Use Social Media to drive B2B lead generation.
Email blasts, trade shows, ad campaigns, cold calling and press release are no longer the only techniques for lead generation. This is the age of social media marketing.
This whitepaper gives you the latest updates on:
- How to develop a strategy and content implementation plan
- An overview of the key social media networks available
- Main benefits of blogging and how to measure it.
To download go to:
http://www.theinsideteam.co.uk/b2b-social-media--blogging/
2. Contents
Sec$on
1
-‐
Social
Media
&
Blogging
Overview
i.
Social
Media
Defini:on
ii.
5
Interes:ng
Stats
iii.
Social
Media
Usage
&
Types
iv.
Why
is
Social
Media
Important
Sec$on
2
–
Social
Media
Principles
i.
Strategy
ii.
Implementa:on
&
Ac:vity
iii.
Content
Sec$on
3
–
Key
Social
Networks
i.
Facebook
ii.
TwiGer
iii.
LinkedIn
Sec$on
4
–
Blogging
i.
Blogging
Overview
ii.
The
Main
Benefits
of
Blogging
iii.
Blog
Content
iv.
Guidelines
v.
Tracking
&
Analy:cs
4. Social
Media
[so-‐cial
me-‐dia]
…a
group
of
internet-‐based
applica5ons
that
build
on
the
ideological
and
technological
founda5ons
of
Web
2.0,
and
that
allow
the
crea5on
and
exchange
of
user-‐generated
content1
Source:
A.M
Kaplan,
M.
Haenlein
2010
5. 5
Interes:ng
Social
Media
Stats
1. 23%
of
internet
:me
is
spent
on
social
networks
2. 250,000,000
Facebook
users
log-‐in
at
least
once
every
24
hours,
sharing
7,000,000,000
pieces
of
content
each
week
3.
TwiGer
currently
has
200,000,000
global
users,
and
a
growth
rate
of
15,000%
4.
There
are
152,000,000
Blogs
on
the
Internet,
read
by
77%
of
Internet
users
5.
93%
of
b2b
marketers
adopt
some
form
of
social
media
in
their
overall
marke:ng
strategy
Sources:
[1]
Nielson
2011,
[2]
Financialsocialmedia.com
19/05/11,
[3]
Lauren
Pantanacce
Interview
(hGp://www.webdeux.info/),
[4]
Thereal:mereport.com
11/03/10,
JESS3TM,
[5]
Black
Box
Social
Media
6. Social
Media
–
Social
Media
Usage
&
Types
• Social
media
is
used
in
many
ways
by
different
types
of
user
– For
Individuals
to
communicate
– For
Marketers
to
build
&
posi:on
brands
– For
Businesses
to
connect
with
customers
– For
Informers
to
spread
informa:on
– For
Everyone
to
share
content
• There
are
currently
three
types
network
within
social
media
– Social
Networks
–
User
driven
networks
supported
by
an
independent
placorm
[E.g.
Facebook,
TwiGer,
LinkedIn]
– Media
Sharing
Networks
–
Networks
that
allow
users
to
easily
share
content
from
across
the
web
[E.g.
Digg,
Reddit,
StumbleUpon]
– Self-‐generated
Networks
–
Blogs,
forums
and
customizable
social
networks
such
as
Ning
7. Social
Media
–
Why
is
Social
Media
Important
• Whether
you
like
it
or
not,
social
media
is
now
an
essen:al
means
of
communica:on
for
individuals,
businesses
&
brands,
and
it’s
here
to
stay
• Despite
long-‐standing
B2C
popularity,
B2B
marketers
are
only
recently
beginning
to
recognize
the
poten:al
of
social
media
• Social
media
has
many
poten:al
uses
and
benefits
for
b2b
marketers
– Increasing
brand
visibility
&
awareness
– Educa:ng
poten:al
customers/clients
– Developing
Thought
Leadership
– Building
credibility
and
reputa:on
– Recording
customer
feedback
– Genera:ng
sales
leads
8. The
Bo0om
Line…
When
implemented
effec5vely,
social
media
can
create
new
leads,
clients
&
customers
10. Social
Media
–
Strategy
• Careful,
strategic
planning
is
essen:al
to
successful
b2b
social
media
marke:ng
– Set
measurable
objec:ves
–
What
do
you
want
to
achieve?
