4 Things to Quick Start A Social Media Lead Generation Program – for Small Business Owners and Practitioners

February 3, 2009

geico-commerical   Quick commercial …join us for a complementary webinar and expert panel: Lead Generation Tactics for Resource Limited Small Businesses.  Register at:  http://marketingstudio.eventbrite.com …I know, not as entertaining as GEICO commercial ….at any rate, latest post below.
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 frustrated-at-computer  When I speak with small business owners about lead generation and social media, I am often asked one rhetorical question (usually in a very loud tone of voice): “How can I find the time!?”

There is no doubt that when you are small, and busy selling and delivering your services/products, its lead nourishment and pipeline generation that often gets ignored.  

 desk-with-pile-of-papers   This is simply a fact of life … a fact of the small business owner’s life. Everything takes time. Social media is no different, but before you say “I am too busy to get in involved in social media” take one weekend or a couple of weeknights away from the television to do the following four things:

1. Find 10 blogs or discussion forums that your market may have reason to read – Remember to think of it from a potential client point of view and not your own
Think broader than your business! For example:

* If you are a personal injury attorney with a focus on “slip and fall” injuries don’t look for blogs covering only legal issues and plaintiff’s rights, look for content around physical therapy, wellness, treatment, etc.
* If you are a web design firm, rather than focus on content specific to design, follow blogs that talk abut branding, e-marketing or lead generation.
* If you are a benefits consultant or talent recruiter, rather than focus on human resource issues, broaden the scope to small business strategy.

2. Join twitter_logo_s

“Leveraging Twitter to Grow Your Small Business” is a topic of our March webinar, and the topic of many, many other blog posts, some written by very knowledgeable and talented folks. Thus I will give you only a few tips to get started on twitter:

* use Twitter Packs to start following “packs” of people who may be your target market.
* use your first and last name as your username and if that is not available add an underscore, middle initial or choose first initial, last name (don’t use your company name)
* upload a photo of yourself, people without photos are viewed suspiciously (don’t ask, they just are)… twitter is casual, so your clothing in the photo should be as well; business casual.
* don’t start promoting … listen, watch, observe …this also can be a great way to finding those 10 blogs you need to follow …
* anytime you see anything of value provided by other people “tweet it” and give the source the proper credit
* Google “Twitter etiquette” and “Twitter best practices” and read up on more details on how to best leverage Twitter (topic for my March webinar)

3. Start your own blog. You don’t have to say anything intelligent, don’t even tell anyone about it …. yet!  Just go to www.wordpress.com, sign up and write a simple top 4 list …see how it works, how it feels. ..no commitment …..just a test drive.

4. Start logging your insights in a word document. Before you leave the desk each evening, ask yourself what are the things that came up at work today that others may find interesting or useful to their business? For example:

* I saw a great example of how Starbucks is building customer loyalty and spreading the Starbucks “virus” through Twitter
* I had further confirmation on how simple, inexpensive and valuable industry polls and surveys are for lead generation
* I learned of a great new tool called Blitztime that can help complement web-based, social media platforms.

Within a week you will have dozens of topics for potential blog posts. The challenge will be deciding which ones have the most immediate interest to your market.

one-big-dayIn summary, the above list should take no more than a day to complete. Your effort will result in a basic foundation for you, the busy entrepreneur and practitioner, to generate more leads and further build your brand by tapping into the “groundswell” that is social media.

Another good post on the topic is byRick Burnes at Hubspot.

Email me if I can help or if you have additional questions.

4 Comments | B2B, Event Marketing, Groundswell, Lead Generation, Marketing, Relationship Marketing, small business, Social Media, Web 2.0, Webinars | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Eric Glazer

Seven Steps to A Successful Web Conference

January 12, 2009

webinar-globe   Offering a free web based conference is a tremendous lead generation vehicle  ….one of my favorites.  Here are seven important steps to ensure your next web conference generates an attractive ROI for your organization:

 

1. DEFINE A CLEAR OBJECTIVE

Is it sales, brand awareness, PR?  Make sure there is one clearly defined and agreed upon objective behind the web conference.

 

2. DELIVER VALUE

No matter the objective make sure the presentation is not just a sales pitch but delivers value to your audience.

