Last week we kicked off the Business.com Growth Tour of America. From San Francisco to New York, we initiated the first of a series of meetings with our audiences; leaders in small-to-medium enterprises, our marketing customers and our partners in media, technology, search, social and design that make up our ecosystem. Our goal is to learn, share ideas on digital media marketing and technology and get input on the new Business.com.

Our meetings in New York City illuminated that we are at an inflection point in digital media and marketing. The convergence of marketing automation and media has created a time of complexity and transformation yet also a time of incredible opportunity. Marketers are looking to figure out several key things:

1. How to balance branding and lead generation marketing initiatives?
2. How to deal with too many marketing options?
3. How to shift from pushing products to providing solutions?
4. How to identify and engage prospects?
5. How to deal with complex and costly analytics?
6. How to accurately evaluate campaign effectiveness?

Media partners are also working through several key questions:

1. How to drive subscriptions and engagement with audiences in an increasingly digital world?
2. How to balance digital display and brand advertising with lead generation?
3. How to evaluate the role of ad networks and exchanges?
4. How to harness the myriad of advertising technology platforms and services?
5. How to deal with Social, Local and Mobile technologies?
6. How to better leverage data?

My thanks to our friends at Digitas, iProspect, MEC and Performix, MediaVest as well as Bloomberg, Dow Jones Conde Nast and Penton for their time and input. We learned a ton. We had a blast.

My next stop is the American Business Media Conference where I’ll be leading a panel on “The B-to-B Media Company of the Future.” Clearly I’m biased as I think we’ve already answered that question with the new Business.com. I’ll be learning from my panelists – Bizo, Scount Analytics, Penton, 1105 Media and Desilva Philips – and will share what I learn in a future post.

Simply put our mission is to help people grow their businesses and we feel it’s time to broaden the discussion so we can learn more, share more and ultimately serve our customers better.

We look forward to continuing to work with our customers and partners to help them answer these questions as they continue to grow their businesses. To view the learnings from our Director of User Experience at a recent design conference, click here. And, as always, feel free to offer your thoughts and follow the tour via @b2bonlinemktg.

0 Comments

Last week, as part of the Business.com Growth Tour of America, I had the pleasure to participate in a design workshop with 30 user experience designers and product managers in downtown San Francisco. The workshop was hosted by Cooper, a design consulting company that serves both big and small companies in Silicon Valley. As a product manager and user experience designer, one of the questions that I’m constantly struggling with is how I can more effectively align teams to design and build better products for our audiences. This workshop provided me with lots of new ideas and practical tips that I can start putting to use in our own business. Here are a few quick takeaways that B2B marketers and user experience designers can benefit from.

Use Videos to Tell User Stories

With a little creativity, videos can be produced with very little labor and time. A picture is worth a thousand words and videos are more powerful than pictures. Building good products starts with building empathy with our target users. During the user research phase, user experience designers and product managers go out to the field or learn a lot about our users, but the bottleneck is how to communicate it back to the team and allow the bigger product team to be on the same page of who we are building the products for. Video can be very effective at this stage. In fact, a recent CMI study found that 60% of B2B marketers find videos to be an effective content marketing tactic and the use of video has risen from 52% in 2011 to 70% in 2012. People usually associate videos as labor intensive and expensive projects. They don’t have to be such an investment in order to be successful. Cooper shared a few methods to produce high quality videos with a microphone and simple PowerPoint.

Work like a Team, Share like Wildfire

Building user empathy is no easy task. Deeply involve users in the everyday business routine and in the entire product development cycle without losing focus is no easy task. One of the tactics the Cooper consultants shared with us is “working out loud,” which basically means that artifacts produced in the product design stage, such as personas, design prototypes, user stories, videos, snapshots, should be widely shared within the company. It gets people to be more familiar with the target audience and create an immersive user-centered environment. Team members with distinct business functions are moving towards the same goal: delight the customers.

