1. The New Biz dev Leveraging the digital environment for relationship-building Presented by Tuvel Communications IPA Forum December 14, 2010
2. What is “digital communications”? 2 “An interactive form of communication where you are able to be both the broadcaster as well as the receiver of information, and where there is an equal balance of power between all participants. In other words, your voice is equal to the voice at the other end.” -Watson Helsby(UK PR/communications executive search firm), 2010
3. Why is a digital communications program important? Relationships, relationships, relationships! Communication with customers/prospects. Building thought-leadership & adding value.
6. 4 Steps to Getting Started Step 1: Strategy Establish why, what, who, where, when & how Determine goals, metrics for success, SET EXPECTATIONS 6 Step 4: Offer Value & Build Credibility Create relevant & educational content to help your customers Build a knowledgebase & share it Step 3: Listen & Participate Get involved in limited conversations Use tools like Google Alerts, SocialMention, Blekko Join industry groups online (LinkedIn, Ning, listservs) Step 2: Research Find out where your customers/prospects are hanging out online Target based on industry buzzwords, geography, etc.
7. The British Midlands: Digital Communications Program 7 Personalization Engagement Branding Timely & valuable content
8. Looking for ideas? Use social networking sites like LinkedIn to communicate with prospects & customers. Survey your customers about their online professional interests. Create a company blog, look for external guest writing opps, write press releases. Make it easy for your company to be found & for people to do business with you. Conduct a limited outreach campaign. Build a house file & maintain it. Create contests & promotions. Use digital communications to drive offline traffic (i.e. events). 8
9. Make sure all parts of your programs work together! Integrate with other parts of the marketing mix, i.e. telemarketing, print ads, tradeshows. Take the conversation offline! Utilize Twitter and LinkedIn for events & F2F (face-to-face) networking. Promote content through social networking platforms (Twitter, LinkedIn, bookmarking sites). Integrate social networking technology with customer relationship tools & marketing platforms whenever possible (i.e. Salesforce, MailChimp). Explore partnerships. 9
10. Useful Tools 10 Hootsuite Tweetdeck Twellow, Wefollow, Tlists LinkedIn Groups Listserv Directory Listening & Research QR Codes RSS Content Creation Pressitt, PitchEngine Wordpress, Blogger Google Reader + Google Alerts SocialMention Blekko Google Docs DocStoc Yammer Scribd Social Media Tools for Biz Dev LinkedIn Ads Facebook Ads Skype Vyew SurveyMonkey Google Moderator Delicious StumbleUpon Technorati BusinessExchange Skype Mobile, Google Talk Twitter Bump LinkedIn Content Curating & Sharing Communication
11. Final Thoughts & Tips Lurk & listen – then participate. Give before you take. Offer value (don’t just pitch). Personalize, personalize, personalize! Always be yourself. 11 Remember, the world’s archived! Ask for referrals! Be consistent - maintain year-round relationships. Grow your programs organically. Always follow best practices.
12. Appendix: List of Discussed Tools 12 Communication Skype: http://skype.com Google Talk: http://google.com/talk Twitter: http://twitter.com Bump: http://bu.mp (mobile app) LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com Vyew: http://vyew.com SurveyMonkey: http://surveymonkey.com Google Moderator: http://google.com/moderator LinkedIn Ads: http://linkedin.com/advertising Facebook Ads: http://facebook.com/adsmarketing Industry Twitter Chats: https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=ruaz3GZveOsoXUOOt86B3AQ#gid=0
13. Appendix: List of Discussed Tools 13 Content Creation Pressitt: http://pressitt.com PitchEngine: http://pitchengine.com Wordpress: http://wordpress.com Blogger: http://google.com/blogger QR Code generators: http://qrcode.kaywa.com/ http://zxing.appspot.com/generator/ Creating & tracking RSS feeds: http://feedburner.com
14. 14 Appendix: List of Discussed Tools Content Curating & Sharing Google Docs: http://docs.google.com DocStoc: http://docstoc.com Yammer: http://yammer.com Scribd: http://scribd.com Delicious: http://delicious.com StumbleUpon: http://stumbleupon.com Technorati: http://technorati.com BusinessExchange: http://bx.businessweek.com/
15. 15 Appendix: List of Discussed Tools Listening & Research Hootsuite: http://hootsuite.com Tweetdeck: http://tweetdeck.com Twellow: http://twellow.com WeFollow: http://wefollow.com TLists: http://tlists.com LinkedIn Groups: http://linkedin.com/groups Listserv Directory: http://www.lsoft.com/catalist.html Google Reader: http://google.com/reader Google Alerts: http://google.com/alerts SocialMention: http://socialmention.com Blekko: http://blekko.com Ning: http://ning.com