 

3. HONEST PROMOTION

When promoting the web conference make sure you outline the “deal” behind the free VALUE you are offering.   This type of communication informs the attendees that in exchange for the free value you are offering there will be a marketing/sales component to the event.   In other words, avoid  surprising the audience with a long sales pitch by being forthcoming about the OBJECTIVE of the web conference  …  “the presentation will highlight research and analysis generated during the production of a recently published report on XYZ” or  “the case study will highlight the use of XYZ’s technology in reducing Company A’s R &D cycle by 25%.”

 

Your honesty helps establishes longer term creditability and trustworthiness between you and your market.

 

4. PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE

I recommend a minimum of two dress rehearsals for veterans and five rehearsals for rookies … anticipate questions, go over your answers …you will miss out on your OBJECTIVE if you are not prepared in a manner that allows you to convey your professionalism and expertise

 

5. ANTICIPATE PROBLEMS

Technical and operational kinks almost always occur the day of your event.  Anticipate problems by logging and calling-in multiple time prior to your attendees arrival, and you can usually solve everything before it’s show time.

 

6. SURVEY/FEEDBACK

The most powerful lead generation tool attached to a web conference is the survey …present a survey or “feedback form” at the end of the web conference (use a simple web based tool like Survey Monkey).  Offer a copy of the presentation as incentive to anyone who completes the form.  Make sure attendees can complete the form in less than five minutes by being brief (20 questions or less) and providing primarily multiple-choice questions.  And don’t forget you are always trying to generate leads so ask the question “would you like to hear more about (my services)?”

 

7. PLAN FOLLOW-UP

Most companies get caught up in the promotion and execution of the webinar and then find themselves scrambling to take advantage of all the hot leads that emerge from their efforts.  If you and your team do not have a plan of action from the minute the web conference ends than you will dramatically reduce the positive impact the event will have on your business.  Don’t lose site of that fact that well planned, timely and appropriate responses is the key to converting any lead generating activity into sales and generating a healthy ROI.

 

Web conferences are powerful lead generation tools but they do require time and a well thought out plan to be successful.  Follow the seven steps and maximize leads generated from this fun and exciting marketing tactic. 

contact-me1 Email me with any questions or if you need assistance producing your company’s next web conference!

Attend the free Marketing Studio webinar series: Lead Generation Tactics for Small business at: http://marketingstudio.eventbrite.com.

Leave a Comment » | B2B, Event Marketing, Lead Generation, Relationship Marketing, small business, Webinars | Permalink
Posted by Eric Glazer

Update on Webinar: Lead Generation for Small Business

January 7, 2009

Thank you for all your input!   The Webinar and Panel is entitled:

Lead Generation for Small Business: Tactics to Drive an Inbound Marketing Strategy
February 11, 2009 at 8 PM EST (sixty minutes in duration)

Register (free) at: http://marketingstudio.eventbrite.com

 

 

I summarize below the insights I have received into three buckets.  Any additional thoughts are welcome …feel free to forward along to other smart folks as well.  Thank you all again!   

 

bucket  I. Strategy

* Do you have a lead generation strategy?

* What lead generation tactics work best for your business?

* How can small companies be seen among the ever-widening pool of larger companies who are flooding into social media?

* What are the biggest barriers to executing a lead generation strategy?

 

bucket II. Resource Allocation and Prioritization

* Sharpening your market focus

* How do you overcome resource limitations that often challenge small companies?

* How do you find  time to execute marketing programs when you are busy “delivering”?

* Tying your marketing strategy to what you are best at doing

* Focusing on tactics/projects that are vital to your survival and/or prosperity

* Allocating resources to try something different

* Ensuring new tactics are aligned with your existing strategy
* What are the best lead generation tools (i.e. website, CRM, networking, SEO, etc)?

 

bucket III. Client Retention

* Gaining a clear perspective on your core customer segments: their pain points and how you provide value to them

* Retaining existing clients – ongoing communication and feedback gathering (i.e. customer surveys), understanding their ongoing needs

* How are companies nourishing relationships with existing clients?

* What tactics are you using to increase sales/billable hours from existing clients?

 

Remember, mark the calendar for Feb 11 at 8 PM EST ….we’ll try to address a subset of these issues through an expert panel (session will be free).

 

Register at: http://marketingstudio.eventbrite.com/

Leave a Comment » | B2B, Event Marketing, Lead Generation, Marketing, Relationship Marketing, small business, Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Eric Glazer

Producing a Free Webinar – Looking to Speak with Owners of Small Businesses

January 5, 2009

i-want-you-for-feedback  I am looking for input from small business owners and marketers.