Participation Leads to Buy-In

Decisions cannot be made in silos. No matter how glorious the product manager’s vision, or how great a user experience designer’s wireframe is, it won’t go anywhere if they are unable to build rapport within the company and get buy-in on that vision. Business buy-in and design decision making involves more people than ever before. Crain’s BtoB magazine found that the 81% of B2B marketers must contend with multiple decision-makers during the sales process. To get everyone involved, conduct workshops and ideation sessions that encourage contributions from different functional teams. Getting insight from different perspectives and departments is a good way to show that you are taking into consideration the opinions of all the business units in the development process. Hearing different perspectives and the rationale behind those opinions pulls the team toward a shared vision.

Think About the Entire Online Ecosystem

For online product offerings, thinking just about the landing page user experience isn’t enough. Marketers would be smart to take the entire online experience into consideration, beginning with where the users come from (SEO, SEM, referral, direct and etc.). You’ll want to ask yourself about the route someone took to get to your page as well as:

• What other touch points beyond your website – such as email, social media, display ads, and offline interaction – are available and is the prospect using?
• What kind of customer journey has the prospect been through and what stage are they at in that process?
• What needs are specific to their background, industry and position within a company?
• What needs are their more general needs that apply to others as well

Keeping all these questions and collaboration strategies in mind help us as user experience designers, marketers and product managers build a clear mind map on how and where our new offerings and solutions can make the biggest impact.

Stay up-to-date with the Business.com Growth Tour of America!

0 Comments

Content marketing is on the rise for B2B businesses and nearly half of all B2B marketers plan to increase their content marketing spend over the next 12 months. Content Marketing Institute’s B2B Enterprise Content Marketing: 2013 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends report found that 95% of B2B enterprises use content marketing and of those 78% use white papers. White papers range from a short, single page document to hundreds of pages, but they are generally just an authoritative, formal document on a non-fiction topic. If you have a blog and are present on social networks, but are looking for a way to expand your reach with content marketing, consider using whitepapers.

Why Create White Papers?

Building brand awareness is a top priority for B2B businesses of all sizes. 84% of the respondents in the CMI survey cited brand awareness as the number one goal of their content marketing efforts. Giving away a free white paper can build brand awareness and is an excellent way to reach a customer who may not have otherwise considered you.

Tailored content is going to be more successful than generic blog posts or email newsletters. 92% of B2B enterprise marketers tailor their content in at least one way, compared with 91% of their B2B peers overall. Whitepapers allow your marketing team to tailor downloadable content for greater success. If a prospect downloads a whitepaper, you’re getting an automatic signal of what that person is interested in and where they are in the buying process.

How Do I Create Great Content?

The most effective B2B marketers are able to tailor content to specific profiles/personas more frequently and whitepapers can aid a business in this process. If you get stuck creating fresh, relevant content, have no fear! Here are just a few examples of content you can incorporate into your white papers that help the sales team address the various issues buyers come across in each stage of the process:

• Provide a perspective on individual markets and solutions, such as tips for shipping and receiving items internationally
• Content written by subject matter experts that discusses benchmarks and best practices, including survey results
• Enable prospects to understand alternative solutions, like product comparisons, analyst reports
• Offer advice about making the decision, such as case studies for those in similar situations and ROI calculators
• Annotated content or case studies that call out relevant discussions and decision points they can use in their customer interactions

Where Can I Use My White Papers?

White papers can be featured on your site, in blog posts and weekly round-ups and shared on social media. However, if you’re looking for a way to get a new site of eyes on your company copy, there are more options you can consider. The new Business.com white paper content marketing solution delivers high-quality white paper leads to your business while placing your brand in front of a qualified audience of buyers actively researching solutions, products and services.

We connect advertisers with buyers in the discovery and comparison stages of the purchasing cycle utilizing our unique intention- and relevance-based targeting capabilities. Advertisers can effectively demonstrate thought leadership to this concentrated audience of business decision makers with our distribution of their whitepapers. Our content marketing program focuses on helping advertisers reach the buyer at the right place and the right time to close more sales. Exclusive white paper content marketing leads from Business.com and the unique audience provided by the Business.com network can be filtered by industry, location, company size, buyer’s title and more (priced accordingly). If you’re interested in connecting with buyers and reaching a new audience via the white paper offering from Business.com, email sales@business.com

If you’re looking to step up your content marketing strategy with new content and a new audience, consider white papers. You can target relevant demographics and engage with buyers, no matter where they are in the purchase process, with tailored content. Once you’ve created a captivating white paper, share and promote your white paper with partners and on social networks to generate qualified leads.

