Managing Social Media: A Guide for B2B Marketers
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Transcript of Managing Social Media: A Guide for B2B Marketers
A Guide for Business-to-Business Marketers
Managing Social Media
It seems like it happened overnight.
One moment, social media is just a toy
for the the young and politically alienated.
And then suddenly, it has completely
transformed the way business professionals
consume and share information.
(Interesting factoid: According to a recent
Nielson study among B2B exectutives, social
networking is more popular than email.)
If you understand the tactics, if you have
access to the technology, social media can
be one of your most powerful tools. For
building your brand. For managing your
reputation. And for generating sales.
On the following pages, we’ll show you
how.
Where do you begin?
Listen.
Your first, most important step
also happens to be the simplest.
Just listen.
Who’s doing most of the talking?
What’s on their minds? Where are
their conversations happening?
Once you know that, the rest is
easy.
Comment.
Just as in real life, it’s best if you
ease into an online conversation.
So before you launch your own blog
or company forum, start off by
commenting
on others.
Acknowledge praise when it’s given.
Offer assistance when it’s needed.
Amplify incomplete information and
(gently, gently) correct the inaccurate.
Connect.
The goal of social media marketing
is, obviously, not simply to have a nice
chat.
You want to convert potential
contacts
to serious prospects to committed
customers.
And to do that, you have to offer
them something of value. Information.
Insight. Ideas. In a form that’s easy for
them to find, and easy for them to use.
What will you need?
Like a traditional media audit, a Social Media Audit
provides a detailed report on your company's visibility
and reputation in common social channels such as
YouTube, LinkedIn, Flickr, Facebook and the major
business blogs. The report can also serve as a
benchmark to measure future programs.
On a daily or weekly basis, Makovsky tracks what is
being said about a company and its industry in social
media, providing clients with rich, real-time intelligence
on what customers and prospects are concerned about.
During crisis situations, when quick decisions are critical,
this monitoring is done on a minute-by-minute basis.
1. Social Media Audit
2. Social Media Monitoring
Though most companies have "online policies," they
often don't address social media. This opens companies
up to risks to their reputation, and robs them of the
opportunity to proactively use social media to build
sales. Makovsky works with companies to create
customized policies that fit their culture, liability risks
and sales priorities.
With the rise of social media, a leader's image is usually
defined by whatever happens to pop up in a Google
search. To manage executives’ image and reputation,
Makovsky first plays defense, mitigating potentially
negative information online, and then offense,
magnifying positive attributes through social media
channels.
3. Policy Development
4. Executive Positioning
The proliferation of websites that compile profiles of
people without their permission can lead to the
fracturing of your executives' image and the
undermining of your company's reputation. To help
reduce these risks, we use proprietary "image
unification" techniques that can solidify your image with
key audiences – no matter where they look.
Messagewords, invented by a Makovsky executive and
unveiled at the 2006 Bulldog Media Relations
Conference, is a technique that enables press releases,
speeches, and articles to appear in response to
keywords in searches, blog posts, email content and
online articles. Messagewords is particularly effective
with content intended for sophisticated audiences.
5. Image Unification
6. Message Magnification
While companies go to great expense to hold events,
the intellectual content developed at them usually
disappears when the last guest leaves. Makovsky
harnesses this latent reputational asset and spreads the
event’s content through blogs, Twitter feeds, and online
groups. The result? Higher attendance, quantifiable
“buzz” during the event, and reams of intelligence on
the attendees that can be used for sales or reputation-
enhancing efforts.
The two techniques that companies most frequently use
to communicate with bloggers – emailing press releases
or using press release wire service "social media
releases” – almost always fail to deliver the desired
coverage. Makovsky's social media R&D team has
developed new blogger resource vehicles that can
deliver your message to the most influential voices,
drive traffic to your website, and create a direct,
measurable link to sales.
7. Event Socialization
8. Blogger Relations
Similar to its work in the blogosphere, we regularly
conduct outreach to the communities that have
assembled online to share their enthusiams and spread
information. Makovsky is steeped in the etiquette and
cultural nuances of these groups, and applies that
expertise on behalf of companies to aid their reputation,
staff recruitment, and sales goals.
Few actions can benefit a company's sales, reputation
and customer service more than mobilizing its
customers into a new online community. Using popular
tools such as LinkedIn groups, wikis and Ning, Makovsky
organizes new groups, manages their day-to-day needs,
and creates missions that they’re happy to to carry out
for the company.
9. Online Group Relations
10. Online Community Creation
The decline of tradional media, coupled with consumers’
increasing demand for detailed information direct from
companies, has made it essential for companies to run
their own media channels. Makovsky works with its
clients to create attractive interfaces, set editorial
direction, write and develop content on a daily basis,
and promote it to readers.
Although most companies want to establish an ongoing
dialogue with their customers, investors and thought
leaders, their websites are usually structured as a one-
way monologue. Makovsky specializes in re-engineering
existing websites, to enable its content to be spread
through social networks, and become a home for
communities of customers and partners.
11. Channel Creation
12. Website Socialization
Makovsky + Company is
one of the world’s leading
business-to-business public
relations, investor relations
and branding consultancies,
specializing in the financial
srvices, health, technology
and professional services
sectors. Based in New York
City, Makovsky + Company
has partners in more than
20 countries and in 35 U.S.
cities through IPREX, the
world’s third largest public
relations agency partnership.
About Us:
M A K O V S K Y + C O M PA N Yt h e p o w e r o f s p e c i a l i z e d t h i n k i n g
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