Posts Tagged ‘engagement’
The reality is, businesses need paying customers to stay afloat. But, as the marketing machine continues to churn out new ways of attracting them, often times, as business owners, we find ourselves moving further and further away from the very people we’re trying to connect with – customers.
As a marketer, I’ll admit, things are different. While the fundamental principles of marketing still stand, the ‘how’ has changed. There’s no longer a need to log into five different social media accounts to post an update. Thanks to Hootsuite, you can do it all in one place and even schedule them in advance.
In fact, if you’re looking to house your customer database, email and social media marketing, and lead building activity under one tent, marketing automation tools like InfusionSoft have got you covered.
Yet, despite all these great tools that make it easier than ever to reach out and touch customers – to gather names, email addresses, and phone numbers – something’s still missing.
Could our efforts to brand our names across the memories of those we seek have caused us to alienate them instead? Maybe, but why?
Perhaps we’re asking for too much with too little in return.
Love Don’t Cost A Thing
With every post and every email, chances are, we’re asking customers for something.
Open my email or download my report.
And in a very real sense, we’re asking them to purchase our content – perhaps not with dollars and cents, but with something just as precious – their right not to be pursued after they open the email or download the report.
Hearts and Flowers
Don’t misunderstand – lead building, nurturing, and tracking the insights from those activities are essential to business growth.
But, as you set into motion your plans for 2014, resolve not to just ‘push.’ Push your content. Push your offers.
Also, try listening more, in real-time. Try helping without expecting to see immediate returns. Try…
- Finding trending hashtags (#) for your industry and looking for opportunities to use your skills and experience to answer questions.
- Joining groups on Google+ and LinkedIn or chiming in during a Twitter chat. Monitor customer forums. Infiltrate the customer space and drop some knowledge.
- Doing something crazy like creating an app for your business, if it makes sense. One of my favorites, Retail Me Not, is free and easy. With its help, the moment I drive by a mall, my phone lights up like a Christmas tree with coupons and deals. I love it so I tell everybody (including you). And for Retail Me Not’s stakeholders, the retailers using the site as a marketing channel to increase sales, it’s a win-win.
- Picking up the phone and calling your customers randomly. Express appreciation or solve an issue. Do what they don’t expect you to do – be available.
In 2014, let’s not mistake technology for connecting. Engage the crowd and eventually, you’ll win the customer.
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- In: Branding
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LinkedIn has well over 200 million users and is the 13th most viewed website in the world. For business owners, professionals, and job seekers, it is the place to be and be seen. When you get in there and figure out how it works, LinkedIn can be a great source for generating leads, nurturing client relationships, driving traffic to your website, and establishing you as an authority in your industry.
But for some small business owners, it’s really not a matter of if they should be on LinkedIn. I mean, they get it and why it’s important. The real question is, “Now that I’m on it, what do I do with it?” Sound familiar?
Well, having worked with small businesses at the ground level and seen and heard how they currently use LinkedIn, I’ve pulled out three tips that you can start doing today to improve your experience with this social networking giant.
1. Create a great profile. As an entrepreneur, the best thing we can do for our business is to decide what business we’re in and promote that. Creating a great profile with this concept in mind is a great place to start.
- Picture – Unlike Twitter and Facebook, the picture you select for your profile should portray who you are as a professional. Simple background, clear image. No palm trees.
- Completed profile – While LinkedIn shows at what level of completion your profile is, 100% is only helpful when the information entered highlights your strengths. Use keywords and phrases that define your business and its value to the business community. The use of relevant keywords will also increase the likelihood of your profile appearing in search results.
- Customize your public profile’s URL – Edit the default LinkedIn URL, which consists of a string on letters and numbers, to one that includes your name.
2. Create a Company page. A recent LinkedIn study found that 50% of LinkedIn members are more likely to purchase from a company they engage with on LinkedIn.
Creating a company page gives you yet another chance to showcase the value of your business in a clear and concise way. As an added bonus, you can attach your company page to your personal profile, placing your logo in clear view.
3. Engage, not sell. The mistake many of us make on LinkedIn is blatantly attempting to sell instead of engage. To push out instead of pull in.
- Be a good social partner – Share links to your content and to that of other credible sources as well. Follow the golden rule here…don’t expect others to like or share your content, if you’re not doing the same for them. Utilize the ‘like’ feature as well as post comments. Create a conversation which ultimately strengthens your authority on a topic.
- Participate in Groups – Users who post or engage in group conversations receive four times as many profile views as those who don’t. LinkedIn groups are a great way to help you build credibility and put you in front of your targeted audience, as well as peers who can help you grow your business. Use LinkedIn Search or “Groups You May Like” to identify groups that make sense and then check the group stats to see the demographics of and activity within those groups. If it’s a good fit, click ‘Join.’
Lastly, in your rush to grow your number of connections, be mindful of the quality of connections you want….those that can help you reach your goals. Do away with generic invitations and informal notes. Personalize each encounter you have on LinkedIn.
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