Posted by Jessica Bedore on Wed, Feb 22, 2012 @ 11:38 AM
Foursquare has become one of the best-known mobile applications in the social media universe because of the competition it inspires for users to check into local businesses and earn points and badges.
Some observers have already labeled the application as the next generation of viral marketing.
"Like viral videos that are spread by email and social networks, the app and system can be used to promote your business by word of mouth via customers who are already at your business," Cruxbridge Media wrote in a post on it’s blog.
The best part of the application is that check-ins can be seen by a wide circle of viewers. A user’s local followers will see them, but they also are published to the Foursquare community and can be sent to Facebook and Twitter if the user chooses to do so. While it has great reach, that local component is just as important, because it empowers a business to create local word-of-mouth buzz with mobile content marketing offers that can be realized by folks in a targeted market area. It’s one of the benefits of geo-based social marketing.
Some of ways Foursquare can help your company with its online marketing efforts include:
Drawing people in
Foursquare is a great way to target and attract first-time customers to your business. By offering a deal to users on their first check in at a location, you are encouraging them to stop in and tell their friends they are at your business. A popular area restaurant, Fratellos, offers a free signature cupcake to everyone who checks in for their first time. When my friends and I were searching for places to eat a few weeks ago, we were definitely drawn to the establishment because of the deal (and the great food, of course!).
Encouraging repeat visits
Perhaps one of the most beneficial aspects of Foursquare is its ability to encourage repeat visits. Since the application is essentially a game, businesses can tailor their specials so that customers keep returning. One way to do this is by offering a deal on every third or fourth check in. Many local bars or night clubs offer a free drink on every third check in, encouraging users to remember to check in and to build up their check ins to receive the deal.
Growing the numbers
Another way to offer a special is to say that the special can be unlocked when the user checks in with four or five of his or her friends. Chili’s Grill and Bar Restaurant in Appleton takes advantage of this feature, as they offer a free appetizer to anyone who checks in with three or more of their friends. It’s a simple way to increase the ticket at each table and is fairly inexpensive for restaurants.
Crowning the "mayor."
Whoever checks into a venue the most times (has the most points at that venue) is awarded the title of mayor for that establishment. Usually, successful businesses on Foursquare offer the Mayor a lofty perk for as long as he or she holds that title. For example, some restaurants offer the mayor half off of his or her meal purchases, a local wine bar offers the mayor a free bottle of wine and a nearby bar provides the mayor one free drink every time he or she checks in as the mayor. The online battle for this status can be very competitive amongst users, which can increase the visibility of your business and increase sales.
For more help getting started with Foursquare, check out our free Foursquare tip sheet for beginners.
Posted by Frank Isca on Tue, Feb 21, 2012 @ 08:33 AM
For a lot of B2B marketers, especially those within the specialty manufacturing industry, the concept of social media marketing may still seem foreign and a little out of place from the more traditional marketing efforts they've come to know and trust over the years. But for those looking to finally take the leap, knowing they're already behind, where should they start to get their feet wet in the socialsphere? Look no further than LinkedIn, the proven powerhouse for B2B lead generation.
Here's a look at The Top 3 Reasons LinkedIn Was Made for B2B Marketers:
1. LinkedIn Users Are Predominantly Business Professionals
• LinkedIn offers the highest concentration of educated professionals of any social media network and has now exceeded 150 million members in over 200 countries and territories (as of Feb 2012).
• The industries with the highest concentration worldwide on LinkedIn are High Tech (14.3%), Finance (12.4%) and Manufacturing (10.1%)
• More than 2 million companies have created their own company page (as of Feb 2012)
• Users on the network are there to connect with other professionals and are already in a business mindset, compared to Facebook or Twitter which is primarily utilized for personal use
• A survey conducted in summer 2011 found 58% of B2B marketers were using utilizing LinkedIn for their social media marketing, compared to 50% for Facebook and 43% for Twitter (Leadforce1). This is proof that B2B marketers have found a use for this growing professional network and are seeing results
2. LinkedIn Company Pages Keep Your Customers & Prospects Informed
LinkedIn continues to make advancements to their company page offering, and probably the most notable advancement was the company status update feature that was introduced in October 2011. This allows companies to post ongoing blog article links, related company news and the latest product/service advancements which then appears directly in the news feed for those who follow your company. This keeps your customers and prospects informed each time they login and see your updates, and may make the difference with touching them at just the right time as they're looking to solve a problem.
