On Why You Don’t Visit Facebook to Look For A Job Or LinkedIn For Hotel Reviews?

Staying Socially Afloat

About 3 and a bit years ago it seemed you couldn’t go a moment on facebook without someone sending you a BranchOut shout-out. The app was touted to help facebook make the pivot from being a place one visited to surreptitiously check back on one’s ex to the brand new jobs supermart. Perhaps unsurprisingly nothing of the sort happened and today BranchOut has transformed into a kind of workplace messaging app. This is a salutary tale - a reminder that each social network has its specific place and marketers have to choose wisely. Let’s take a brief look at some of the most popular networks and how your brand can best leverage them.

LinkedIn: My agency, Midas Touch, does a fair amount of work with B2B focused clients so it’s no surprise we love LinkedIn. The people here have professional motivations – network with their peers, build up a profile that attracts potential employers, seek information for their professional needs and so on. This is THE place to go if you want to paint a professional picture of yourself (or your brand). Research shows a significant percentage of engagements with companies on LinkedIn eventually convert into purchases with the operative word being eventually. Use the company page as a living breathing extension of your website, the Showcase pages as mini special purpose websites and the LinkedIn groups as a forum of your peers to learn from, participate in and promote quality content to get the most out of undoubtedly the most effective B2B Social Media Channel out there.

Twitter: Short, sharp, swift and ground zero for the momentary sensation. This social network is best suited for making announcements and updates including time-limited offers. If your brand counts on buzz then riding on the “breaking news” of the moment on Twitter – a witty aside or a meme-worthy image offers it the best chance of going viral courtesy the oh-so-easy RT. If you want to participate in an ongoing conversation or show your interest in or understanding of a particular market space Twitter offers that opportunity in spades through the intelligent use of hashtags and the curated presentation of relevant informative articles. Another unique opening that Twitter provides is the chance to directly get in the eye-line of influencers, opinion makers and possible large buyers – an organized, subtle campaign of following them, sharing what they share and sustained engagement could get you and your brand on their radar and eventually help convert them into trusted brand advocates.

facebook: Sometimes I wonder how did we keep track of the wonderful vacations our friends were taking in the dark days before facebook? Checking into facebook is now a many-times-a-day activity for hundreds of millions of users, also known as potential buyers, worldwide. The consensus of opinion is that these people look upon facebook as a personal space and are perfectly willing to seek information that would help them reach buying decisions across a variety of product and service categories that impinge on their personal lives. Brand pages and Fan pages are as, if not more, valid surrogates for the brand as the website or offline advertising. The marketer’s responsibility is then to keep the page active and always reflective of the values of the brand through everything it says. The potential is high for showcasing visual elements in the form of photos, albums, videos and graphics. Content that elicits engagement is king here – the currency of record is “Likes”. Fans happily “Like”, “Share”, “Comment” and “Tag” their way into an abiding relationship with the brand. The brand page is a close approximation of a customer community with all of the attendant advantages and disadvantages. The warm and fuzzy feelings of certain fans of the brand are just as likely to get airtime publically on the brand page as the rant of the disillusioned former fan. The marketer’s domain overflows into the customer service space here quite seamlessly and the brand has to be ready for that. facebook is constantly evolving – opportunities for brands abound as long as marketers stay in sync with the network.

There are several other social networks out there vying for the attention of your brand – Pinterest for creating special interest based communities, YouTube as a means of sharing video information and SlideShare (a part of LinkedIn) as a means of presentation format content dissemination all hold their own special promise – the challenge for brand marketers is to identify the specific purpose they aim to achieve and to then pick the right social media network best suited for that. After-all you wouldn’t go to facebook to look for a job or to LinkedIn to find a restaurant now would you? 

Sales In The Time Of B2B Social Media

Every sales person I meet has that nagging feeling that the rules of the game have changed. There is also the acknowledgement that Social Media may have something to do with that change. That being said the hard-boiled sales personality type set in the ways that have proven successful so far needs convincing before a new course is charted. In this piece I wrote for Social Samosa, India' leading social media news and information source, I tell the story of a legen-(wait for it)-dary sales closure that inspired many from the days before social media. Knowing what I know now I try to then find places where that story would be different today specifically due to the impact of social media.