I am producing a webinar and panel tentatively titled “Lead Generation for Small Business: Tactics to Drive an Inbound Marketing Strategy” to be held February 11, 2009 at 8 PM EST (sixty minutes in duration).    Details below:

Cost?  The webinar is free to attend.  Register here.

Focus?  The session will feature a panel of business owners who will address questions around:

* Do you have a lead generation strategy? 

* What lead generation tactics work best for their business?

* What are the biggest barriers to executing such a strategy?

* How do you overcome resource limitations that often challenge small companies?

* What are tactics you use to overcome these barriers?

* What “proof of concept” or “ROI” is need to convince you that a lead generation strategy is necessary?

* What are examples of a very small business creating an “inbound marketing vortex” in a bad economy?

We will also field questions from attendees.

Who should attend?  Owners and/or practitioners that run and market their small business (loosely defined for purposes of this webinar as businesses that generate less than $15M annually).  These may be lawyers, consultants, software vendors, accountants, insurance brokers, store owners, publishers, etc.

ur-doing-it-wrong   I need your feedback!  Over the next two weeks I am looking to speak with as many small business owners and/or marketers as possible to gain feedback and insights on specific questions and topics we should address.   Please provide your feedback within this blog or simply email me to arrange a brief teleconference so we can connect one-on-one.  Your insights are truly appreciated! 

See you (virtually) on February 11 (I will post confirmed panelists and their bios on this site soon).

2 Comments | B2B, Event Marketing, Lead Generation, Marketing, Relationship Marketing, small business | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Eric Glazer

Three Keys to Creating a Member-Driven Culture within Your Vertical Community

December 19, 2008

A couple of weeks ago I had the honor of presenting to the Professional Marketing Forum in Boston.  I outlined a case study on how professional services firms can leverage a vertical community to improve their lead generation and customer-centric marketing efforts.  One of the main points made was “a well managed and facilitated community will enable your customers (or prospects) to derive value by interacting with each other as well as with your firm.” 

 

How can your firm benefit from these constituents consulting each other?   If leveraged correctly, peer-to-peer interaction between prospects can be a powerful part of your company’s relationship marketing and lead generation strategy, resulting in healthy increases in brand equity and sales.  However, a self sustaining, member-driven vertical community culture is difficult to achieve. 

 

I outlined for the audience in Boston three proven tactics that firms can employ when tacking the challenge of creating a community where members produces content, feedback and value through peer-to-peer interaction.  I summarize the three below:

 

Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) and Evangelists

 

KOLs

Create an advisory board of key opinion leaders within the market.  Allow them to have decision making power as it relates to programming and content within your community in exchange for showcasing their involvement and endorsement of the community.  Use them for advice and gaining credibility.   Encourage their participation but if they are very prominent within your industry don’t expect them to have the time to actively be involved on a daily or even weekly basis.  

 

Evangelists

To offset KOLs inaccessibility, it is critical to also befriend a group within your market that truly embraces the community-concept and/or your firm.  These individuals must have a certain prominence or stature within the industry but need not be the “KOLs” on your advisory board (maybe their direct reports or two levels down).  Feature these folks around various community content like facilitated online discussions, guest blog posts, webinars and face-to-face events.  Focus on enabling these people to “sell” your community and thus your firm.

 

 

Keep Things Simple

 

Assume your market has very little familiarity or comfort participating in online communities.  Thus the user interface or “UI” needs to be simple.  Copy templates off common sites that your users are already familiar and comfortable.  Specifically, the communication tools within the community must be easy and simple to use, whether it be interacting with each other through blinded email (see LinkedIn), well designed online discussion forums or blogs, these applications must have a clean interface and be self explanatory to use. 

 

Event Driven-to-Member Driven

 

You may have a robust database that enables you to quickly fill your community with members, but it is quite a different leap to assume your members will actively utilize the community to interface with you and other members.  To avoid having members be anything other than a dormant e-mail address in your database, focus on value-added events that tackle subject matters that are both highly relevant to your members and can be tied into your firm.  Get the membership acclimated with the community culture through regularly scheduled live, synchronous events like webinars and complement these with asynchronous events like featured online discussions.  Ask members to sit on panels during the webinars, ask members to “facilitate” an online discussion and ask members to be “question askers” or “posters” in the audience.  “Assigning” member involvement is tedious but critical during the first 12-18 months of a community’s life.  The ancillary benefit to your hard work is it allows you to nurture relationships with your most important people. 

