by Miriam Hara | Oct 17, 2013 | Business Success, Latest, Social Media
B2B social media marketing strategies are not only viable but a must in today’s market landscape.
Many B2B companies opt for traditional direct mail marketing – that’s a good strategy to have. And I don’t want to suggest for one minute that direct mail is no longer a good use of marketing dollars. But what I am saying is that alone, the ROI will be less effective. A solid B2B social media marketing strategy must work cohesively with all other traditional marketing tactics employed. Many businesses are closing themselves off from social media and as a result, selling themselves short.
Social media is not only for consumer packaged good companies. There is also a strong case to be made for B2B social media marketing strategies for B2B. Although, many B2Bs are grappling with the decision about whether to jump into the social media foray… or not.
Well here’s an assessment of why B2B social media initiatives make sense:
The first question to ask is: What accounts for social media in the B2B universe? The social media channel is a strong proponent of niche marketing. What is B2B, if not niche? Traditional marketing and advertising channels have often been very cost prohibitive. With an e-marketing strategy, you can cast your net as wide or narrow as you need for your communications. Also, any digital marketing strategy should include a strong social media component.
Okay, it’s time to get over it and admit the fact that social media isn’t just about Facebook or Twitter. There are many other social media channels that are just right for B2B. LinkedIn is one that naturally comes to mind. However, social media strategies, or more specifically, B2B digital marketing strategies, should always employ a well rounded inclusive plan.
A bit about blogging – I can feel the collective rolling of the eyes! Blogs, or forums if you prefer to call them, are a great way to perpetuate creditability and increase visibility among your niche market. Because a social media marketing plan must include content driven communications. This task may seem daunting. However, with proper planning it can become as easy as writing newsletters or sending direct mail pieces. Building an online community has positive sales implications.
Which brings me to my next point: If B2B is about building relationships then why is B2B social media not on the radar of most B2B marketing plans? Pointing out the obvious: Social media is the new network. It’s the new way to gain, build and leverage business relationships, digitally. The need for businesses to “own” their digital space is increasingly important because the main influencers and decision makers are within the more savvy digital era.
For B2B companies to compete in todays marketing landscape, it is increasingly important that they have a social media footprint. If you need some quick and easy tips on social media, I invite you to download our ebook, Social Media Understood. It’s an easy read that demonstrates that social media isn’t all that complicated. You just have to start – strategically of course!
by Lindsay Sleightholm | Oct 16, 2013 | Branding, Design, Latest, Marketing
Though I’m a big music fan, I’m not going to pretend I know much about the actual music industry. But I do know a lot about graphic design and have my share of marketing know-how. And I recognize that there’s a lot more to creating an iconic band than great guitar riffs and a good-looking lead singer.
Is a band a brand?
Some bands are just bands. They’re not interested in creating an identity for themselves beyond what their music conveys. Although bands who want to get to the next level know that the business of music is not unlike any other business – it requires the use of marketing, advertising and design. Like anything else, good branding can help distinguish them among the competition. Bands have their own identities. Yet as musicians they’re not just creating music, they’re also shaping a brand persona – whether this was their intention or not.
Does a band need marketing and design?
Just like any other brand, a band needs to find its audience and connect with them. This happens of course through their music. However it is also created by the interactions they have with their audience, their public performances and appearances, their official and unofficial videos on YouTube, their presence on social media and their visual identities.
This is where the marketing and design comes in. Visual identities are created in order to market the music. These identities can end up on every facet of their visual branding – from T-shirts to websites. Some of the most successful bands of all time have made great use of this visual medium.
Band brands
So putting my music tastes aside, I’ll throw on my designer hat for my picks of some of the best in band branding.
Kiss
If you google “kiss”, you’ll actually get the band Kiss – which in itself is pretty impressive. Originally known as Wicked Lester, headed by Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley in 1971. But it wasn’t until 1973 that the name change to Kiss came about and a new image was born. The Kiss logo was first developed by their original lead guitarist Ace Frehley, later to be polished by designer and illustrator Michael Doret.
Since then, they haven’t just put it on a few posters and T-shirts – they ran with it. Combined with their trademark make-up and costumes, the entire Kiss brand has been built into a music empire spanning over four decades.
