by Miriam Hara | Jul 9, 2024 | Business Success, Communications, Social Media
Like many social platforms, the LinkedIn social platform has evolved. It launched itself as a social platform for professionals and to a large extent it has maintained that unique edge. I would argue that LinkedIn has somewhat devolved into a professional Facebook platform, with the many animal posts, inspirational/motivational posts or even sharing family milestones. But that’s a debate for another time. I’d like to discuss why we, as professionals are on LinkedIn, and what benefits that it provides.
Regardless of how many feel some posts are inappropriate for the platform, I still feel that LinkedIn is foremost a professional platform. That is how I use it as a professional and for my company.
In today’s world of hybrid remote working habits, coupled with company cell phones, the concept of the ‘cold call’ is becoming chillingly extinct. Reaching out to potential clients and trying to connect when there is no prior personal relationship or knowledge of your company is becoming increasingly difficult. Or is it?
Essentially, there are viable options for business development. We can all raise our arms in exasperation, but that leads to nowhere. Or, professionals and businesses alike must embrace the change of today’s business world and quite frankly celebrate the opportunity!
While the conventional cold call may be going the way of the DoDo Bird…. the new way of cold calling is quite liberating. As professionals our world has become way larger. The world is your oyster, and any segment you chose to pursue, a pearl can be found! No longer are we limited to geography, albeit, there are political considerations and possible limitations of transferable skills in regulated industries, but still our “professional” world is bigger. Who we can reach, how often we can become visible to our intended audience/target/potential clients has multiplied.
The Pros:
- No matter the industry, you’ll find a LinkedIn group/community that you can join. More importantly, you can participate in as a professional looking to increase your personal brand, or as your company.
- No matter where you reside, the acceptance of remote working, has provided many professionals with greater prospects that would have otherwise not have been possible, without relocation.
- The shear number of potential prospects that can be accessed via LinkedIn would never have been feasible, even by attending conferences physically and meeting face to face.
- If, finding the perfect lead is like the proverbial needle in a haystack; then, with LinkedIn, you can poke at numerous haystacks…simultaneously.
- The definition of relationship has opened up. You can now begin and have a relationship and connect with people you have never experienced a physical handshake with.
It does take effort to reap the benefits of LinkedIn, on a personal and business level. Here are the top 5:
Optimize Your Profile. Ensure that your profile is concise and utilizes keywords that clearly articulates your role. LinkedIn has its own search engine, so make sure that these keywords appear on your profile.
Keep Your Company Page Current. A company page shouldn’t sit there collecting dust. It must constantly be relevant and what is posted there must showcase company culture, brand values and mission, minimally.
Share Often. Share company updates, articles, and industry news to keep your audience informed and engaged, both on your company page and on your personal page.
Engage Consistently. Foster a community by engaging with followers through comments, shares, and discussions. Respond to inquiries and feedback to build trust and loyalty.
Build Visibility. Publish articles, create a company newsletter, promote products or services and post consistently.
Business development has definitely evolved, but that isn’t a necessarily a bad thing. I hope you found this helpful. I invite you to connect with me on LinkedIn, or connect with me here.
by Miriam Hara | Jul 18, 2023 | Business Success, Communications, Content, Marketing, Social Media
Ah, social media – the double-edged sword of our time for individuals and brands alike! On the upside, it serves as a potent platform to engage audiences, enhance visibility, and cultivate loyalty. Yet, it also conceals a complex maze of potential hazards that can rapidly tarnish a brand’s reputation. Let’s dive into the ways social media can elevate or damage brands, and share some thoughts on navigating this ever-changing landscape effectively.
The Upside: Social Media’s Power to Elevate Brands
Unprecedented Visibility
Utilizing the power of social media, your brand now has the potential to reach and engage with your target audience in unprecedented ways. Share valuable, relevant, and engaging content to amplify your brand’s visibility, extend its reach, and attract new customers.
Building a Community
Social media creates a space for people to connect, share, and interact with brands and one another. Actively participating in these online communities, fostering meaningful relationships, and nurturing a loyal following can work wonders for your brand’s long-term success.
Real-Time Customer Service
Providing real-time customer service via social media allows brands to address concerns and resolve issues promptly. This proactive approach to customer care not only enhances your brand’s reputation but also demonstrates your commitment to customer satisfaction.
Influencer Collaborations
Partnering with influencers can help your brand tap into new audiences, boost credibility, and generate buzz. By aligning with the right influencers, your brand can leverage their existing followers and create a strong, authentic endorsement.
The Downside: The Perils of Social Media for Brands
Negative Publicity
A single negative news story, review, or incident can quickly spiral out of control on social media. If not addressed promptly and effectively, this negative publicity can leave a lasting impact on your brand’s reputation and how customers perceive it.
Inconsistent Messaging
In the fast-paced world of social media, it’s easy for brands to lose sight of their messaging. Inconsistent or off-brand content can dilute your brand identity, confuse your audience, and ultimately harm your brand’s image.
Crisis Management Gone Wrong
Crisis events can quickly intensify on social media, potentially putting your brand’s reputation at risk. Ineffective crisis management can lead to a loss of trust, credibility, and customer loyalty.
Ignoring Feedback
Failing to engage with or address customer feedback on social media can result in a damaged brand reputation. Brands need to actively listen and respond to feedback, showing their customers that their opinions matter.