How does your business tailor its white paper content?

1 Comment

Our mission is simple. We help people grow their businesses, whether it’s the users who come to our site to find the products and services they need to run their businesses or the >10k advertisers who turn to Business.com every year to connect with this premium audience. While we have some insights into what advertisers want and what buyers are looking for, we are continually looking for ways to better serve all of our customers including the users who come to our site as well as the advertisers.  We are taking it another step forward to figure out just what it is that will help small and medium-sized enterprises all over the country grow.  From visiting sole proprietors to Fortune 500 companies, Business.com is going on tour.

What We Want to Know

During the Business.com Growth Tour of America, we want to learn about the challenges businesses are currently facing as well as where they are seeing success. From what’s working to best practices, we want to gather and share information that other businesses can learn from. Business.com is interested in hearing what you have to say. Speak up and make your voice heard on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook.

Where You Can Find Us

We’ll be visiting major cities from coast to coast including New York, Florida, Chicago, Austin,  San Francisco Los Angeles, and of course San Diego. We’ll be kicking off the tour this week in the big apple (stay tuned for more details) and next week our CEO, Tony Uphoff, will be speaking at ABM’s Annual Conference, themed “The B-to-B Company: A Fully Integrated Enterprise.” He’ll be moderating the conference kickoff panel to discuss and debate the emerging role and value proposition of B2B media when it comes to connecting buyers and sellers.

Stay tuned for the latest from The Business.com Growth Tour of America by following the tour tag on our blog.

1 Comment

Digital advertising revenues climbed to a high of $36.6 billion in 2012, according to the IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report for the full-year of 2012. That historic number marks a 15 percent rise over 2011’s full-year number, which itself had been the highest on record, at $31.7 billion. Digital advertising now surpasses newspapers and magazines and is bigger than any other media in the U.S. with the exception of broadcast TV, which hit $40 billion. Customers are moving to digital mediums at a greater pace than ever before and advertisers are taking note.

Display Advertising Makes a Dent

Display-related advertising revenues totaled $12 billion, up almost 9%. With display advertising, an advertiser pays an online company for space on one or more of the online company’s pages to display a static or linked banner or logo. Streaming digital video, one component of display-related advertising, continues to grow the breadth and quality of content online. As advertisers follow their customer to digital channels the increased spend on those channels should be expected. According to the IAB report, here’s how display advertising revenues break down.

• Display/Banner Ads (21% or $7.7 billion)
• Rich Media (3% or $1.1 billion)
• Digital Video (6% or $2.3 billion)
• Sponsorship (2% or $845 million).

The Leverage in Lead Generation

Lead generation is another area of the digital advertising sphere that is experiencing growth. IAB found that lead generation revenues accounted for 5% of FY 2012 revenues, or $1.7 billion, up 11% from the $1.5 billion (5% of total) reported in FY 2011. Lead generation is when fees are paid by advertisers to online companies that refer qualified potential customers or provide consumer information where the consumer opts in to being contacted by a marketer. These processes are priced on a performance basis (e.g., cost-per-action, -lead or –inquiry). Performance-based pricing is gaining interest from marketers. Approximately 66% of FY 2012 revenues were priced on a performance basis, up from the 65% reported in FY 2011. Another report, the 2012 Lead Generation Benchmark Report from Marketing Sherpa, discovered that the forms of online advertising used in correlation with lead generation are webinars, emails, search media, and whitepapers though most marketers are choosing to send their messages out across multiple channels. The top strategic priorities for lead generation in the next 12 months are:

• Achieving or increasing measurable ROI (52%)
• Optimizing the marketing-sales funnel (51%)
• Gaining greater insight of audience (51%)
• Maximizing the lifetime value of customers (47%)

