easier to download and buy. In comparison, one of the main attractions of smartphones is their ability to also be MP3 players:  The percentage of all U.S. mobile users listening to music on their phones increased from 12% in September 2009 to 27% in May (How Content Is Being Consumed On Mobile Devices, 2012). 

Mobile devices has increased news consumption up 17 percent from the year 2011 to 2012.  Mobile readers go to news sites more often, spend more time per visit, and read more articles per visit than desktop readers (How Content Is Being Consumed On Mobile Devices, 2012).  In addition, mobile has helped drive an enormous amount of video consumption.  Tablets and smartphones haven't replaced televisions…yet, however they are being used a second source of entertainment and information.

There are two ways to ensure that your website is optimized for mobile access.  First, a style sheet is a separate document that tells web browsers how to display all elements of a website.  This ensures that programmers are able to easily change the look of a site by only having to change the code once (Kipp Bodnar, 2012).  The second way is to create a different mobile site that allows you to take advantage of the SEO on the main site (Kipp Bodnar, 2012).  However, I would not recommend developing a second site because it will cause duplication of your content and possible technical issues.

In the text, The B2B  Social Media Book, gives a lot of really great resources for optimizing your mobile website.  One suggestion to understanding the power of  style sheets is to go to cssZenGarden.com.  Another resource is litmus.com, that allows you to test out your email marketing messages to ensure that they are readable in a mobile world.

According to Edison Research, 64 percent of regular social network users have posted updates to one or more social networks from their phones (Kipp Bodnar, 2012).  This highlights the reason why mobile access is so lucrative--information is now available at our fingertips.  The reason that people are using it more so than any other medium such as PCs or television is because it is now accessible anywhere, anytime.  We are now able to search on our phones while waiting at the doctor's office, or update our status on Facebook while in the grocery checkout line.  Mobile has changed the way we do things because of the ability to do so whenever, and wherever we please.  This information on mobile is important for businesses to understand because if they are not adapting to this new technology, they may be missing out on valuable leads because their sites are not mobile friendly.   

References

How Content Is Being Consumed On Mobile Devices. (2012, September 25). Retrieved March 3, 2013,    from Business Insider: http://www.businessinsider.com/bii-report-how-content-is-being-consumed-on-mobile-devices-2012-9

Kerley, C. (2013). The Mobile Revolution and B2B.

Kipp Bodnar, J. L. (2012). The B2B Social Media Book: Become a Marketing Superstar by Generating Leads with Blogging, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Email, and More. John Wiley & Sons.

How to Incorporate a LinkedIn Strategy-Handmade Furniture Store

LinkedIn is a professional social networking site that can be used to bolster new leads and turn them into customers.  I wanted to use a specific company to showcase specific ways in which you can reach your target audience and generate new leads for your business.  For a handmade furniture store, LinkedIn can be used to create brand awareness by developing a company profile, utilizing LinkedIn groups, and sharing.  This in turn increases traffic to the landing page and establishes the business and its employees as experts in the furniture industry.

Creating a company profile would be the first step to integrating a LinkedIn Strategy. because they create a branded experience driven by employees of the organization (Kipp Bodnar, 2012).  The foundation of the company profile is simple and includes a logo and company overview which should be packed with relevant keywords.  Employees of the handmade furniture store can create and share content that will link back to the company profile.  This type of content sharing and engagement establishes a community around the business.  Furthermore, by engaging with others in the furniture industry online, the business and employees establish themselves as experts in their field as well as expressing a point of view (Kipp Bodnar, 2012).  What's also great about company pages is that customers can recommend your services for others to see. 

In addition to creating a company page, LinkedIn Groups are also a great way to connect and interact with professionals within your industry.  A handmade furniture store has the opportunity to engage others by creating their own specialized group, and they also have the ability to connect with other professionals through a series of groups that are managed by others. One group that would be great for networking is the Furniture Manufacturers group that has over 13,000 members, or Association of Furniture Sales Professionals which has over 11,000 members.  Groups with a large following are nice because they will have a lot more content and interaction.   Not only that, but being a part of group discussions is a unique way to educate yourself within the industry.  You can learn a lot from your peers and by reading the discussions that they post and asking questions.  It is important to note that it is not about self promotion but rather sharing your expertise and resources (Kipp Bodnar, 2012).  This leads to building your connections on LinkedIn and drives traffic back to your landing pages where they can find more related and educational content (Kipp Bodnar, 2012).