3. LinkedIn Groups Help Attract Leads
LinkedIn is currently the host of more than 1.1 million user groups, which are very specific to users' interests, industry and needs. A single member can join up to 50 unique LinkedIn groups which is a great way to network with fellow professionals in your industry, but more importantly, groups offer a great way to connect with your ideal prospects. By utilizing these groups to share useful content such as your blog articles, white papers, etc., as well as starting engaging discussions, you'll gain credibility among prospective customers and some may even begin turning into leads.
These are only a handful of the reasons and features that make LinkedIn the ideal social media marketing tool for B2B marketers. If you're convinced you need to get more proactive with your current LinkedIn activity and need some more details on how to get started, check out these other articles:
LinkedIn 101: A Critical Part of Your Inbound Marketing Strategy
A Smart LinkedIn Strategy Can Help Generate Leads
Top 3 Ways To Optimize Your LinkedIn Company Page
Posted by Tami Wessley on Mon, Feb 20, 2012 @ 07:30 AM
With the economy finally starting to make gains, specialty manufacturers and professional services providers are taking a critical look at what they can do to move out of survival mode and start growing. Since leads and customers are the key to growth, many organizations immediately start thinking of hiring additional sales reps to cultivate prospects. But is that the right solution? Not always. In many cases, jumpstarting lead generation and improving ROI is better handled through investing in Inbound Marketing.
Why? Here are the top five reasons:
1. Generates leads 24/7 – No matter how dedicated your potential new rep is, he or she can’t generate leads around-the-clock like Inbound Marketing. With Inbound Marketing, your content and offers attract leads on their schedule, without restrictions. After hours, when not dedicated to handling day-to-day activities, is often when your prospects have time to look for potential solutions to their challenges.
2. Five “experts” for the price of one – When hiring an Inbound Marketing agency, your organization has access to a strategist, a social media expert, an experienced web designer, a content developer and an analyst for about the same cost as adding one sales rep.
3. Qualified leads, every time – Because prospects identify themselves and willingly share contact information in exchange for your content, every lead is prequalified before ever making a live connection. Potential buyers come to you rather than having to search them out. Download our Online Marketing Opportunity Report to learn where conversion is happening in your industry, what industries are using social media and which are not, how to formulate a marketing strategy for each channel, and which resources will help you become an expert in the various social media channels.
4. No leads left behind – Even with the best intentions, personal follow-up sometimes falls short. Fortunately, HubSpot’s Inbound Marketing Lead Nurturing tool automates follow-up communications based on your prescribed timing and messages. Leads never fall through the cracks!
5. Reduced cost per lead - In 2011, the average cost per lead for outbound-dominated businesses was $373, while inbound businesses reported their leads cost on average $143. Inbound marketing-dominated organizations experience a 62% lower cost per lead than outbound marketing dominated organizations.
We're certainly not advising against adding sales people to your organization – quite the opposite! By letting your Inbound Marketing generate qualified leads, you’ll be letting your sales people do what they do best – build personal relationships and close the deal!
Posted by Greg Linnemanstons on Fri, Feb 17, 2012 @ 03:33 PM
If you're in the process of learning more about Inbound Marketing and content strategy for your B2B marketing efforts, odds are someone has said "You need to start thinking like a publisher!" OK, you say, thanks for the advice. Now what does that mean, and how to I do it?
If you take a step back and think about it, acting like a publisher shouldn't be all that complicated. Publishing is, after all, one of the oldest professions, with the Sumerians often credited with creating the first crude books more than 5000 years ago, with pages fashioned from clay. But enough with the history lesson, right?