Massive Mobile Moves

As mobile and tablet devices become more popular, they’ll continue to drive investment and strategies from businesses. Mobile marketing provides businesses with new ways to reach consumers IAB found that for the second year in a row, mobile achieved triple-digit growth year-over-year. The mobile category grew 111% to $3.4 billion and accounted for 9% of total internet ad revenue in 2012. Mobile app environment continues to grow and mature as business models develop and advertising budgets grow to support the market. From payment options to utilities and local services, the best apps are no longer concentrated to just one vertical. IAB suggests that the growth in mobile adversting comes from:

• Growth in device penetration (Smartphone and tablet), led by Apple and Google
• Faster connection speeds as infrastructure and device upgrades occur
• Improved screen resolutions that allow more ads onto the mobile screen
• Greater sophistication in incorporating ads into mobile apps and websites
• Social media consumed on mobile devices

Digital advertising budgets are shifting as the best places to find a customer does. Online marketing is a must for businesses looking to expand, reach new customers and cultivate current customer relationships. In the digital space, display advertising, mobile marketing and lead generation are three areas that continue to grow each year. Customers browse the web, are active on social networks and marketers want to reach them. As customers become more tech-savvy, businesses need to become more digital-friendly in their marketing strategies.

0 Comments

In the midst of social media, email marketing and SEO, landing pages can get lost. Creating the best subject lines, attention-grabbing intros and fresh content are just a few of the tasks modern B2B marketers are tasked with. With all that going on, landing pages are sometimes forgetten about. However, they are crucial to the success of your website and business. In fact, HubSpot’s 2012 Marketing Benchmarks Report found that companies see a 55% increase in leads when increasing their number of landing pages from just 10 to 15. More landing pages provide your business more opportunities to deliver a connected and continuous experience to customers. In order to create the best landing pages for your business, consider these best practices.

Integrate the Source with the Page

Landing pages are often the first step in a lead nurturing campaign. Don’t confuse your prospect right off the bat by having broken continuity from a link to a landing page. You want to keep a consistent experience for the user, using similar language, design, etc. Integrate the source of the landing page with the page itself. If your landing page is for a link sent out on a social network, you’ve got to make sure you have a more information built out on your landing page, since a tweet or status update isn’t going to give those clicking through as much information as an email or newsletter snippet might. You also want to give the prospect a sense of continuation. They should feel the brand extending from your email or tweet to the landing page in terms of design, copy and offers.

Keep Social Media in Mind

In the past, marketing professionals have had the idea to create landing pages specifically for those accessing the page through their mobile device. While some companies may still continue along this route, marketers need to consider streamlining all landing pages to accommodate those visitors who may be coming in from a friend’s “forward,” a mobile search or a social media post. One example would be to reduce the number of form fields for those visiting a landing page on a mobile device versus a laptop. Eloqua found that there is a significant drop-off in overall conversion rates after both three and seven fields in a landing page form. You can nurture those leads and gradually collect more information by directing them to other content that requires minimal, but additional information to be accessed such as related whitepaper or case study.

When it comes to social media traffic,  the share-ability of your landing page is important to keep in mind to generate future traffic. Having social share buttons is a must – you could even include social proof once a page is successful. One example is eye glasses and lens provider ACLens which experienced a 41% increase in conversions and 58% increase in value per transaction after incorporating customer testimonials in their landing page.

Don’t Lose Out on Layout

The layout of your landing page matters. While the source may be a factor, it isn’t the only thing to keep in mind with layout formatting and design. According to MarketingSherpa’s Landing Page Optimization Benchmarks Report, page layout came out on top when analyzing which elements of a landing page had the greatest impact on overall website performance. The layout of a page can affect its load time,which can cause a business to lose conversions and customer satisfaction. According to the Aberdeen Group, a one-second delay in page-load time results in 11% fewer page views, a 16% decrease in customer satisfaction, and a 7% loss in conversions.

Different landing pages will be successful for different tests. The best practice your business can take is to ABT, or “Always Be Testing.” Test different layouts, form fields, and designs to determine what type of landing page will be the most successful for your business. Consider your customers and what they would be expecting when landing on a page. You want to leave a positive and lasting impact so that in the event a prospect chooses not to fill out a form, they keep your business in mind for when they are ready.

How many landing pages does your business currently optimize?