Sharing on LinkedIn is another way to demonstrate expertise (Kipp Bodnar, 2012).   For a handmade Furniture store, answering questions about DIY projects would be a great place to showcase knowledge and develop trust.  Status updates and sharing professional articles and videos gives the same approach in establishing yourself as an expert and it is crucial to be organized when sharing content in order to be effective.  An editorial calendar should be used to outline updates for the entire month (Kipp Bodnar, 2012).  Coordinating tasks and sharing will help with the organization of your information as you builds leads for the business.  Twitter is an extension of this sharing, and can be used in conjunction with LinkedIn.  What is great about Twitter is its simplicity, 140 characters or less to say or show your thoughts.  What's more, is that you can follow anyone on Twitter without approval.  This helps avoid gatekeepers when generating leads.

All in all, LinkedIn can be an excellent platform for businesses who want to establish themselves as experts in their field.  LinkedIn is used for educational discovery and professional networking.  It has turned hard selling into soft selling and warm calls.  LinkedIn is closing the bridge between strangers and customers.  By creating a company profile, developing and engaging in LinkedIn groups, and by sharing content curated information, you will establish yourself and handmade furniture business as experts in the furniture industry. 

References

Kipp Bodnar, J. L. (2012). The B2B Social Media Book: Become a Marketing Superstar by Generating Leads with Blogging, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Email, and More. John Wiley & Sons.

How Have Your Search Strategies Changed with the Emergence of Social Networks?

Social networks and search strategies have changed recently because they are now being integrated together.  Twitter has the well known #hashtag of which people can use to search certain subjects.  The most talked about subjects are now referred to as “trending.”  You want to get in on conversations and ideas on how to save money?  Search #savemoney in the Twitter search and see what comes up.  

Google+ is also another example of how search and social media have integrated.  I’m not as familiar with using Google+, but Google itself is a fine example of a company that has integrated search, social media, documents, email, news, and life in general.  

Newly released from Facebook is their Graph Search which is an attempt for Facebook to be able to compete with Google search (http://onforb.es/Ycbwd3).  These changes, and integration of two powerful technologies show that everything is a bubble, and if you don’t integrate, adapt, or change to the needs of consumers, you will bust.

Elements of The Internet Marketing Strategy

Internet marketing strategy is needed to provide constant direction for an organization’s e-marketing actions so that they mix with its other marketing activities and support its overall business objectives (Dave Chaffey, 2009).  A strategy defines how we will meet our objectives, sets distribution of resources to obtain goals, selects favoured strategic options to contend inside a market, and supplies a long-term plan for the expansion of the organization (Dave Chaffey, 2009).  It is a channel strategy that incorporates channel specific objectives to develop and communicate in ways that are consistent with the characteristics of the channel.  There are three important aspects of strategy, 1)  situation review, 2)  goal setting, and 3)  strategy formulation (Dave Chaffey, 2009).  

Internet marketing strategy requires a situation review of internal and external influences which include the company’s overall objectives and strategy.  This in turn influences the marketing strategy that includes the internet and online marketing strategy.  There are many internal influences that affect strategies including the market structure, demand, benchmarking (competitor’s strategies), opportunities, and threats. 

            

In order to incorporate situation review, you need to do a competitive analysis, intermediary analysis, and assess the opportunities and threats.  A competitive analysis includes a constant monitoring of the competitor to stay up to date on ways to retain your customer.  Intermediary analysis is the implementation of web-based intermediaries that drive traffic to your website (Dave Chaffey, 2009).  Assessing the opportunities and threats consists of completing a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis to give a summary of the external opportunities and threats.  In order to do this, an internal audit, an external analysis of the micro economic factors, and an external audit of the macro economic factors needs to be done.  An internal audit assesses the current internet marketing strategies, its business effectiveness and its marketing effectiveness.  Other tools used would be customer research, resource analysis, and stage models.

            

Strategic goal setting needs to have an internet marketing strategy that is in line with the business marketing objectives.  As such, it is now commonly integrated as one in the same.  An example of this would be incorporating a new product by the use of internet communication.  One tool to do this is a scenario-based analysis which analyzes the future of the organizations online environment. 

            

Strategy formulation involves identifying alternative strategies, and reviews them.  This is similar to strategic goal setting because it also involves integrating the internet marketing strategy with the business strategy.  The best tool to go about this is to create a table that shows the objectives, substantiation, strategies, and KPIs (key performance indicators). 

            

In sum, internet marketing strategy is key in providing a constant direction for an organization’s e-marketing actions so that they mix with its other marketing activities and support its overall business objectives (Dave Chaffey, 2009).  This channel strategy incorporates channel specific objectives to develop and communicate in ways that are consistent with the characteristics of the channel.  The three important aspects of strategy, are 1)  situation review, 2)  goal setting, and 3)  strategy formulation (Dave Chaffey, 2009) as described above. 

References

Dave Chaffey, F. E.-C. (2009). Internet Marketing Strategy, Implementation, and Practice.            Harlow: Prentice Hall.