Chicago
Starting out as cover band The Big Thing in 1967, a name change to The Chicago Transit Authority in 1968 was short-lived due to the threat of legal action from the actual Chicago Transit Authority. By the 1970’s the band became simply Chicago. Their final name logotype was designed by art director John Berg.
That logo has since fronted nearly all of the band’s album covers – taking on a different illustrative style each time – yet remaining true to its original design. It has also earned its place in design history, with a nod from designer and author Philip B. Meggs, in Type and Image: The Language of Graphic Design.
Daft Punk
The French duo that in 1992 was originally called Darlin’, after the Beach Boys song, quickly re-branded themselves as Daft Punk after receiving a negative review describing their music as “a daft punky thrash”.
By the latter half of the 90’s Daft Punk were beginning to not only carve out a place for their unique sound but their solid, albeit unconventional, visual brand. Known now for their look as much their music, the two robot-human hybrids have created an image for themselves without ever showing their faces.
These bands, although completely different in musical genre, have at least one thing in common, they have really taken advantage of branding to boost their identities – as have hundreds of other music greats. The music is their product, but they’ve also crafted a marketable image. And each is an example of how consistent branding can help propel any brand, or band, to the next level.
As most know, a good one-off will only give you your 15 minutes. But great branding, effective marketing and strong design can take what is already unique and give it the stage to really stand apart.
by Suzy Godefroy | Oct 4, 2013 | Latest, Social Media
In our last blog we talked about SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and today we are going to cover SEM (Search Engine Marketing) and Google. SEM is essentially the process of gaining traffic and visibility from search engines through paid advertising and unpaid advertising in Google, Yahoo, Bing, Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media applications and on-line websites and blogs.
First and foremost, you need to make sure that your business and/or company is part of the Google family! So be sure to set up your Google accounts as there are several different platforms from Google, so the more user-friendly you are with these tools the more savvy you will be with SEM.
At the #GA Summit a new set of API’s (Application Programmable Interface) were announced to help large companies and their web developers and IT Departments better manage their metrics. These upgrades allow users to seamlessly integrate their software with Google Services such as Google Analytics, Google Adwords and YouTube. As many large corporations have unique demands, manage several websites and have many users. The new API’s will streamline configuring the reports from Google Analytics and cut the amount of time spent reviewing and compiling all of this information so that IT Departments and Marketing can spend more time analyzing the factual insights.
Google Platforms:
Google +: If you are not using Google Plus properly this will affect your ranking with Google and ultimately your SEO or Search Engine Optimization. So make sure you have an account and are updating your account with newsworthy content! Google Plus content helps you with your page rank, and your information stays around for a long time!
Google Analytics: If you are looking to boost sales, improve your mobile app and increase the number of visitors to your website, Facebook followers, Twitter followers, you need to be using Google Analytics and you need to be reviewing this on a regular basis.
Google Tag Management: Just recently, Google has added a new feature called Google Tag Management , which was launched at the #GASummit last week Link to summit . The theme this year was ACCESS, EMPOWER, ACT with numbers and metrics. VP Engineering Paul Mure and Product Management Director Babak Pahlavan talked to the masses about what is coming down the pipeline for Google Analytics. So it was not surprising that Google launched Google Tag Manager. As Tagging is vital to your Search Engine Marketing and performance. Google Tag Manager will help you manage your metrics through Google Analytics and your conversion rates. You can click here to hear the live stream from the #GASummit.
Google AdWords & ADVERTISING: How Google AdWords work is that you set up an account and pay based on a cost-per click. You can also set the payment parameters base on a daily budget that you and your client are both comfortable with. The best part about Google Adwords is that there is no minimum and you are not locked into a contract. You are only charged when someone clicks on your ad to go directly to your website. Again essential for Search Engine Marketing.
YouTube: Again if you are looking for more opportunities for your SEO and SEM make sure you are up-loading content on YouTube. Control your story, start a conversation and keep your audience growing with YouTube and be sure to use YouTube analytics!
by Miriam Hara | Sep 13, 2013 | Business Success, Latest, Marketing, Miriamisms, Social Media
The proper definition of an ebook is: A publication consisting of text, images or both in a digital format. No longer is the publishing world restricted only to the print medium! In the business world, the launch of ebooks is a daily occurrence. They’re quick and easy reference tools that give a top-line view on various topics and channels, providing business managers with additional learning resources. Social media and Inbound Marketing (AB testing) opened the door to how-to ebooks for business. After all, as a business manager, if you don’t have the knowledge or understanding you need, then you can’t be expected to manage properly. Two of my favourite ebook resources are Hubspot and Optify. Both offer some good examples of ebooks that are quick, easy reads… and provide knowledge.