To effectively harness the power of social media while sidestepping potential pitfalls, it’s imperative for brands to craft a robust and detailed strategy. Additionally, investing in captivating content, maintaining vigilant oversight of their online presence, and fostering active dialogue with audiences is key. By managing social media effectively, your brand can leverage its power to connect with customers, build loyalty, and drive growth. For a quick and easy reference, you can download our Social Media Understood ebook here.
I’d love to hear your thoughts or experiences on how social media can make or break brands. Please share your insights by leaving a comment below.
by Felicitas Ritter | Feb 4, 2014 | Latest, Marketing
For any business, having an integrated marketing plan really is the best way to optimize communications efforts. Without this, you could be missing out on great opportunities to reach your target audiences. Relying only upon traditional advertising outlets like radio, TV or newspaper to generate all the buzz you need, just isn’t as effective a strategy as it once was. In particular, if you have a smaller business, you might even want to skip these costly budget-busting vehicles for a while, depending on your market. Even when it comes to marketing for larger corporations, throwing everything into a splashy ad campaign is not generally the best practice. A more strategic approach is to examine all the marketing tools at hand, and take into account all the ways they might help you reach consumers.
If you are not yet working with social media, this is something that really does need to be incorporated into the mix.
As of December 2013, according to the Pew Research Center, 73% of online adults engage in social networking. Additionally, 42% are utilizing multiple platforms. If you aren’t leveraging Facebook and Twitter, at the very least, you are likely missing out on reaching a significant portion of your target audience. For niche markets, YouTube is another fantastic platform to reach very specific types of consumers.
Other considerations have to include direct marketing campaigns or promotions for consumer contests or giveaways, sponsorship opportunities, such as with local sports teams, and special events to launch new products. All are great ways to effectively get your brand out there.
Something many companies seem to take for granted are the impressions received through public relations. Having the opportunity to showcase products for free on local television programs or in specialty publications, or for the company spokesperson to be positioned as an opinion leader can be invaluable to future business successes.
The ingenuity of your campaign is only limited by the imaginations of your marketing and creative teams. And its effectiveness is not always a matter of budget, but rather of good planning and the ability to utilize a wide range of integrated marketing services that work synergistically together.
by Belinda Lui | Jan 31, 2014 | Latest, Social Media
It isn’t news that the festivities and anticipation surrounding the upcoming Super Bowl XLVIII is followed none other by the advertising creative that will be airing during the Super Bowl! What follows closely behind these 2 most in virality, however, is the social media activity that is expected to blow up during this annual sporting event. Among these and those who were surveyed, 61% declared that they would share the ads on social media. 41.2% said that they would be active on social media before, during, and after the game. 55.8% of these users planned to share content primarily on Facebook. This event is anticipated to be the most sociable Super Bowl of all time!
What other facts contribute to making this the most sociable Super Bowl of all time?
- 93% of viewers will discuss ads with their peers
- 61% of viewers will share ads on social media
- 1 in 4 viewers will likely post about Super Bowl ads on social media before the game
- 37.6% of viewers will look up Super Bowl ads before the game
- 67.4% of viewers will likely post about Super Bowl ads on social media during the game
- 65.3% of viewers will likely post about Super Bowl ads on social media after the game
- 62.2% of viewers will re-watch ads after the Super Bowl
When CrowdTap asked “After the Super Bowl, which are you more likely to like or follow on Facebook or Twitter?”
The results were: 73% brands, 27% teams.
So, as you can see – the emerging trends in marketing and advertising during the Super Bowl has taken a major turn towards a more sociable strategy. It isn’t enough that people can watch an ad in between watching the game; they will want to watch them before, during, and after the game as well. Given that these brands are successful in getting a message across, they might even gain some new followers on social networks.
Have you ever shared ads in social media before? Come back after the game and let us know which Super Bowl ads were your favourites?
by Miriam Hara | Jan 25, 2014 | Interactive, Latest, Social Media
Remember when all a website needed to do was to show up on the net? Gone are those days! The website growth cycle has gone through animations and music design all in the hopes of getting attention and to be entertaining… only to now being a part of the business’ sales lead generation and customer service first point of contact. But alas, change is well… ever changing, and now the website must morph again, to include its channel partner: social media. Social media was once synonymous with Facebook – but businesses were reluctant to jump on board, waiting for this to be a passing phase. Enter Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, the powerful mom bloggers and blogger networks, and now social media has evolved from being a one platform channel (Facebook), to a complex multi-platform channel, embraced by small and large businesses all over the world.
So now comes the latest frontier…where the established business website must, once again, re-purpose itself to include and be a supportive pillar of its social media counterpart.
Take the following 3 must-have tips for a website to support a social persona, assisting in the social media initiatives and maximizing on the SEO platform. Social media initiatives must be solidly supported by the business website to optimize on the efforts and contributions.
1) Ensure your social media efforts all feed on the home page of your website (Twitter feed, Facebook comments, forum article or updates). This alone will help in the SEO ranking efforts. It’s also an effective way to keep the home page renewed with fresh content.
2) Ensure your website features enrollment/subscription of all social media platforms that your business is involved in. This includes the icons for following on Twitter, subscribing to the business forum or blog, to engaging on Facebook, or LinkedIn. This demonstrates to anyone coming onto your website that your business is on the forefront of business.
3) Ensure share-ability. The home page of any website is important, but all pages should be optimized to be social. Pages that feature case studies or articles, or portfolio pieces… all should be made to be easily shared on the social media channels or via email.
If your current business website does not have any one of these, then the time has come to seriously think about making your website more social. For now, at least, it’s about being social.