The title of this post was originally "Sales In The Time Of B2B Social Media" in a kind of ham-handed nod to Gabriel Garcia Marquez but for many excellent reasons this was changed - better that than "One Hundred Years Of Solitude" one has to say.

http://www.socialsamosa.com/2014/07/sales-b2b-social-media/

B2B Sales & The Impact Of Social Media

We’re Gonna Need A Bigger “Awards” Page!

“Jaws” fans may recognize the reference so let me hasten to add that we have not just got a glimpse of a giant shark – rather the realization is starting to sink in that the “Awards” page on the Midas Touch website may be tested more often than we had initially thought possible.

Regulars here will know that Midas Touch (www.i-midastouch.com) is the agency I co-founded with Radha Giri, a friend. Those very same regulars will also perhaps know that we won the Global Youth Marketing Forum’s

"B2B Social Media Agency Of The Year 2014"

“B2B Social Media Agency Of The Year” award earlier this year to go with the “Social Media Agency Of The Year” award from the GYMF last year. The latest accolade for Midas Touch is to be recognized among the “Top 10 Digital Marketing Companies” in India by Silicon India magazine in

A Top 10 Finish

their latest edition. The agency profile they have included in the magazine is here. There is a certificate too that should be making an appearance on the above-mentioned “Awards” page soon. Admittedly the list is an assorted “grab-bag” of sorts includes companies from across the country covering a range of focus areas – everything from web-site and mobile app development to technology that enables digital marketing and advertising. That being said – we are extremely proud of the recognition we have received.

When we are not busy attracting attention for our work we have been hard at work adding clients and delivering winning strategies for them. Our client list now covers Software product and software services companies across a variety of technology areas, a mobile gaming platform company, an interactive technology company that addresses event and marketing solutions, an Industrial Packaging solutions company and an Angel Fund among others. Perhaps given the background of the founders it is natural for Midas Touch to have a slight bias towards the technology space and perhaps the B2B area but specifically in the B2C space we have also had the good fortune to work with a Real Estate developer, a Financial Training organization and a large Community for performers, creative people and artists.      

The several business-outcome focused strategies that we help our many clients deploy are designed to show impact. Perhaps this is what helps us stand apart – the recognition probably comes from this differentiation. As our clients add up the awards will too – we’re gonna need a bigger awards page !

B2B Social Media - It's Different

When Midas Touch reaches out to the small and medium companies in the technology space that seem to form the staple customer for us a question we often encounter is how can B2B businesses like them leverage social media? A less polite version of that question is also put to us that B2B brands cannot really leverage social media and it's utility is limited to some amorphous "branding" push. Like every other pre-conceived notion this is based on a germ of truth - that being that the social media strategies we are so used to seeing in our day to day lives are heavily B2C focused. Applying them willy-nilly to the B2B context will only lead to failure. Once the realization sets in that B2B Social Media is different the next Q is how is it different specifically?  

To B2B Or Not To B2B?

In this article that I had written for Social Samosa I have tried to outline some very specific points of divergence between B2C and B2B social media objectives, strategies and plans. The article has got decent airplay - I would welcome you also to read and comment on what you think makes B2B social media different from B2C?

http://www.socialsamosa.com/2014/03/social-media-b2b/

Random email tips that have worked for me !

In a previous post I wrote about some general email campaign do's & don'ts - in this one I thought of sharing some tactics that have shown good results in campaigns that I have run. A word to the wise though - these are not prescriptions so use carefully only when the situation is appropriate.

1. Many people use mail clients like Outlook & view the mail box in split screen - a list of mails with basic info. & often a preview of the first line on one side & an actual preview of the mail on the other half of the screen. This suggests a couple of tactics - for starters I try to keep the actual mail short enough to get all the "meat" as close to the top of the mail & hence appearing in the portion that would fit into the half screen preview with the sign-off & the signature going "below the fold".

