Social Media Secrets of a Fast-Growing Firm

First, Inc. lists the firm among its "Fastest Growing Companies."

Then Crain’s Chicago adds it to its "Fast 50" roster.

And social media marketing helped make it happen.

How?

B-to-B marketer Drew Hawkins shares his secrets on Social Media Today.

Hawkins works for Hinda Incentives, which markets employee recognition and loyalty programs to businesses.

His secrets are pretty simple:

Devise a strategy. "Our social strategy boiled down to one goal: drive traffic to our Website—our largest source of lead generation.  Our theory was, if people liked what we had to say in our social outlets, they would be more likely to visit our Website."

Narrow your options. "We narrowed our 'voice options' down to a few select channels. Our emphasis went toward content development for our blog.  We generated traffic to our blog using Twitter and LinkedIn, and some relevant, B2B-friendly networks."

Build a community. "After building online relationships with a couple key influencers through blog commenting and Twitter conversations, we began to build our own community around the strategies of recognition and loyalty programs."

Hawkins' results are impressive:

• Followers on Twitter and LinkedIn doubled in 6 months
• Blog traffic grew to 1,000 visits a month in 12 months
• Website traffic increased 15 percent in 12 months
• Lead quality measurably improved in 12 months

And what's he learned along the way?

Be patient.  "We’ve been working for over a year and a half on our efforts and are just now reaping the benefits."

Focus on quality. "We’ve learned that there’s more to social media than just having a ton of followers.  It’s converting to meaningful relationships that counts."

Know your audience.  "Flying by the seat of your pants in social media isn’t strategy.  Before starting anything, you should research who you need to target, where they hang out on line and what they talk about."

How to Create Social Email

Social media has changed email marketing, says Gail Goodman, columnist for Entreprenuer.

Persuading readers to share your emails has become critical.

You can prompt readers to share your emails by providing content that signals you understand their priorities; entertains them; and asks for feedback and participation.

Four additional things you can do to create a “social e-mail experience:”

1. Include a social icon in every email. The "Forward to a Friend" feature lets readers share your content with another person. But by adding social icons to your email, the same reader can now share it with her entire Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn networks.
2. Include links to your Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn pages in your emails. Be sure to give reasons why readers should join you on social media destinations.
3. Entice readers with a link to a conversation you want to continue on Twitter or to an exclusive contest or survey you're featuring on Facebook.
4. Always post your email content on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Keep conversations alive by reposting snippets on different social media destinations.

A VC's View of PR

In a recent post on his blog, venture capitalist Mark Suster shares what he's learned about PR. 

His advice is meant for startups, but it's good advice all round.

PR is a process, not an event.  Patience and perseverence are essential.  It takes months, if not years, to build relationships with journalists.
 
PR can't be delegated.  You need help to research journalists, arrange meetings, pitch stories and write copy.  But you cannot delegate media interviews.  "If you want PR coverage, you’re going to have to dedicate a non-trivial amount of time to it."

If your budget's limited, don't hire a big PR firm.  You won’t get the senior team’s focus; instead, 22-year olds will do all your work (and won't have enough billable hours to do it justice).  If you need outside help, go to a small firm or an individual; or hire a part-time PR intern.

Be authentic.  Don't conduct interviews as if you were running for office.  "Talk like a human.  Give real answers.  Show a sense of humor and humility."

Have a viewpoint.  Too many executives avoid controversy.  That’s fine for the executives at Apple; they'll get coverage anyway.  But you need to go out on a limb and present informed opinions.

Don’t cry wolf.  "Make sure you’re not spewing out meaningless reams of press releases."  And don’t spam people.  The good stuff will get lost.

Get media training.  Media training will help you keep interviews on track and focused on the story you want to tell.

Snake Oil

According to MediaPost News, a new study from Razorfish reveals that customers don't consider Twitter and Facebook important ways to engage with a company, despite the pronouncments of social-media experts.

Most customers still prefer traditional marketing channels, such as email and word-of-mouth.

Why?  Customers believe "feeling valued" is the most important aspect of brand engagement.  They don't feel especially valued, just because a company Tweets or posts a status update on Facebook.

The study also found the experts' "consumer in control" mantra is hokum.

Customers were asked to rank six attributes of engagement: feeling valued, trust, efficiency, consistency, relevance and control.

They ranked control the least significant.

Fear and Loathing in the Social Media Sphere

According to Robert Jones, contributing editor to SmartBrief on Entrepreneurs,
"entrepreneurs dread social media."

He cites a recent poll of SmartBrief readers that found entrepreneurs would rather farm out social media marketing than any other business function.

Jones asked four social-media experts to explain why entrepreneurs would do so.  They said:

• Large corporations are commercializing social media so rapidly, they're crowding out small businesses.  Small-business owners aren't sure they can have a share of voice.
• Small-business owners mistakenly believe that, to be effective, they have to use every social media platform.
• Social media is time-intensive.  Small-business owners don't see the ROI in it.
• Small-business owners lack the skills needed, so they're frightened by social media marketing.

My own opinion?

Small-business owners are stymied by social media marketing because it's content marketing. 

And content doesn't just fall off trees. 

You have to ferret it out, organize it, and present it in a digestible fashion.

And that takes persistence.  Just ask any journalist.