Tag Archives: Facebook

Is social media right for my B2B firm? A new study offers fresh insights

Posted by: | March 28, 2013 | Marketing Trends, Social Media, Social Networking Sites

Twitter TweeterTwitter and LinkedIn have more than 200 million users apiece. Instagram and Tumblr? More than 130 million combined. At 1 billion-plus users, Facebook has more than all of them put together – twice over.

Still, when it comes to social media, many B2B marketing managers in the United States remain skittish about making the commitment. Frequently – and understandably – they find themselves asking the questions, “Who are all these people?” and “Do they want to buy any of my products?”

More times than not, the answer to the latter question is, “it depends.” In terms of answering the first question, a new Pew Research Center survey may provide important insights that can help you determine whether social media is a good fit for your business. The survey offers a deep dive into who exactly all those many billions of social media users are and how they use different applications – all information that can help you make an informed decision.

Out of regular Internet users, the Pew survey suggests that overall, 71 percent of women and 62 percent of men in the United States use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr or Pinterest. Two-thirds of college degree holders, individuals living in households that make more than $75,000 annually and suburbanites also use social media, according to the study.

Social media usage rates among minorities outpace white users considerably. The Pew study shows that 72 percent of Hispanics, 68 percent of blacks and 65 percent of whites are regular social media users. Among other interesting findings:

  • Is Facebook getting grayer? While Facebook usage remains high among the18-29 year-old demographic (86 percent), it’s also very popular with the middle-aged crowd. Consider this: Almost 75 percent of 30-49 year-olds and nearly 60 percent of 50-64 year olds are users.
  • Twitter is popular in minority communities. Twitter usage among blacks and Hispanics is well ahead of the white community. According to the Pew study, 26 percent of blacks and 19 percent of Hispanics surveyed use Twitter, while 14 percent of whites participating in the poll reported using it.
  • Pinterest use is consistent among female age groups. While Pinterest users appear to be overwhelmingly female – only 5 percent of men participating in the poll said they used it – 19 percent of women in both the 18-29 demographic and 30-49 demographic said they used the online pin board.

Full results of the Pew study are available here.

What has been your B2B firm’s experience on social media?

Blogosphere: The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated

Posted by: | February 21, 2013 | Blogging, Education, General Business Practices

post-it maniaBlogging appears to be on the upswing among leading businesses in the United States, a new report from The Center for Marketing Research (CMR) at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and Inc. magazine shows.

According to the new “Social Media and the 2012 Inc. 500” study, 44 percent of companies in the Inc. 500 had a corporate blog, up from 37 percent the previous year. Leading the charge? Corporate brass increasingly are getting in on the blogging fun, the new CMR report shows. (more…)

Word of mouth 2.0

Posted by: | February 7, 2013 | Advertising Strategy, Best Practices, Branding

TSG139 - lips picSocial media plays an important role today in shaping individual purchasing decisions. Still, many companies resist using Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn at all, or don’t take full advantage of these important marketing tools once they’ve taken the social media plunge.  (more…)

Making Your Social Media Matter

Posted by: | December 20, 2012 | Direct marketing, networking, Online advertising

Few small businesses today question the marketing ROI of sites like Facebook and Twitter. Still, many small firms remain stuck in an awkward adolescence, unsure how to best use social media to engage their customers and integrate these standard tools with their overall business strategies.

But why?

While many small business owners realize it’s no longer sufficient simply to have a Facebook page, LinkedIn profile or Twitter handle, they often find themselves asking “now what?” after signing up for a social media account. For many, taking the social network plunge can be a daunting undertaking.  But it’s not impossible if you keep these two concepts in mind. (more…)

Get out the vote: What the election taught us about combining traditional and new marketing strategies effectively

Posted by: | November 8, 2012 | Best Practices, Direct marketing, Marketing planning

Earlier this year, 5 million people bought the newest iPhone in its first weekend of availability. Last year, more than 11 million Harry Potter fans bought an opening-day ticket to the final installment of the popular movie franchise. Neither of these tectonic cultural movements registered anywhere near the turnout of a U.S. presidential election, which saw 125 million voters cast their vote (give or take – I think some folks in Florida are still waiting for their turn). Election Day offered keen insights into the culture of our country, not the least of which are the most effective marketing strategies of our social networking world.