– Assign
the
personnel
to
be
able
to
fully
commit
– Not
all
social
networks
are
relevant
for
every
businesses
–
Consider
which
ones
your
customers
and
compe:tors
use
– Monitor
relevant
social
network
conversa:ons
-‐
Listen
to
what
your
customers
are
saying
– Consolidate
exis:ng
shareable
content
and
plan
how
to
create
fresh,
quality
content
that
will
engage
users
– Make
your
website
is
social
media
friendly
with
social
network
buGons
and
‘ShareThis’
or
‘AddThis’
links
11. Social
Media
–
Implementa:on
&
Ac:vity
• Ensure
consistency
across
all
social
networks
–
This
includes
all
branding,
tone
of
voice
and
links/content
• Effec:ve
social
networking
is
dependent
on
regular
ac:vity
–A
dormant
social
media
page
is
even
worse
than
no
page
• Listening
Vs.
Par:cipa:ng
– A
common
mistake
marketers
make
with
social
media
is
spending
too
much
:me
marke:ng
– Social
media
users
do
not
respond
to
the
hard
sell
–
They
can
be
good
sales
targets
because
they
are
in
an
environment
where
they
are
not
expec:ng
to
be
sold
to.
• PERSPCTIVE:
A
good
way
to
approach
company
social
media
profiles/pages
is
as
an
interac:ve
extension
of
your
website
12. Social
Media
–
Content
•
Content
is
the
currency
of
social
media
–
It
is
what
ensures
social
media
pages
are
interes:ng
and
keeps
users
engaged
•
On-‐brand
Vs.
Off-‐brand
-‐
The
principle
where
social
media
communica:ons
are
divided
between
topics
about
the
brand/
business,
and
topics
unrelated
to
their
brand/business
–
Typically
40%
-‐
On-‐Brand/60%
-‐
Off-‐Brand
•
New
Content
Vs.
Exis:ng
Content
–
Building
a
reputa:on
for
educa:ng
and
informing
customers
and
industry
peers
is
a
good
prac:ce
in
social
media
–
This
is
known
as
Thought
Leadership
and
results
in
customer
respect
and
industry
peer
reliance
14. Social
Media
–
Facebook
• Facebook
is
s:ll
top
dog
in
social
media
and
is
a
recognised
b2b
tool
for
content
distribu:on
and
audience
engagement
• Facebook
offers
the
facility
to
set
up
a
business/product
‘Page’
which
can
be
‘Liked’
by
other
users
• Marketers
should
look
to
achieve
as
many
‘Likes’
as
possible
–
This
will
give
a
Page
more
visibility
in
users
‘News
Feeds’
Key
b2b
Features
Key
b2b
ac:vi:es
-‐ Targeted
Ads
-‐
Status
updates
-‐ Groups
-‐
Interac:on
with
users
-‐ Applica:ons
-‐
Community
building
-‐ Tabs/Landing
Page
-‐
Providing
a
news
service
-‐ ‘Like’
other
pages
-‐
Pos:ng
engaging
content
-‐ Pictures/Videos
-‐
Linking
to
website
15. Social
Media
–
TwiGer
• TwiGer
is
‘micro-‐blogging’,
enabling
users
to
send
and
receive
text
based
posts
with
a
limit
of
140
characters
known
as
‘Tweets’
• Users’
networks
reflect
who
they
‘Follow’
-‐
This
typically
includes
friends,
colleagues,
celebri:es,
brands,
businesses
&
media
• TwiGer’s
popularity
as
a
b2b
marke:ng
tool
is
due
to
the
rela:ve
ease
of
connec:ng
&
communica:ng
with
other
users
-‐
Follower/Following
-‐
Direct
messaging
-‐
Re-‐twee:ng
-‐
@
• B2B
TwiGer
Tips
• Focus
on
targe:ng
TwiGer
ac:vity
toward
poten:al
customers
• Develop
a
‘Thought
leadership’
based
Twee:ng
policy
• Link
to
your
website
website
with
leading
copy
16. Social
Media
–
LinkedIn
• LinkedIn
is
a
business
orientated
social
network
designed
for
professionals
to
network
• It
allows
users
to
connect
with
exis:ng
colleagues
and
contacts
and
make
new
connec:ons
• Once
professional
and
company
profiles
are
established,
LinkedIn
does
