There are some things that you can’t take back: including what you release on the Internet. With over 93% of B2B marketers using social media, online sales has very much become a social business. As marketers we need to do our best to present as well online as we do in person (if not better). Creating an effective online marketing plan amongst all the changes on the social web isn’t easy, but here are a few things you may want to avoid.
#1: Flying By the Seat of Your Pants
A “lets throw stuff at the wall and see what sticks” approach will only take you so far in social media. Consider your internet marketing plan to be just as essential as your traditional sales and marketing plans. Below are some questions you may want to ask yourself when creating your social content marketing strategy:
- What is the goal of the campaign?
- Who am I writing this content for?
- What are they interested in?
- How do I plan on reaching my goals?
- What results am I anticipating?
- What actions need to be taken in order to create the most favorable results?
#2: Whoops! We Forgot to Optimize Our Social Media Profiles
Consider your social media campaigns your offsite SEO. What does this mean? Create content for your social campaigns the same way you would for your website. This means determining which keywords your audience is searching for, create relevant content utilizing those keywords, and be sure to adapt these as needed. Some things you may want to keep in mind.
- Is your company profile optimized with proper keywords?
- Are all of your social media profiles leading back to the same URL?
- Is your contact information clearly highlighted & easily accessible?
#3: Avoiding Reacting to Negative Feedback
It is unrealistic to assume that there will never be negative feedback about your company. The internet is a sounding board for users to share their opinions, experience with companies or feedback on products. Pretty much any thing you can think of people have something to say about it. While you can’t control every detail of a users experience (or who they share it with) you can control how your business responds to their feedback.
- Utilize social media tracking tools so you can deal with issues as quickly as possible.
- Respond to the commenters directly and work to mend the relationship if possible.
- If necessary, invite the dissenter to discuss the issue offline.
- Share and reward positive comments to build even better relationships with satisfied clients/customers.
#4: Failing to Measure the Success of Your Campaign
You’ve dedicated time, money, and resources to creating an online presence but what do you have to show for it? Effective measurement is key in running a successful social media marketing program. There are many free and paid tools on the market that will assist you in properly measuring your success from Google Analytics to Trackur. What are some of the metrics you should always make sure you’re watching?
- The number of conversions your company has generated from a social marketing strategy.
- Which social sites resonate best with your prospects and clients.
- The topics that seem to generate the most interest.
- The level of engagement and interest your prospects and clients show in your company.
- Sign-ups, inquiries, leads and sales.
- Length of sales cycle.
- Revenue per order or deal.
Social Media is becoming more and more essential for B2B companies of any size. When you look at the trends and data, it’s easy to think of social as the new normal. Are you confident in your corporate social media strategy? An important step in the right direction is to determine your corporate social media readiness. Is your B2B business ready to be a social business?