Marketing has always been a part of elections and reflective of the technology of the day. From the original campaign buttons William McKinley used during his 1896 presidential campaigns to the whistle-stop tours along U.S. railways throughout the 19th and 20th centuries to the judicious tweets from President Barack Obama leading up to his re-election, leveraging innovative marketing tools to win big is as ubiquitous as kissing babies and shaking hands.

In 2008, then-presidential hopeful Barack Obama gathered an immense number of micro donations through social media, which he rolled over into effective traditional marketing campaigns. In 2012, he wasn’t alone in complementing traditional marketing with more cutting-edge tactics. Republican challenger Mitt Romney employed similar voter outreach and made it a much tighter race than John McCain’s organizers had during the previous election by fumbling opportunities to incorporate new marketing strategies.

The sooner businesses embrace the lessons presidential elections teach us about mixing traditional marketing strategies with newer ones, the farther ahead of their competition they will be. While newsletters, direct mail, brochures and advertisements allow you to deliver your message, social networks like Twitter and Facebook become tools that allow your business to present its casual, relaxed and human side.

New media is built around interaction within the community. Let your supporters work for you. President Obama generated both money and interest by presenting a call to action that involved his supporters spreading the word. There is no better recommendation than that of someone freely and willingly putting you in front of people you might otherwise not have touched.

We’d love to hear how you’re absorbing new marketing strategies into your traditional ones? Tell us about it in the comments section.

 

Facebook Timeline: Love it or leave it?

Posted by: | April 5, 2012 | Best Practices, Branding, Social Media

For months, the Facebook team has been holding a virtual sword of Damocles over the heads of users who obstinately refuse to transition to the new Timeline layout. Though March 30 was touted as D-Day for the full-blown Timeline conversion, many users still haven’t taken the plunge. Once you’ve opted in, there’s no turning back.

But what does this mean for businesses? (more…)

Marketing, with a side of mac and cheese

Posted by: | April 19, 2011 | Social Media, Social Networking Sites

If you want evidence of how much social media has changed marketing, look no further than The Southern Mac and Cheese Truck.

This glorious van of cheesy goodness pops up around downtown Chicago during lunchtime each weekday to dish out a few varieties of gourmet macaroni and cheese. To the delight of everyone in our office, it stops right down the street from our building on Tuesdays. The truck’s employees post updates to Twitter and Facebook to let hungry customers know when they’re on their way — leading to some pretty frequent late-morning screen refreshing around here.

Although the truck usually comes around the same time each week, its plans can change. Some days, the truck makes an unannounced stop somewhere else first to test-drive a new location; other days, a lack of parking might leave the truck circling the block for a few extra minutes. Luckily, all we need to do to find out exactly when to head downstairs is glance at the truck’s social media sites.

The mac and cheese truck is the kind of operation that would have been nearly impossible to pull off before social media. A lot of things can crop up at the last minute when you’re driving through Chicago, and Twitter and Facebook allow the truck to communicate quickly with customers. These sites also give the truck a low-risk way to try out new markets. What’s more, the truck can use the customers who visit the truck’s Twitter and Facebook pages for schedule information as a sounding board for other business decisions: “Would you rather eat andouille or chorizo mac?”

The takeaway for b-to-b marketers? Take advantage of the unique — and often low-risk — marketing opportunities available to you through social media to build your brand and boost sales. If you want feedback on your product’s latest update, ask your fans on your Facebook page. Is there a last-minute schedule change at the conference where you’ll be speaking? Post a quick message on Twitter. Whether you’re selling mac and cheese or widgets, the results can be huge… and delicious.

SOCIAL MEDIA SAVVY PART 4: Businesses ‘like’ Facebook

Posted by: | March 16, 2011 | Best Practices, Social Media, Social Networking Sites

NOTE: This is the fourth part of a six-part series designed to help businesses jump-start their social media campaigns. Check out our earlier posts on getting started, LinkedIn and blogging.