 

In Conclusion, if your firm has a clear objective behind a web 2.0 strategy (see the five “objectives” in Groundswell) then it is likely that building an organically grown, member-driven community can be at the core of your lead generation and nourishment strategy.  None of the above tactics are easy and each has it’s own intrinsic benefits and inherent barriers to execution.  However, nothing I recommend is rocket science (I can address questions or dive into each tactic in more detail in a future post or via email if there is demand for such  a discussion).  Practical thinking and practical applications of a sound relationship marketing strategy will enable any smart company to successfully deploy each of the above three tactics. 

 

Results

Ultimately, your members will begin showing initiative in organizing their own online discussions and contributing their own insights via posts or document uploads.  This can result in a number of self explanatory benefits to firms (dramtic improvement in lead generation, better relationships, building brand, market research, customer service, etc, etc).  In extreme cases your members will start “Embracing the Groundswell” (the fifth objective outlined in the book) and seeking you out with ideas on how YOU can generate more sales around your services.  The valuable peer-to-peer forum or member-driven community you have created may end up being your firm’s most valuable marketing asset.

 

See this recent article in Bio IT World on our community the Drug Safety Executive Council as case and point.  

2 Comments | B2B, Event Marketing, Groundswell, Marketing, Relationship Marketing, Social Media, Web 2.0 | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Eric Glazer

An Example of How Web 2.0 Can Make a Real Life Impact

November 4, 2008

Since my post on October 29, I have received a number requests for examples of organizations that have already Untapped the Power of Web 2.0.

What companies are making a real impact in their vertical B2B market?  My quick answer is look no further than your own doctor’s office!   A very tangible example of the Power of Web 2.0 is doctors collaborating with other doctors online.

Today social networks, like Medscape and Sermo, provide a valuable platform for health care providers to advise each other on treatment options and share new insights on medications/medical devices. Like anything in life, we are better equipped to apply a successful solution to a problem when we have seen the problem multiple times in the past. Medical care is of course no different. Communities, where true physician-to-physician consulting takes place, help improve patient care by enabling collaboration around cases when the doctor is unfamiliar with an array of symptoms or when the best treatment practices around a specific condition may yet to be established or are varying.  The result is better patient care which benefits all.

The pharma industry has been ahead of many other industries in leveraging social media to both build relationships with their core customer and gain market research intelligence.  Companies like Physicians’ Online (now a part of Medscape and Web MD) have been providing online, peer-to-peer forums for over a decade (yes, pharma marketers were involved in online communities before LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc).

Don’t be too concerned about the pharma “evangelists” on the payroll as most physician communities where doctors present, post or blog regarding treatment options do require “disclosures” of their affiliations. For example, “Dr. Smith has received research grants for clinical research and has served as an advisor or consultant for Abbott and Merck. She has received grants for educational activities from Bristol-Myers Squibb, Lilly, Pfizer and sanofi-aventis.”

There remains much opportunity in the physician community space, and it goes beyond simply patient care.  The information and insights generated by a physician community can also be used to gage adoption trends and market perceptions around drugs, medical devices and technologies. This knowledge is of course gold if used appropriately by various stakeholders (i.e. the financial and investment community, drug companies, device companies, etc).

The core components of what make these doctor communities so powerful and impactful, can also transcend to other B2B communities.  Unleashing the true Power of Web 2.0 involves bringing peers together, in any profession or industry, to address areas of shared concern.  This enhances knowledge, improves efficiencies and ultimately has a positive impact on profits.

What companies do you know that are Untapping the Power of Web 2.0?

                                                                                                                                                                           

Examples of Physician Communities who are Untapping the Power of Web 2.0:

DoctorNetworking.com - the premier professional networking site for physicians.

iMedicor - offers medical records, Physician CME and collaboration, patient record sharing, practice management.

Medscape - offers specialists, primary care physicians, and other health professionals the Web’s most robust and integrated medical information and educational tools.

SpineConnect - the leading collaborative knowledge network for spine surgeons to collaborate on difficult and unusual cases.

Sermo - the fastest growing community created by physicians, for physicians.

(Please Note: I am presently not affiliated with iMedicor, Medscape, Sermo, SpineConnect, a pharma company or financial institution.)