So how does a publisher think? And how does that thinking apply to B2B marketers and the world you're competing in? Joe Pulizzi, author of Get Content, Get Customers, and the founder of the Content Marketing Institute is the guy most often credited with linking content marketing and traditional publishing philosophies. According to Pulizzi, these are the important dimensions successful publishers think about and act on, and have to be part of content 
marketing:
- Goal driven. If publishing is your core business, your first goal is profitability. But if you're publishing as a marketer, your goal should be delivering a tangible benefit to the sales process, such as attracting more well-qualified leads. Well-qualified leads should turn into customers, and revenue, and profits. Start with what you want to accomplish and let that drive planning.
- Editorial strategy. Know who your target is in very discrete, descriptive terms, and then learn with some certainty what their specific needs are that your business can satisfy better than anyone. Talk to customers who know you well about why they chose you and have remained loyal. If you can, find a few prospects who are currently in the evaluation mode to find out what's critical to them. And because your editorial strategy will be a dynamic process that continues to evolve, institutionalize the learning/listening mode so you have a steady stream of editorial energy focused on customer needs and pain.
- Production. Creating relevant, valuable content on a regular schedule is challenging work for professional publishers. The demands regular content creation places on the rest of us is why so many B2B marketers fall short as publishers. The New York Times, Sports Illustrated, and CNN all have dealines they can't miss or push back. Any marketer/publisher needs to develop the same processes and philosophies around deadlines, quantity and quality, or their efforts, and goals, will miss the target.
- Circulation. This is all about driving readership/viewership/engagement. Getting your target's eyes, ears, and minds in touch with your content. You might also call it promotion. It all the things you do to acquire and keep your target connected to your content. It starts with knowing how they think and behave, so you're attracting them to your stuff with offers and language that are relevant and meaningful to them, and giving them plenty of ways to consume your content with ease and simplicity. A good circulation manager keeps an eye on the analytics as well, knowing when its time to nurture existing subscribers or aggressively go after new.
- Distribution. here's where you need to think about channels. How many different ways can you deliver your content to places your target can easily find it. Today syndication takes an almost infinite array of forms; the right syndication choices can grow reach exponentially with little cost. And if you use social media cleverly, your followers can ecome part of your distribution plan.
Thinking like a publisher isn't complicated, but it is a lot of work. For most organizations it means bringing in or growing some skills they didn't have before. But it also should represent a much tighter and more measurable connection between resources deployed and business generated. I can see the headline now:
Content Strategists Drive Booming ROI!!!
Posted by Sean Johnson on Thu, Feb 16, 2012 @ 12:15 PM
If you have been working with social media for more than a few minutes, you have probably uttered some variation of the phrase: "great, something new I have to learn."
If there is a constant in social media marketing these days, it is that as soon as you learn one platform, there will be a new one emerging that will demand your attention. Keeping up with the latest and greatest applications - because they all bill themselves as the next killer app - is enough to wear a person out, never mind actually deploying the platform as a marketing and public relations tool.
It's an issue that's dominated conversations here at Weidert as we have watching the growing interest in Pinterest, which has been the topic of the most popular blog posts and tip sheets we have ever compiled. If need to catch up, here's a recap:
Now, just a day after our latest post on Pinterest, the following e-mail subject line caught my attention: 15 Social Media Platforms to Invest in This Year.
The first reaction was frustration - we are just getting the hang of Pinterest, and now there are 15 new things to figure out! My second thought was to put on the brakes and pause for a minute, thinking that just because it's the latest and greatest does not mean it will make sense for our business.
That second thought is the one I want to emphasize. We know there will always be something new. In some ways, we love that. But new does not always mean effective. Not every platform is going to be effective for every business. You could wind up expending a lot of time, energy and money trying to master outlets that won't deliver qualified leads.
No one wants to try and explain that. To avoid it, keep some simple rules and practices in mind.
