Posts Tagged Marketing
Seattle Social Media : How Many Platforms Do You Need?
Posted by Rory Martin in Social Media Marketing on March 3, 2015
Social media is all the rage and if you follow it, you know that Seattlites frequently hop from one trending platform to the next. Whether it’s Snapchat, Ello, or Yik Yak, or any of a dozen other social media sites popping up around the web, you might be encouraged to join the platforms in order to expand your social media reach and customer base. But with dozens of social sites, which do you join and how many do you really need?
The Truth About Trend Sites
One important thing to consider is whether or not a trend site is really going to stick around and be valuable for your company. If you have the time to invest in another social media site, or are hiring a Seattle social media manager to do so for you, then you can join trending websites, but many of them eventually go the way of MySpace or end up like Line in that they are primarily niche platforms. For example, if you are primarily selling shoes and the niche audience is primarily for business you might not have much luck.
How Much Time Do You Have
One of the most important considerations when deciding on how many social media platforms you need is how much time do you have? Do you have the time to post to, engage with, and interact on five social media platforms? If so, then go ahead and open them. Unfortunately, if you don’t have the time, you will most likely end up with sporadic posting, no engagement, and very little actual benefit. While a Seattle social media management company can help, it’s important to consider your time budget there as well. You have to be engaged enough to make social media profitable, but you have to invest enough time that it also remains profitable. The truth is that for the most part, that means using a select few carefully chosen sites that fit your business and your demographic.
Do You Fit the Niche
Many social media platforms like Ello, Line, and Instagram are niche platforms, meaning that they are really only suitable for one type of business. For example, Instagram is a good platform if you sell clothing, want to advertise a restaurant then Instagram offers a good solution. On the other hand, if you’re selling business services, you won’t have much luck.
The Basics
At the end of the day, you can usually successfully establish your online media presence with one to five platforms. Anything over that, and you may be taking it a bit overboard. If you have multiple platforms, you’re likely to be sharing duplicate content, not engaging with your followers, and degrading the value of what you already have. If you want just one social platform, Google Plus or Facebook are a good essential. Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest add to those basics with a few additional options. However, you should check with your Seattle social media management company to find out which is right for your business.
B2B Social Media Marketing – Proven Strategies
Posted by Rory Martin in Search Engine Optimization, Social Media Marketing on November 4, 2010
Original article featured on Mashable.
Digital marketing is gaining traction in a number of industries, and business-to-business (B2B) marketers are in on that trend, too. Increased spending on online marketing is driving companies to try new and innovative means of getting the word out about their products and services — one area that’s getting a lot of buzz with B2B marketers is social media.
As a Seattle Web Design company that specializes in Seattle Search Engine Optimization and Seattle Social Media Marketing, we wanted to share some of the following case studies which lend insight into how B2B marketers can use social media to generate leads, improve SEO, become knowledge sources, and strengthen marketing campaigns.
Generate Leads
There are two types of marketing departments — those that are cost centers and those that bring in leads and sales. Generally, the better positioned marketing department is the one that can prove it’s bringing in money, not spending it without results. When adding social media into the mix, marketing departments must be able to prove success, and oftentimes lead generation and ROI are two measurements that upper management wants to see.
Regus, a global provider of workplace solutions, recently experimented with using social media for lead generation. While the brand has a strong presence throughout the world, there was a lack of awareness in the NYC area about the convenient services and business solutions that the company has to offer.
They integrated campaign that combined social media, online video, an online sweepstakes and in-person events. The team focused on creating communities for NYC professionals, which resulted in a @RegusNYC Twitter feed and a Facebook Page. Along with these social accounts, the “Win an Office” sweepstakes was a great source of leads, as well. Lastly, the team put together New York-specific commercials, which were uploaded to YouTube. The one embedded above, for example, currently has more than 33,000 views.
Overall, this highly integrated campaign was a success unlike any other Regus had seen. The campaign increased leads to Regus’ Manhattan locations by 30%, directly resulting in a 114% increase in revenue compared to the same time period in the previous year. Furthermore, there was a 33% percent conversion rate on leads generated through the New York landing page, compared to a 12% conversion rate on 2008. The success of the campaign also prompted Regus to have Affect implement similar campaigns in five additional markets in Q1 of 2010.
Improve SEO
During the past year, Delivra, an e-mail marketing service provider, has invested in B2B social media marketing, including presences on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and a corporate blog, dubbed eMailChatr. Since implementing and maintaining these properties, the company has seen a 70% increase in inbound leads, as compared to the prior year, and its SEO rankings for major keywords have jumped over 20 pages in one year.
In this case, a blog full of useful and targeted content, enhanced by syndication across various social sites and subsequent interactions with its community, led to Delivra increasing SEO and growing a reputation for trusted e-mail marketing advice.
Carissa Newton, Delivra’s director of marketing, recommends that B2B marketers “Be realistic about your goals with social media and blogging — while these outlets can and will drive leads, there are other intangible benefits as well, like the SEO and brand awareness that make a tremendous difference.” She also stresses, “Make sure that whatever you do, it is not with the sole intention to push information out … [T]ake the time to respond and have meaningful conversations. That will increase your following tenfold. It’s just like e-mail marketing: Don’t be a blaster. Be a resource.”
Be a Knowledge Source
A global, mid-size market research and consulting firm, uses social media to increase its reach within the market research community, demonstrate thought leadership, and increase the likelihood of being found via the Internet .
“In the past nine months alone we have seen huge successes through the combination of blogging, Twitter, Facebook, online press releases, downloadable reports/case studies and Linkedin,” he explained. “The efforts have resulted in huge increases to traffic on our website (142%) and blog (308%) resulting in over 1,400 leads coming in to our sales team.”
Consistency in providing a source of useful resources has been key for the company. “Consistently creating relevant content to your blog, Twitter followers, [and] Facebook fans will help to grow your following,” he says, “but this takes time and commitment. Don’t go it alone. Build a team of regular contributors to contribute on a consistent basis.”
RoryMartin.com helps clients educate their markets and build brand awareness while winning and retaining customers with engaging and impactful websites and web marketing. We offer a comprehensive set of services from website design and web development to search engine optimization and search engine marketing and social media marketing.
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