This is an article I wrote that appeared in the magazine CBA Retailers & Resources

1. Strategic Marketing ++
Getting Social
Li
ke many people, you’ve probably ventured into the so- • Meetup (http://www.meetup.com) is the world’s largest network of
cial networking waters of Facebook or MySpace. Maybe local groups. Meetup makes it easy for anyone to organize a local
you’ve jumped into the Twitter-sphere even though you group or find one of the thousands already meeting up face-to-
don’t quite “get it” yet. If you’re a frequent reader of CBA face. More than 2,000 groups get together in local communities
Retailers+Resources magazine, then you no doubt have learned and each day, each one with the goal of improving themselves or their
gained some great insight on using these tools to connect with your communities.
customers from one of my friends, Gunnar Simonsen (http://gunnar- • Ecademy (http://www.ecademy.com) is a business network for cre-
simonsen.wordpress.com/). Social networking Web sites aren’t only ating contacts and sharing knowledge.
a great tool for connecting with your customers, but they can be a • Jigsaw (http://www.jigsaw.com) is an online directory of free,
powerful platform to connect with suppliers and service providers. downloadable company information and more than 17 million
business contacts.
Hot Networking Sites • Other sites include: Fastpitch (http://www.fastpitchnetworking.
In today’s competitive marketplace, professionals are looking to one com), PartnerUp (http://www.partnerup.com), and Perfectbusi-
another online to gain feedback and insight on brands, products, and ness (http://www.perfectbusiness.com).
vendor experiences. If you want the lowdown, social network sites are
the place to discover what you’re looking for in a quick and efficient LinkedIn
way. As more and more professionals are charged with cutting costs The most popular and widely used site for professionals though is
during a tough economy, social media rises as a viable and extremely LinkedIn (http://www.linkedin.com) and will be the focus for the re-
valid method for marketing. mainder of this article. According to the LinkedIn Web site, they now
Web 2.0 tools are some of the most cost-effective sets of marketing have more than 53 million members in over 200 countries and terri-
media. While connecting through the Web may be free, social media tories around the world. A new member joins LinkedIn approximate-
does require an investment of time and money. But when you stack ly every second, and about half of their members are outside the U.S.
up the dollars you spend in traditional media channels vs. online so- Executives from all Fortune 500 companies are LinkedIn members.
cial media, the savings are substantial. One of my favorite marketing guys is John Jantsch. John is a mar-
In a recent MarketingProfs (www.marketingprofs.com) article, keting and digital technology coach (http://www.ducttapemarketing.
writer Christina “CK” Kerley continues to make the case for busi- com), and he says, “Social media participation has proven to be a
ness leaders to engage with social media. Christina says, “The B2B great way to cast a wider net, create exposure for your expertise and
purchasing behavior of performing extensive up-front analysis to initiate relationships with partners, supplies, prospects, and custom-
limit risk has not changed, but the way that professionals now con- ers.” LinkedIn is the perfect platform for doing each of the things John
duct their research, and who influences their purchasing decisions, describes.
has undergone dramatic transformation.” Here are some quick and easy ways to begin leveraging the power
A quick Google session turns up a number of outstanding social of LinkedIn.
networking sites for professionals such as: Your profile: Fill it out and give people good reason to connect
• Biznik (http://biznik.com) is an award-winning community of en- with you.
trepreneurs and small businesses dedicated to helping each other • Make sure your profile highlights your areas of expertise, services
succeed. offered, and with whom and why you’re looking to connect.
20 CBA Retailers+Resources | 01.10 The Official Magazine of CBA
Social Media.indd 20 12/14/09 8:59 AM