Have well-defined social media plans
You can avoid wasting time and effort on channels that won't help you if you develop a social media plan and stick with it. Important elements include your message, your content and your targets. Yes, the plan will need to be flexible and there may be a need to adopt a new platform. But if you have those fundamentals in place, you will be in a better position to evaluate whether those new tools will work for your business.
Go with what you know works
If you have been engaged in social media for a while, you will have some pretty good ideas what works for you and what does not. For example, we know here at Weidert that LinkedIn is a priority social media channel for us, generating 900 percent more leads than the next social media channel. Whatever we do with social media, and even if we add something new, we would be hard pressed to take away resources from a channel with that kind of success.
Go where your customers are
If you really know your targets, then you know the social media channels they are most likely to use. Use that information. If it's unlikely that your targets use Facebook for business, then it probably doesn't make much sense for you to spend a lot of time and energy on your presence there. Conversely, if your targets are likely to be on Twitter, spending time each day making sure you have compelling content links is a wise investment. Each new platform should be evaluated the same way.
Of course, you should never rule out that a new social media channel will work for you. The channels are changing all of the time, and new players are always coming into the market. One may work for you particularly well. You will be a lot smarter at finding it - and avoiding wasting time with others - if you follow these simple rules.
By staying true to your social media plans, you will spend less time chasing the latest and greatest and more time attracting qualified visitors and leads that you can convert to customers.
Learn more about using social media to market your business:
Posted by Frank Isca on Tue, Feb 14, 2012 @ 02:39 PM
The discipline of online marketing, also referred to as internet marketing, web marketing, webvertising, or e-marketing, has continued to evolve since its inception in the late 90s. What began with basic banner ads has grown into integrated campaigns that involve targeted HTML emails, search engine marketing (SEM), search engine optimization (SEO), and social media marketing, just to name a few. Although the tools and methods have evolved the same goal still applies: attract more qualified traffic to your website to convert them into a new customer.
It's true as marketers continue to deal with budget limitations, they focus their attention on the opportunities that online marketing has to offer, but it's easy to get painted into a corner of relying on expensive pay per click (PPC) campaigns to achieve your desired results.
Wouldn't you ultimately like to attract qualified leads through more organic efforts such as blogging, advanced content optimized for search, link building, and social media marketing? Seems like a no-brainer right? Then now is the time to step back and evaluate your online activities and learn how the power of Inbound Marketing can work for you and your business.
We all know we benefit from an outside look when it comes to identifying our greatest areas for improvement. That's why our team is offering a Free Online Marketing Evaluation for those who qualify, which includes a comprehensive review of how you're performing across all 3 critical areas of online marketing in comparison to your top competitors. Consider this the first step in boosting your ability to attract more qualified leads and new customers. Learn more by clicking the button below!
Posted by Tami Wessley on Mon, Feb 13, 2012 @ 10:05 AM
For Specialty Manufacturers, developing a content strategy can be overwhelming and confusing. When talking to clients, we often get questions like, “How can we develop content -- we’re not that interesting!” or, “We really need more leads -- what kind of content can help us do that?”
In its simplest terms, there are six basic considerations when developing a content strategy:
1. Targets – Who do you want to tell your story to? Be specific, think about the verticals and niche markets that might make sense. Try not to be vague or too broad, focusing on the specific audiences you want to talk to will help guide you through the rest of the process.
2. Pain Points – Once you know who you’ll talk to, think about what pain points they have that you can address. What do your targets struggle with every day and how can you help?
3. Needs – What do your targets really need -- in other words, what will satisfy their pain points? Whether you currently can satisfy those needs or not, include them in your list of considerations as they may drive your future decisions.
4. What will make their lives easier? – This starts to get at the heart of what you can promise and what you’ll want to include in your content. What can you offer that will address their needs and alleviate pain points?
5. What products/services would they use? – Based on what you know about their pains, their needs and what would help them, what can they get from you? Do you have specific products or services that can immediately make an impact? Are those products/services presented in a way to make it easy for them to buy?