What started as a humble project in a college kid’s dorm room is now a massive site that boasts 500 million members, including the majority of Fortune 500 companies, and inspired one of this year’s nominees for “Best Picture” at the Academy Awards. There’s no doubt about it: People love Facebook.

Facebook, like LinkedIn, is a relationship-building tool that allows you to connect with customers, prospects and employees. Facebook has a looser, more personal feel than LinkedIn, though, and users reap the benefits of Facebook’s own impressive brand stickiness — 50 percent of Facebook members log on every day.

Make an impression – and make it count

Here’s the breakdown on Facebook:

How to use it: You might already have a personal Facebook page, but a business page functions a little differently. Instead of becoming friends with you on the site, Facebook members will need to indicate that they “like” you, which means your messages will begin showing up in their news feeds. You can post comments as well as photos on the site, and your contacts can comment on anything you post. You can also build your Facebook presence by installing a Facebook “like” button on your website. If visitors click it, your content will show up on their Facebook pages.

The goal: To build your base of contacts and foster deeper relationships with your current ones. Want to get instant feedback on your company’s latest product or recent event? Post on Facebook and let your contacts comment away.

Potential uses:

  • Drive traffic to your website
  • Generate sales leads
  • Promote upcoming events
  • Share timely news about your company
  • Offer discounts or other relevant rewards to users who “like” you
  • Create photo albums of company events or new product launches

Time involved: Moderate. A Facebook page is easy to set up, and most of the posts are quick and easy to write. The average user posts 90 unique items a month, so plan to spend a couple of hours each week creating content. Facebook users also value timeliness, so make sure you’re checking for and responding to comments frequently.

Money involved: Facebook is free to join.

Drawbacks: Some people say that “Facebook fatigue” may be setting in among users — Google “how do I delete” and “my Facebook account” is at the top of the list. The privacy rules for Facebook are also constantly evolving, so you’ll need to monitor your privacy settings regularly to avoid sharing more sensitive information than you intend to. A final word of caution? It’s easy to blur the line between your personal and professional life on Facebook, so be vigilant about keeping the two separate.

Dig deeper

Find out more about Facebook, including clever ways b-to-b marketers can use it to their advantage.

You say you want more social media? Well, you’ve got it. Up next, we’ll look at Twitter, the perfect platform for capturing an attention-challenged audience. Check back on Friday for all the details.

Just out of reach

Posted by: | June 30, 2010 | Social Media, Social Networking Sites

An impromptu analysis of HubSpot customers by blogger Rick Burnes yielded some very interesting results about the Twitter and Facebook reaches of various industries.

Burnes looked at the number of Twitter and Facebook followers of 2,600 companies, categorized these companies by industry and determined the average reach for each industry. Each category was represented by at least 10 companies.

B-to-b industries had a much wider reach on Twitter than on Facebook almost across the board. Check out these stats:

  • B-to-b equipment – Facebook: 34; Twitter: 223
  • Business consulting  – Facebook: 55; Twitter: 252
  • Business services, general – Facebook: 70; Twitter: 236
  • Business services, training – Facebook: 104; Twitter: 572
  • Data processing and hosting – Facebook: 24; Twitter: 299
  • IT consulting – Facebook: 55; Twitter: 352
  • Marketing, Web, PR, social media – Facebook: 278; Twitter: 1,164
  • Sales force optimization – Facebook: 38; Twitter: 304
  • Business services, general – Facebook: 70; Twitter: 236

The majority of the industries – both b-to-b and b-to-c – had a wider reach overall on Twitter, but the difference in reach was significantly wider in b-to-b industries. Interestingly, there were a few odd b-to-b industries that had a much wider reach on Facebook, including manufacturing and wholesale and coaching/business services.

While these results are thought provoking, I’m wary – as is Burnes – to take much stock in them and jump to the conclusion that one social media network is better than another other for a given industry. I’ve pounded it into your heads, but I’ll say it again: Social media success isn’t about jumping on the bandwagon because it’s the cool thing to do or because another company found success. It’s about identifying your company’s challenges and objectives, and determining whether (and which) social media strategies can help solve them. It’s also about experimenting and finding what works by dabbling in different social media channels – you’ve got very little to lose and potentially a lot to gain.