not
require
as
much
ac:vity
as
other
networks
• Widely
used
for
research,
recruitment,
prospec:ng
and
genera:ng
leads
18. Social
Media
–
Blogging
• Due
to
the
constant
need
for
content
to
feed
social
networks
and
increased
interest
in
Inbound
marke:ng,
blogging
is
growing
in
popularity
in
the
B2B
sector
• Despite
this
increased
popularity,
less
than
50%
of
B2B
companies
have
blogs
-‐
This
means
blogs
can
s:ll
help
businesses
stand
out
• Successful
blogging
relies
on
a
number
of
factors
– A
well
thought-‐out
strategy
– Engaging
content
– Regular
updates
– Good
SEO
– An
iden:fied
target
audience
19. Blogging
–
The
Main
Benefits
•
SEO
– Regularly
updated
blogs
that
are
well
op:mised
for
search
rank
well
in
search
engines
– Crea:ng
quality
inbound
links
to
the
primary
website
also
helps
SEO
•
PR
– Maintaining
a
blog
can
be
an
effec:ve
means
of
PR,
as
it
allows
businesses
control
over
the
way
they
present
themselves
to
the
media
and
public
•
Thought
Leadership
– Blogging
on
relevant
industry
issues
and
topical
affairs
provides
businesses
with
an
opportunity
to
become
experts
in
their
field
•
Brand
Building
– Blogging
can
help
establish
and
strengthen
a
brand
in
within
a
par:cular
market
•
Social
Media
Development
– Companies
that
blog
have
over
79%
more
followers
on
TwiGer
than
those
that
don’t
20. The
Bo0om
Line…
Maintaining
a
blog
can
significantly
increase
quality
traffic
to
your
website
and
generate
leads.
21. Blogging
–
Content
• As
with
all
social
and
self-‐generated
digital
media,
high-‐quality,
engaging
and
sharable
content
is
the
key
• Blog
content
should
be
concise,
industry
specific
and
open
poin:ng
toward
the
primary
website.
• Consider
the
On-‐Brand/Off-‐Brand
ra:o
principle
when
planning
blog
content
• Some
of
the
most
effec:ve
types
of
blog
content
include
-‐
– Research
and
Insight
– Crea:ve
– How
to’s
– Guest
blogging
–
Lists
– Website
linking
– Mul:-‐media/Videos
&
Picture
– Industry
news
commentary
– Project
based
– Case
studies
– Opinion
based
– Series’
22. Social
Media
&
Blogging
–
Guidelines
• Consistency
is
important
in
maintaining
a
business
focused
social
media
presence
–
This
requires
clear
guidelines
– Update
all
networks
regularly
with
content
and
Status’/Tweets/info/news
– Allow
several
people
access
to
each
network
in
case
someone
leaves
the
company
– Avoid
having
too
many
people
wri:ng
copy
and
interac:ng
with
other
users
as
consistency
of
tone
and
style
is
important
– Develop
a
content
policy
and
ensure
this
is
maintained
– Be
clear
about
pos:ng
or
linking
to
content
that
might
compromise
brand
iden:ty
or
reputa:on
– Be
sensi:ve
in
dealing
with
poten:ally
damaging
customer
feedback
23. Social
Media
&
Blogging
–
Tracking/Analy:cs
•
As
important
as
seqng
social
media
objec:ves,
is
con:nually
tracking
and
regularly
analysing
ac:vity
• Social
media
analysis
can
be
catagorised
into
three
sec:ons
1.
Reach
–
Social
traffic,
fans/followers/subscribers/connec:ons,
page
likes,
Fan
Page
views/Unique
visitors,
blog
visits,
search
ranking
2.
Engagement
–
Inbound
links,
content
shared,
Likes,
retweets,
blog
comments,
social
bookmarks,
‘Ac:ve
Monthly
Users’
3.
Conversion
–
Website
traffic
(Quality
&
Quan:ty),
content
downloads,
sales
leads,
• Tip:
There
are
countless
paid
and
free
tools
available
for
social
media
analysis
and
metrics
–
Try
Google
Analy:cs
or
Hubspot