6. Why can't they live without you? – After compiling your list from items 1-5 above, think about what you and only you can offer or promise. What sets you apart? What can you deliver that makes them feel you are the best solution to their challenges?
With these considerations addressed, developing content becomes much simpler. Each piece should address a target, a pain point, a need, a solution (product/service) and a reason to engage you.
Want to learn more about growing your awareness through developing and promoting great content? Download our Step-By-Step Guide to Inbound Marketing.
Posted by Meg Hoppe on Fri, Feb 10, 2012 @ 08:25 AM
The best way to think of Pinterest, if you’re not familiar with it, is as your personal or business bulletin board – it’s where you pin pictures of things you like: your style, your interests, your aspirations…anything you can represent with images from the internet.
Pinterest also happens to be the hottest social media network, with growth in the past 6 months of over 4,000%. And people aren’t just taking a peek at the site and leaving; the average visit is more than an hour – Facebook is about 16 minutes, LinkedIn about the same.
How Pinterest Works
Pinterest users share photos they find online by “pinning” them, the equivalent of “liking” on Facebook. To pin, users download a toolbar that grabs the image and identifies the source site. Once your pins are on your board, users who follow you, like Facebook friends, can see what you’ve pinned. If they like one of your pins, they can re-pin it to their own board.
Now that you know what it is and how it works, how can you use Pinterest to promote your business?
1. Market Your Products. Create a Pinterest account for your business and pin images of your own products to your board – there’s even a space below each pin to describe the image and briefly outline its features and benefits. Your business can have multiple boards, allowing you to group products by theme, size, features, etc. Essentially, you’re creating an online product catalog.
2. Lead Prospects To Your Website. A feature allows you to add a price tag for any item you pin; you can then add a link pointing back to your website so viewers can learn more or purchase. When you add a price tag and link to your site, you’re automatically added to Pinterests “Gifts” page; users can click on “Gifts” to find great gift ideas grouped by price ($1-$20, $20-$50, etc.) These links to your site help your off-page SEO and drive quality traffic to your site.
3. Showcase Your Services. Don’t have a product to sell? You can still promote your business by creating a kind of visual resume on Pinterest. If you design landscapes, for instance, post pictures of your installations; if you’re an interior designer, post pictures of your favorite rooms.
4. Improve Your SEO. When you pin with a price tag and link to your site, you’re creating important “back links” that pull people to your site (all pins link back to their source site, but pins with a price highlight that you're selling the product). Use the area provided to describe your product, and incorporate your keywords to pull in your most valuable targets. You can also share your pins on Facebook and Twitter, generating even more links to your site. Bolster your chances of getting traffic from Pinterest by offering followers something for pinning your photos:
• Ask users to pin an item as an entry into a contest; the more of your products they pin, the more entries they’ve submitted
• Offer them a special Pinterest User Discount if they go to your site and make a purchase
The more people re-pin your pictures, the more buzz you’ll create in the Pinterest user community, and most likely with the people most interested – and likely to buy – your products.
5. Be A Resource. Present your product or service within the context of a larger solution. Say you’re a small company that makes custom window treatments; help prospects by showcasing more than just your products – pin other, related products that fall within the overall category of interior design (wallpaper manufacturers, artwork retailers, paint manufacturers, etc.). This way you’ll be viewed not as a company selling one type of product, but as a valuable resource for home décor inspiration and solutions.
6. Engage With Users. Pinterest is a social network, so take the time to form relationships with other users and to build a community around your brand:
• When you see that users have re-pinned your items, comment and say thanks
• Start following Pinterest users who show an affinity to your product or service, and this will encourage them to follow you in return
• Ask for customer feedback by encouraging them to re-pin their favorite products in your catalog
Like any new social media network, it'll take time to get up to speed finding and interacting with your target. But as the only visually based networking site allowing you to tap into people's passion for specific products, this one's well worth the effort.
If you'd like to take a step back and get a basic overview of Pinterest (lingo, terms, etiquette, etc.), before you dive in, download our free tip sheet, How-to Guide to Get Your Business Started on Pinterest.