In today’s world, all you has to do is google “ebooks” to discover the potential for knowledge is just a click away! You’ll likely find a free ebook on exactly what you were curious about, just waiting for you to download and expand your knowledge base. From a business perspective, you can find ebooks on marketing, social media, design, sales, even human resources… they’re all out there! The proliferation of self published, free ebooks online is astounding. I get an email notification at least once every two days promoting another ebook of some sort.
Writing an ebook is no small task… so you need to ask yourself, “Why do it?”. Here are the reasons:
- Perception is reality.
Consultants, corporations and all types of businesses are out there promoting the services they offer to further establish themselves as experts in their industry. And, they’re providing the information freely. That’s a solid reason for businesses to consider writing ebooks.
- Gathering and generating leads.
It stands to reason that if that if a business is giving out knowledge and information freely, it can minimally ask for an email address, name, company name and coordinates. In cases where the business offering ebooks becomes reputable at providing good, sound information, sales questions can be added to the form that visitors need to fill out in order to download.
- Building on-site traffic.
Just creating and launching an ebook is not enough. You need to promote it. You can do that through LinkedIn by including it in your updates and in the promotions tab of the Groups you are following. Also, don’t forget to use your Twitter account or Facebook Page. Doing all of this and leading it back to your site, assists in building traffic, increasing the profile of your business and providing a good first impression to potential clients. And of course, you need to make sure that your website is up to par as well!
At the risk of sounding self promotional, we at 3H already have a complete “Understood” ebook series. And stay tuned, soon we’ll be launching the first ebook in our new series “re:design” – providing insight into the world of design. Do you have any favourite ebooks? Share them here!
by Miriam Hara | Sep 3, 2013 | Business Success, Latest, Social Media
Blogging for business has exploded onto the marketing landscape. Many businesses utilize blogs to promote their services and expertise, others to engage potential and existing client base, and yet other to generate sales leads. Regardless of the objective, launching a blog in the business arena is no small feat. Many businesses have jumped on the social media bandwagon and in the last few years, many have created Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, LinkedIn Business Profile Pages, Pinterest….. and now their very own Blog.
If you’re thinking about creating a blog for your business here’s a few of the hurdles you’ll need to overcome before engaging the blogging arena:
1) Make sure your website can perform accordingly. Many business launch a blog as a separate entity not realizing it’s very beneficial to link their business blog to their website. Blogging can only help the overall traffic your site generates, especially when your posts are featured on your home page, providing Google for a reason to visit your site more frequently. Google looks for fresh and new content. And that traffic can be an opportunity to accumulate leads or at the very least provide information that enables good analysis.
2) Create a strong Blog Persona. Make sure that your blog is an extension of your business and what it represents. Just because it’s social, it doesn’t mean it can’t be branded. It’s part of your brand, so it needs to resonate with your target audience. It also needs to propel your brand forward. It’s a marketing initiative.
3) Be consistent. Be relevant. If you don’t use it, you’ll lose! Many businesses believe that they can do this in-house, and that is certainly doable, but it is a substantial time commitment. Create a social media calendar to ensure that you always have topics in the pipeline that speak to your business. We all get writer’s block or rather, blogging block… but consistency is a must.
4) Write smart. Do your homework. It’s not good enough to just write. It’s important to do your homework. Yes. Homework. Research your topic, and research it with keywords traffic analytics. Make sure your post is SEO enriched. If you write for the pleasure of writing, then you’re just posting and hoping for the best. That’s just not marketing.
5) Spread the word. What’s the point of expending all this energy and time and not sharing your post in the social media properties? You need to tweet about it, post it on Facebook, StumbleUpon, LinkedIn, Google+1, Digg…only to name a few.
After you do it for a while, having a blog for your business can be fun. You start developing a community and a network of like-minded people that speak their minds and provide insight on topics that are relevant to your business. Creating a blog for your business and posting relevant material can elevate your business status and provide you with a strong foundation for developing business. After all, blogging is serious business and done properly should be an integral part of your business marketing program.
What key learning have you found in launching your business blog? I’d like to hear about the different challenges you have been facing with your business blog?
