Friday, September 12, 2014

Business to Business Lead Generation

Generating leads from your social media pages can be a difficult proposition for any company. It can seem like an inexact science at times, which frustrates many marketers. That frustration is doubled for business to business marketers. Business to consumer companies have the advantage of a much broader customer base. The trick with B2B is finding the right people, which can be hard with social media sites that have well over a hundred million users. 

So, what has worked in the past for B2B marketers? LinkedIn remains the champion of B2B. The main reason for this is pretty simple, everyone on LinkedIn is in a business. You can also find specific people within a company that you need to talk to. LindedIn has recently made it more difficult to connect with people that you haven't met, but it can still be a good search tool. 


While LinkedIn is the heavy weight in the B2B category, Facebook and Twitter are starting to climb the ranks. However, the tactics are going to be different. Simply interacting and engaging with other businesses posts can be an effective strategy. It shows support to their company and it also keeps yourself top of mind with them. The goal of the content you post should be to position yourself as an expert in your field. This isn't a short process, but it can be very valuable down the road. 

Another good social networking site for B2B is Google+. It seems to be getting overlooked by many marketers, but it has a lot of benefits. First and foremost, it's the social networking site built by the most important search engine on the internet. That should be enough of a reason to get started with Google+. It is also easy to connect with other businesses by adding them your Circles. Another nice part of Google+ is the Communities feature. Communities are groups of people with similar interests or goals. Joining local community groups as well as industry specific communities is a good idea. 

There may not be one easy way to generate leads on social media for B2B, but there are several different ways to go about trying. At the very least, these options help raise brand awareness and can be used as research tools. 


Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Don't Have an Unfinished Business Page

Social networking sites are littered with unfinished and abandoned business pages. In a lot of ways having no page at all, is better than having something that hasn't been touched in over a year. If you create a page for your business then it is important to keep it relevant or else just delete it all together. It is also important to keep all of the information accurate on your pages. You don't want people clicking on your sites and get misguided by outdated information.

On the flip side, if you have a regularly updated page with good information on it then it gives your business credibility with the customer. This can be especially important in the restaurant industry. Putting your menu and specials on your Facebook page is a very good idea for any restaurant. People want to see what you have to offer before they make their buying decision.



Using websites such as Hootsuite to schedule posts is an easy way to make sure your social network sites stay active. You can schedule generic posts well in advance and mix in urgent posts as they happen. Scheduling in advance is also a big time saver. Another thing to keep in mind is that every post you make doesn't have to be earth-shattering. Keeping your posts simple and fun will make it easier to come up with content, and it can also show a lighter side to your business.

Just remember, if you can't keep one of your social media pages updated, hit delete. 




Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Managing Expectations for Social Media

A person's attitude on an experience largely has to do with the expectations they have for it. If you are getting on a roller coaster and expecting it to be the best thing you've ever done, then there is a good chance you will end up being disappointed. You might end up having more fun on the smaller ride that had an unexpected twist in it because you came away from it pleasantly surprised.

Managing expectations is so important not only in life, but in business. One problem that a lot of business owners have is they expect their social media marketing to be the best roller coaster ever. That's not a fair expectation for a new marketing program.



You need to set out what you want to accomplish through your social media marketing. Don't be mad if the phone isn't ringing off the hook if your goal is to increase traffic to the website. One of the most common goals of social media marketing is to increase awareness. Building awareness of a brand or company is not a quick fix. It is a process that involves getting in front of potential customers multiple times. It can take time before it starts to effect the bottom line.

Another common goal of social media marketing is to increase sales leads. This goal can be accomplished by using an aggressive style of online marketing. Setting up a Facebook page and posting everyone once in awhile isn't going to net a lot of leads. Lead generation goals require actively searching for potential customers.

Social media marketing is a proven viable option for all kinds of companies. Just make sure you create clear expectations before you get started or else you might give up on something without ever giving it a real chance.