Marketing Commentary from interlinkONE
Marketing. Web-to-Print. Warehouse Management.
Get Your Employees On Twitter
Posted by 
on Monday, July 18, 2011 
at 7:32 AM 
in No business would survive if it were not filled with dedicated, persevering employees who understand the mission of the company. Regardless of the industry, they are the backbone of any successful business.
When it comes to social media marketing companies, however, employees have a slightly different role. They are very visible and engage in their own social media circles, which can at times be very large. Your employees can all be brand ambassadors. Have your employees get on Twitter and engage with industry professionals, potential clients, and other businesses.
The more engagement your employees participate in, the higher their number of followers. Twitter is unlike Facebook in that you can just accrue friends because you will already know a good deal of people using it. You have to do a little legwork to get Twitter followers. And if it’s done right, the followers your employees can acquire will be relevant people to your work and they will actively engage in conversation about your industry and new trends. And your employees should be Tweeting links to new blog posts that go up on your company blog, linking to new videos or podcasts, or any new content at all. Use Twitter, and your multiple employee accounts to build a strong network.
With great power, of course, comes great responsibility. And not just for Spiderman. Make sure all of your employees take care of their social media accounts and keep them clean and professional. Understand that irresponsible social media accounts can be very bad PR for your company.
Don’t be afraid to be personal as well! Connect with friends and share personal interests. You may have the same interests as your followers which could act as excellent conversation starters as well!
Twitter can be a very important tool for companies. Having a genuine, unforced interaction between employees, the company and followers can create a positive and connected network. There is value in promotion that isn’t directly from the brand. Having ambassadors to the brand is a successful strategy for you to promote the company and the mission.
Tags A Conversation About Content Marketing
I recently had a chance to visit Graham Spector in the Grow Socially video booth. While a lot of our conversations typically revolve around music, we stuck to the script this time. The primary topic of this conversation was content marketing.
I hope that you enjoy it! Here are a few of the questions that were posed throughout the video:
- What is content marketing?
- What types of content should companies be creating?
- What content is most effective for converting leads?
Can Social Networks Drive Offline Activity?
I recently had the privilege of speaking at the “Marketing 2.0 Tools and Technologies” event in Plymouth, MA. It was put on by the wonderful folks at the Plymouth Chamber and Curley Direct.
There were certainly a wide range of businesses represented in the audience — some from large organizations, others that own small Mom & Pop shops on Main Street. But regardless of the size of the business, I talked to a few people that are questioning whether it’s worth it for them to incorporate social networking into their marketing efforts.
While I do hope that I was able to provide a compelling argument and some useful ideas on how they could benefit by having a presence on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, LinkedIn, etc., I think this recent eMarketer chart may help too:
Your social networking activity does not guarantee a sale. But truth be told, you are not guaranteed that a sale will come when you send out an email blast, a direct mail piece, or buy an advertisement.
To succeed in today’s world of marketing and communications, we must work harder than ever to reach prospects and consumers via the right channel, at the right time, and with the right content. If we are willing to do that, then we may be able to experience some of the actions mentioned in the chart above.
Ignite Your Growth Heading to Windsor, CT
I am excited to share the news that I’ll be participating in another stop on HP’s Ignite Your Growth tour.
On Thursday, May 19th, I’ll be speaking on the subject of “Using Social Media Marketing to Grow Your Business” in Windsor, CT. This event is being held at the Integrity Graphics building.
Registration information can be found on HP’s website.
If you’ll be in the area, I hope to see you there!
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Calling All Service Providers – Make Social Media Work for You!
If you’re in the business of printing, mailing, or fufilling marketing materials for other businesses, you absolutely need to be utilizing the power of social media to promote your company and build your business. The Internet doesn’t replace print media, no matter what anyone says. It doesn’t operate independently of print, it doesn’t function in a different business world than print. In fact, Internet businesses have a huge need for printed materials- brochures, flyers, invoice materials, packaging materials and dozens of other hard copy paper materials with text and images printed on them. Where do Internet entrepreneurs look for business partners? On the Internet, of course- and they are using social media to find them.
So… it’s time to do an inventory of your social media presence. Can people find you on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube? If not, here is a brief overview each of those channels.
Facebook is the big daddy of the social media sites. This platform allows you to create a profile or even a fan page. The difference between the two may actually seem quite negligible to the average use, but they make a difference to you as a business owner. The Facebook Fan page allows you to have a professional business page where you can announce information, promote special deals or provide other information about your business. You can target your posts so they are broadcast to all of your fans or just to those in specific demographics, such as location or language. Pages don’t utilize the inbox like personal profiles do, so you cannot send or receive individual messages. Only the administrator or owner of a business can create a Page, but you can assign other administrators to help you maintain and manage the page. You invite people to become fans of your page and build your following when those fans invite their own fans and friends.
Twitter is another big player in the social medial game. Twitter plays a little differently than Facebook by limiting each post to a maximum of 140 characters. While it may seem like the restriction could impede communication, the truth is many people love the challenge of saying what they need to say in a short, concise message and find it a time saver! Twitter is a great way to share links, posts to blogs and short messages with your customer base. One of the key features to remember with Twitter- and all social media platforms- is that you need to make sure you are actually being social and not just promoting your products. If all you do is hard sell, you will lose your followers or at best, simply be ignored.
YouTube
You Tube is another popular social media outlet. On You Tube, you post video for people to watch and share- they even share it on other social media networks like Facebook and Twitter! By utilizing video, you can show your products and demonstrate unique ideas, let your customers see the person behind the name, and let people see your facility, equipment, staff or anything else that makes you stand out from your competition.
P.S. If you are looking for more information on how service providers can use social media to grow their business, I devoted quite a few pages on the topic in my book Business Transformation: A New Path to Profit for the Printing Industry.