0 Comments

From sponsored posts on Facebook and Twitter to display retargeting campaigns, businesses have to choose wisely in order to ensure positive ROI on their marketing campaigns. When there are a number of online advertising options available for businesses, it can be difficult to decide which is best. While some may be cautious about the potential impact of display advertising on their bottom line, a recent Harvard Business School study, found that display ads have a significant impact on search applications, as well as clicks, and search ads showed significant dynamic effects on search applications that made them very cost effective in the long run. Forrester expects interactive display marketing investment to grow at a compound annual rate of 17% in the United States between 2012 and 2017. Here’s how your display advertising campaigns can impact search.

Branded Search Queries

A small number of studies examine the interaction between paid search and display. However, these studies have found that display advertising has an overall positive impact on branded search queries. Online display advertising essentially spills over, leading to an increase in brand awareness and branded searches. For those businesses looking to build brand awareness, consider your current investment in display advertising. Have you seen any spikes in branded search terms that align with your display campaigns? You probably have, but here’s how display advertising can affect branded search queries by the numbers:

• A 2012 field experiment to explore the impact of display advertising on advertiser – and competitor – branded search queries found a 27%-45% lift in searches attributable to display advertising exposure within a very short time window (10 minutes).
• A recent study found keyword searches for the brand increased by an average of 94% for consumers exposed to a display ad compared with a group of similar consumers who were not exposed to display advertising.
• Another study found that combining display with search increases brand recall, by those who had been unaware of it before, by 6% and for aided brand recall, that rate jumped to 26% of participants.

Product Search Queries

Branded search queries aren’t the only searches impacted by display advertising. The combination of organic search plus display advertising leads to a lift in specific product search queries. If you’re launching a new product or set of products, display advertising can help generate buzz and boost searches for the release. Here’s how display advertising affects product search queries by the numbers:

• One study found that exposure to a display ad increases the number of relevant search queries submitted by 5-25% when conducting a field experiment to explore the impact of display exposure on search queries.
• A recent survey found that about 50% of all internet users react to a display ad by conducting a search related to the brand or product described in the ad and 14% of users make a purchase after conducting the search.
• Another study found a 14% change in search visits after a company activated its display advertising campaign. In the Harvard Business School’s, display ads improved search ad conversion by 15‐20%.

Search isn’t the only area impacted by display advertising.  Display advertising drives search applications through search impressions and clicks. The Harvard study found that display impressions move consumers through search media, whether it’s through search or direct click-throughs. Not only that, they discovered display ads have a significant impact on search applications, as well as clicks, though the majority of this spillover took effect after two weeks. Targeted display advertisers on Business.com experience average click-through rates that are over 250% of the industry average. These studies, as well as others, indicate that display advertising does affect search. For companies looking to increase the number of searches about their business or products they offer, display advertising is an option to consider.

What success has your business seen with display advertising? Is there something you would change in the display ad space?

0 Comments

Early on in the week, ad:tech took over San Francisco with advertising experts, the latest in digital marketing and over 200 exhibitors. Of course, Business.com was there to be part of it. Advertising has evolved since its early days and has changed drastically over the past few years with various technological advancements that are becoming more widespread. Smartphones, Big Data and local search all play a significant role. The future of advertising changes as new technologies come to the center of the marketing stage. Ad:tech gave us the opportunity to look into the future of advertising and we’ve broken down the key points just for you.

Data Driven Decisions

Jim Yu of BrightEdge began with a shocking, and not well-known fact: 90% of global data has been produced in the last two years. New technologies allow advertisers and marketers to close the loop where it may have been difficult, or impossible, data in the past. Now, those running ads and marketing campaigns can measure and understand which experiences are really working. Marketers want data that can help them optimize campaigns for a greater ROI. As advertisers find ways to more accurately collect, analyze, and report on data, data-driven decisions will become more of a focus. Michael Hummel, co-founder and CEO of ParStream explained how businesses must be able to get real-time data to make optimization decisions with ease in order to outshine competitors.