2.  Now almost all mails are addressed to the recipient by first name but I also try to name the target segment they belong to in the first sentence to reinforce that the mail is topical - so something like "I thought it would interest you to know how other Medical Insurance leaders have addressed customer support challenges...". This also helps get this reference into the preview that comes up on the mailbox list - seeing something interesting there may mean the difference between the mail getting opened or canned.

3.  A few personal rules about the content of the mail - I try to keep my claims realistic & as obviously sincere as possible so no hyperbole like "perfect", "raving customers" & the like !    

4. As far as possible I look to include no more than 1 hyperlink in the mail. Ideally that link should be to a specific section in the site that holds some very relevant information to the target segment. As a general rule I try not to direct people to a home page or something as generic as that. In those cases we are depending on the prospect making the effort to look for something more appealing & then clicking through. Chances are that is not likely to happen.

5. It sounds obvious but the mail should be tailored to invite the desired CTA - if that is to click through a link then the mail should specifically drive towards that, if the mail in intended to convince the recipient to give time for a demo or a meeting then one tactic I have found useful is to provide just enough information to pique interest but not enough to tempt the prospect to think they have all the information  they need to take a decision on their own.

6. I also try to anticipate the most common "objection" & deal with it in my closing - so something like "Many organisations with existing vendor relationships in this area have still found value in talking to us because of our unique combination of skill sets."

7. Perhaps most counter-intuitive but I have had some success with emails that include an error or an obvious mistake in the title or the early text - people often feel compelled to read through or even to write back & point the mistake out. This is a high risk-strategy though - mistakes can reflect on your brand so I sometimes hedge by including a reference to the mistake towards the end of the mail & make it clear that it was deliberate. 

So there you have it folks - some personal tips that I have found useful. I would be interested to hear from others if there are things they have tried that have worked for them - no doubt we can all use all the help that we can get ! 

  
(Image Courtesy - Wikimedia Commons)

Are LinkedIn groups the missing link for B2B marketing ?

While talking about the impact of social media on growing sales sometimes I get the feeling that LinkedIn gets the short shrift. Despite that I have always found that LinkedIn groups are a great resource for targeted marketing of your products / services. By definition group members are highly motivated individuals with a confirmed interest in the area – for instance if someone joins a group of Trainers it stands to reason that they have an interest in training & by making the effort to find & join the group they have also provided evidence of their drive.

It is possible to perform several activities within the confines of the group:

1. Promote your services / products – no one likes being "sold to" so take care to not do this in a direct manner but subtly, for eg. seeking people’s opinion on a feature or asking them for their wish list of requirements from a product / service of this nature. You have to genuinely care - I can't emphasise this enough !
2. Promote a webinar / conference & invite the members to join - remember the topic / content has to have the potential of delivering real value.
3. Actively participate in on-going discussions & take the opportunity to project thought leadership through your responses.
4. Monitoring discussions for people posting specific live requirements or seeking to solve some specific real life problem that can be addressed with your product / service. These people often expect to be contacted with potential solutions so go ahead & reach out to them ! 
5. Seed discussions – start threads soliciting views in an area of relevance to the product / service. 
6. Promote your other web properties – website, whitepapers, blog etc. - again these have to show potential to deliver real value to those taking the pain to visit.
7. Several groups allow the posting of PRs & Job opportunities as well in specified areas - remember to scrupulously follow the rules of the group.
8. This is in addition to other back-end activities like identifying target customers, contact discovery, industry data & information, competition watch etc.

It is also possible to create one’s own group for the express purpose of being able to carry out a set of targeted activities within its confines. There are a structured set of steps that can be done to start the group & to grow its membership. The advantage here is that the group will be completely within one’s own control & the attendant disadvantage is that it takes time to build up the membership to a reasonable level – if one is willing to invest this time & effort then the returns are definitely worthwhile. The key here is that the activities of the group must at all times put the needs of the members first. 

There are several success stories out there & working business models built entirely on the capability of the product / service to leverage Linkedin - there's no reason why your own story cannot join that list !

PS : I would welcome the opportunity to connect on Linkedin. I am at sanjeevnambudiri@gmail.com !