2 Comments | B2B, Marketing, Relationship Marketing, Social Media, Web 2.0 | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Eric Glazer

The Untapped Power of Web 2.0

October 29, 2008

  Marketing is about building and growing relationships.  Social media serves as an attractive avenue to accomplish important marketing objectives.  If leveraged properly, a company can improve their communication with leads, prospects and customers through social media outlets. 

 

However, the real untapped power in Web 2.0 is creating forums for productive interaction between your leads, prospects and customers (i.e. peer-to-peer consulting between your constituents).  Four top line tactics to that have been successful in facilitating peer-to-peer consulting amongst your market:

 

  1. Initially treat online discussion forums as a single event and promote it as such (i.e. October Forum on “How the Recent ABC Regulatory Changes Impact Widget Production Process and How Companies Can Capitalize”)
  2. Choose a topic that is controversial, topical and/or particularly important to a large portion of your customer base
  3. Invite customers to serve as “KOLs” or key opinion leaders in facilitating a specific forum or discussion, asking them to post 1-2 times per week for a month
  4. Don’t self promote your company or service within the fourm

 

  Social media has presented companies with a unique opportunity to harness the “Wisdom of Crowds” and gain recognition (and revenues) by brokering relationships between members of that crowd.  If managed properly, facilitating peer-to-peer consulting between leads, prospects and customers can increase client loyalty, retention and the overall perceived value of your service.

 

How has your company untapped the power of Web 2.0? 

1 Comment | B2B, Marketing, Relationship Marketing, Social Media, Web 2.0 | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Eric Glazer

Event Marketing is a Six-to-Twelve Month Lead Generation Program

October 27, 2008

   Arguably the most under-utilized marketing tactic in professional services is around conferences and events.

If you help lead marketing efforts at your organization and you are reading this sentence I trust you are already questioning my credibility so let me elaborate before you close your browser on me.

All too often marketers target conferences, both large and small, based solely upon the demographics of expected attendees. They then plop down tens of thousands of marketing dollars and tie it to the two to five days of the event. A far too risky proposition if your job performance is tied to successful marketing ROIs, revenues and brand building.

The problem with the traditional approach to event marketing is that it is focuses far too much on the event itself. Event marketing, if executed properly, is a six to twelve month “lead generation program.”

When partnering with an event organizer or conference producer make sure the agreement goes beyond a simple exhibit or even a speaking slot. Include items like:

*   distribution of your white paper or recent case study

*   promotion and/or hosting of a pre-event web conference featuring your organization (make sure you review “don’t pitch to sell“)

*   an online poll around the conference topic that will enable you to distribute the results to all participants

And there is a whole lot more including market research, VIP dinners/lunches, recruting of talent, etc. !

Event marketing, when utilized correctly, can be at the core of your lead generation efforts and enable your organization to convey your expertise and capabilities to a targeted audience more effectively than any other tactic available to you.

And the cherry on top is if these tactics are planned and implemented property, they also serve the conference organizer in generating more excitement over their event …. increasingng the paid attendance and thus creating an opportunity for you to negotiate a less risky economic agreement for your organization!

  It’s the quintessential win-win arrangement!

Leave a Comment » | B2B, Event Marketing, Marketing, Relationship Marketing | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Eric Glazer

Don’t Pitch to Sell!

October 23, 2008

When your objective during a conference (or webinar) presentation is to market your product or service then a key strategy to employ is ….to NOT market your product or service.

A great post to review on presenting is How to Get a Standing Ovation (within Guy Kawasaki’s blog).

Attendees who are taking the time (and sometimes lots of money) to listen to a presentation are there to network and/or learn …not be pitched services they may not need. However this environment, when approached correctly, can be a perfect opportunity to generate leads and build your brand ….so long as you do not promote your products or services.

Remember, your audience is spending the time and/or money to receive value…so focus on providing entertainment and value. By all means spend sixty seconds introducing yourself and what your company does …but limit it to sixty seconds. You should focus the remaining 95% of your presentation on:
a) entertaining the audience
b) offering value

If you successfully achieve “a” and “b” you will help establish yourself as both likeable and a subject matter expert, two critical characteristics needed to earn someone’s business. The immediate result will be attendees lining up for one of your business cards after the presentation. On the other hand, if you spend too much time spewing a sales pitch, you may find yourself sitting alone during lunch at a table set for ten.

Leave a Comment » | B2B, Event Marketing, Marketing, Relationship Marketing | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Eric Glazer

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