Local and mobile search are more important than ever. Social media is impacting SEO. As we progress with new technologies and platforms, the advertising world will continue to shift. Data will impact how, when and which content is created as well as how and when it is distributed and across which networks. Advertisements will need to have more content that engages consumers. If you take away something from ad:tech, let it be that the nature of advertising is going through a revolution due to data, engagement and the shift in search. Advertising is about connecting with the consumer. Brian David Johnson, the “Chief Futurist” from Intel, left the room he was speaking in with one thought that we want to leave you with now, “”Change the story people tell themselves about the future they will live in. Figure out how to make people’s lives better.”

Engaging Ads

A keynote address during ad:tech San Francisco came from Susan Wojcicki, senior vice president of advertising for Google. Advertising is continuing to change as time progresses. We’ve moved from a push model, where the advertisements viewed by consumers were at the discretion of companies and agencies, to a model where users can choose to see and engage with their ads or not. “Have users say ‘these are the things I’m interested in,’” she said. “Have them raise their hand…When we give them control, they take it…For every one that opted out, two actually added interests.”

To develop a successful advertiser relationship with consumers, visitors must have choice about which ads they see – especially as they become more prominent on the web. Allowing users to identify their interests and wants produces a healthier relationship that will lead to greater loyalty and success. Engagement ads are the future.

Mobile and Local Optimization

Michael Lazerow, the CMO of Salesforce Marketing Cloud claims, “The computing revolution is really a customer revolution.” Over the recent years, a computing revolution has occurred but, it isn’t the only area of business that has evolved. There’s been social, cloud, mobile, community, local, experience and trust revolutions as well. There are more and more smartphones in the pockets of consumers, nearly half of all cell phone users, and they’re using them as more than a way to call or text a friend.

Research is conducted and buying decisions are made from mobile devices. Think it doesn’t impact your business by a whole lot? Think again! Approximately 20% of keywords in a given portfolio are impacted due to mobile and local search. Businesses need to be engaging with customers on every channel. Lazerow points out,”It’s not about where you want to be, it’s where your customers are…Every company has to build communities…how do you build communities where you engage and build assets?” In the future, marketing, sales and product development will become even more integrated.

Were you at ad:tech in San Francisco? What did you learn about advertising’s future?

0 Comments

These past few days, members of the Business.com marketing team have been attending Social Media Marketing World 2013 in San Diego. With just about 1,000 social media and marketing professionals in attendance, Social Media Examiner was able to create a large-scale networking conference with special events such as a boat cruise in the bay and 45 minute learning sessions from industry experts. While some speakers spoke more to those in roles at B2C companies, many suggested tips and strategies that B2B marketers can use.

Lock On to LinkedIn

Sales and marketing professionals who are looking to generate new leads for their business or strengthen their relationships with those they’ve established a connection with, LinkedIn is the network you must be on. In the opening keynote, Social Media Examiner shared some stats from a study that has yet to be released. According to their survey, 49% of the 3,000 marketers responded saying Facebook is the most important social network they use followed by LinkedIn at 16%. While there were a number of presenters who spoke to LinkedIn directly, here are a few things B2B marketers can begin to use immediately to find greater success on the social network.

• Use banners – Your Products/Services section of your company page allows your business to upload three banners. This display advertising is often an untapped section of company pages.
• Add new audiences – It’s all about relevance and targeting your audience is one way you can deliver the great content your site has to offer to the right people.
• Choose keywords – On your personal page, in URLs and in product descriptions, use keywords so that people conducting searches on LinkedIn can find you and your business easily.

Cultivate Communities

B2B marketers are making a shift. As the behavior of buyers has altered, marketers are taking note and altering their strategies. B2B buyers are doing more and more research before ever getting in touch with a provider. Forums and online communities enable businesses to build their own social networks and target communities.  Technorati found that 54% of consumers say smaller communities are more influential. As this is the case, it makes sense that 29% of marketers plan to increase forums activity (Social Media Examiner). Social community marketing strategies are becoming more important as it’s yet another way for businesses to connect with their target audience on a more personal level. Your business can cultivate communities with:

• Forums or industry-specific communities hosted on your site or by your business on LinkedIn. These can create conversations, opportunities and leads for your business.
• FAQ podcasts and YouTube videos enable your business to address customers and audiences directly. Podcasts and videos show the people behind a business and encourage discussion.