Posted by Frank Isca on Thu, Feb 09, 2012 @ 09:05 AM
TechCrunch published an article this week announcing Pinterest had reached 11.7 million unique monthly U.S. visitors, which means the wildly successful social platform has crossed the 10 million mark faster than any other standalone site in history.
As new users join Pinterest by the masses daily so does the massive database of inspiring imagery and visual content, spanning every category from food recipes and home decor to infographics and creative product packaging. This vast collection of visual content, mixed with the highly addictive social aspect that Pinterest has so intelligently crafted, is quickly becoming the go to search engine for any type of visual/photo-based content. This is proving to be a powerful source of traffic for companies who have been pinned, since each user-generated pin is essentially another inbound link to the associated website where the image derived.
Sure, Pinterest lends itself perfectly for photographers, graphic designers or clothing manufacturers whose services and products are highly visual in nature. But Pinterest is also proving to provide a space for companies less fortunate in the area of abundant visual content, but who are creative in how they leverage this platform.
General Electric is a great example of a company who has leveraged the visual assets of the large machinery they work on everyday and their products from over the years, but they also have showcased user-generated content from their #GEInspiredMe campaign. This has given GE a new and fresh way to showcase their brand and engage with their fans in a fun way.
Although Pinterest only supports still images, video content is also being pinned through the use of video stills that then link to the actual video asset. This will prove to be powerful for companies whose product or service is best shown through the use of demonstration, and video continues to be a powerful vehicle for content consumption on the web.
As Pinterest continues to grow at record pace and as the social consumer changes their behaviors on how they conduct a search for visual-based content via the use of their Pinterest account, companies need to evaluate how they can best leverage this platform to showcase their own content. For tips on learning the basics of Pinterest and how to get started, download our free tip sheet: How-to Guide to Get Your Business Started on Pinterest.
Posted by Sean Johnson on Tue, Feb 07, 2012 @ 07:31 AM
When it comes to Inbound Marketing, the mantra "content is king" is repeated - often. Rightfully so, because quality content is the key building block to attracting visitors to your website.
It is your content that attracts visitors who are looking for information either to solve a particular problem, or about the potential purchase of a product or service. If you can create content for all the different levels of your sales funnel, well, even better.
But in all of those discussions, there is one thing that maybe we don't spend enough talking about, and that is where does all the material for this content come from? Yes, you want to generate new content, particularly for your blog, but creating e-books or slide presentations for middle and bottom-of-the-funnel offers can consume a lot of time and resources, a challenge in times of tight budgets and lean staffing.
Indeed, if there is any area of consistent hesitation when we talk with prospects about Inbound Marketing, it is content creation. We hear a lot that folks just don't have the time and staff to handle it.
Here's the thing, they probably have plenty of content that will fit the bill just by looking at their own hard drives.
All those sales presentations, proposals, pdfs, white papers, etc. that have been produced for previous meetings or sales presentations are all potential content for you Inbound Marketing efforts. After all, they generally contain information about how your service or product meets a particular need - exactly the information prospects are searching for. Much of it can be made Inbound Marketing ready with minimal effort.
An often under-valued step in the content strategy is the content audit - a step where you look at what you already have and how it can be used to support your content marketing efforts. As part of the content audit, there are some simple questions you should ask yourself:
- What are my content goals at the top, middle and bottom-of-the-funnel?
- What content do I already have that fits each level?
- How much work will it take to make my content ready?
- How much of that work can I do with my own resources?
Once you have gone through the process of a content audit, you will often find that you have plenty of content to meet your content needs. If there are gaps, you will have a much clearer picture of what resources you need to create that content, whether you do it yourself or have an agency prepare it for you.
That's better for your budget and allows you to allocate resources to other parts of your Inbound Marketing efforts.
Have you checked your hard drive lately?
Learn more about the role of content and the disciplines of Inbound Marketing with our download Turn Your Website Into a Sales Magnet.
