This document provides guidance on using social media for business-to-business purposes. It outlines that social media is an important part of the buyer research process and can influence purchasing decisions. It then offers tips on developing a social media strategy, choosing appropriate platforms like blogs, LinkedIn, and Twitter, engaging audiences in a genuine way, and measuring the results of social media efforts. The overall message is that B2B companies should integrate social media seriously into their marketing but do so authentically rather than just for sales.

1. Business-to-Business Social Media Presented by: Out There Advertising Kim Keuning, President Melissa D’Aloia, Account Executive

2. Why is social media important?

3. Social media is here to stay B2B buyers are spending more time researching online Social media can play a big role in the decision-making process Leverage social media for: Building relationships Listening to the market Influencing buyers before they are identified as leads

4. Why social media for B2B Before Prospect engaged directly with salesperson Arrival of Google Search engine optimization Pay-per-click Today Social media sites drive a large portion of B2B interactions on the web www.companywebsite.com

5. Fundamental concepts Choosing your social media identity Social media monitoring Twitter search Facebook search LinkedIn search Search engines Alerts Monitoring software vs

6. Inbound Marketing “ Your prospect…cares about his boss or the story you're telling or the risk or the hassle of making a change. He cares about who you know and what other people will think when he tells them what he’s done after he buys from you. The opportunity, then, is not to insist that your customers get more rational, but instead to embrace just how irrational they are. Give them what they need.” Seth Godin, The Rational Marketer (and the Irrational Customer), 2009

7. Check list – Is your company ready for social media? My company has clear goals for social media We have the human resources to commit to social media We produce enough quality content to sustain a social media conversation We know which social media sites are popular with our prospects and customers Our company website is prepared for social media attention We are ready to incorporate social media strategies throughout the buying process

8. Developing a social media strategy Target Audience Goals or Objectives (tie-in with overall company goals) Tactics Key Metrics

9. Example Tactic: Target Audience: Owners of small businesses Objective: Increase brand awareness Social Media Tactic: Blogging Short-term objective 1: Promote thought leadership through blog posting on industry best practices Create blog publication schedule Add RSS button Publish blog post once a week Short-term objective 2: Increase engagement Respond to comments within 24 hours Add links to blog on website and in e-newsletter Invite relevant guest bloggers and market to their networks Time invested: 1-2 hours daily

10. Social Media Tools Blogging Social Bookmarks Microblogging B2B Social Networks Documents/Content Video Wiki and Crowd Sourced Content Pictures Social Search Monitoring and Measurement

12. Determine your social media voice Social voice is different from a brand voice Social voice=person Brand voice=anonymous Informal is acceptable Be genuine

13. Start a blog Promote yourself and get feedback from community Build prospects through search engine rankings Establish business as thought leader Share customer success stories

14. Using LinkedIn Merge offline engagement with online LinkedIn Groups LinkedIn Answers

15. Don’t be creepy If you use social media like a keyword searching robot you are going to come off as creepy Use common sense Approach people like you would want to be approached Be transparent

16. Using Twitter effectively Twitter search Hashtags Follow industry influencers, engage customers, track competition

17. Be consistent and follow-up Social media is not about setting and forgetting, it’s about being social Stay engaged Blog consistently Follow-up and ask if they have any additional questions Send direct messages

18. Leverage analytics Website stats Shares/Retweets/Mentions What is driving visitors to your website?

19. Monitor Industry

21. Make it easy to share your content Make sharing options visible Allow e-mails to be viewed as web page Frame web pages/blog posts with a social bar Enable forward to a friend

22. About us page Add photos of staff to about us page Add links to employees’ LinkedIn profiles Describe employees’ expertise and cut out the gobblygook

23. Start/maximize your blog Update regularly - once a week at least Publish helpful content and not always a sales pitch Write about topics your business partners, customers, vendors, etc. are searching for Design of blog should match your website

24. Taking social media seriously Add links to social media sites on bottom of e-mail – let people know how they can connect with you Be yourself and realize “You can’t do it all.”

25. Make your business more human Interesting content is king Know your audience and your goals Borrow knowledge from consumer world People buy expertise Social media isnt’ about you, it’s about them Fuse social media with offline engagement Learn to be human again Have a goal Go where people are interacting now 10 Essential Social Media Lessons

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