Build Your Blog

Does your business want to be influential? Do you want people within your organization to be considered influencers in your industry? If you answered yes to either one of these questions, you need to be blogging. Technorati found that 86% of industry influencers blog. In the Social Media Examiner survey, 14% responded that blogging was the most important network for their business and 62% of marketers want to learn more about blogging. As different industry leaders and experts discussed their blogging, there were a few trends that kept appearing.

• Add value – Your blog should add value to its readers. Pay attention the demographics and actions of your audience to create content that will benefit them.
• Fascinate – In the closing keynote of Day 1, Sally Hogshead noted that the average attention span is now 9 second. In order to capture your audience’s attention in that time, you need to fascinate them with your blog’s content.

Some of the major points from Social Media Marketing World is that businesses who want to connect with customers need to realize that what those customers and buyers want are connections. It’s about the relationship and social media is how your B2B businesses can cultivate those relationships so that as a buyer moves closer to their purchase decision, they don’t just think of the business or brand, but the people behind it.

Did you attend SMMW? What did you take away from the events?

0 Comments

Small businesses and major corporations are both constantly trying to generate new business. Lead generation can be done a number of ways: through lead generation services, online marketing, tradeshows and more. Social media is the talk of the town for B2C businesses, but B2B companies are just getting on board. Successful B2B online marketers are using social media and seeing a positive impact from doing so. Did you know that the companies who actively manage social media campaigns have seen comparatively high conversion rates as well as healthy engagement rates (Optify’s B2B Marketing Benchmark Report)? If you’re wondering how to nurture those leads you’ve generated on social networks, take these 3 steps for greater success.

Step One: Connect

You may have made contact with a lead once… or maybe you haven’t. Social networks are a great way to reach out leads directly through mediums other than email or the phone. Optify found that Twitter is the strongest social media channel for generating leads. It even outperforms Facebook and LinkedIn 9-to-1 with 82% of social media leads coming from Twitter. Lead generation and lead nurturing efforts can be improved as your sales and marketing teams connect with these people and business decision-makers on social networks.

• How to Find Them: You have their contact information. Use it to find and connect with these prospects on networks such as LinkedIn and Twitter.
• How to Connect: Personalize your connection requests, especially with LinkedIn. If you’re asking someone to become a fan of your company on Facebook, provide them with a valid reason they should.

Step Two: Engage

Engagement with prospects can mean different things for different businesses, but the often overall goal is to create a deeper relationship with those potential customers. Engagement involves your business providing value to these leads via social networks. According to Optify, website engagement from different social media channels varies, but LinkedIn leads the pack while Twitter shows the lowest page views per visit.

• Tweet prospects directly to let them know when an event is taking place in their industry.
• Aim to become a thought leader for your customers to turn to by providing content that can help them gain new insight into how to be more successful. Share your content and the content of others – you don’t want to be overly self-promotional.

Step 3: Convert

Conversion is the ultimate goal. Connecting and engaging a lead are necessary steps in order to convert a lead into a customer. Social media can be the final point of contact between a prospect and your business or brand, so make each touch point count. Facebook is the strongest driver of traffic among the three (Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn), but Twitter leads the way for lead generation.  While Facebook drove the highest percentage of visits from social media, Twitter outperforms it in terms of lead conversion by over a 9-to-1 ratio.

• The B2B buying process has changed and now customers are more likely to come to you when they are ready instead of responding to advertisements. Provide ways for prospects to become customers on your social networks such as with applications, social media specific discounts, etc.
• Optimize your landing pages so that as a customer comes to your pages via social networks, they don’t become lost and have a way to carry on the conversation, via live chat or easy social sharing.

Some may not see the value in lead nurturing via social media. However, it is time to open your eyes to the possibility of these expanding networks. The 2012 Social Media Marketing Industry Report, sponsored by Social Media Examiner, found that 58% of marketers who have been using social media for more than three years report it has helped them improve sales. Social media is where you business can truly become creative in how to attract, engage and convert leads you have generated. Lead nurturing isn’t restricted to follow-up calls and emails. Brand out and stand out with a social media nurturing campaign.

0 Comments