Leveraging Social Networks for Business
For B2B marketers, the time is right to look into social networking as tools to help generate new sales leads and bolster relationships.
Visitors to social media sites jumped a staggering 774 percent between 2006 and 2007, according to a 2007 comScore study. Social networks aren’t just for kids anymore — much of this increase is from adults getting in on the action.
So the big question for marketing and sales professionals is this: How can I use social networking tools to build business online? Read on to see how two of the most popular social networks out there — LinkedIn and Facebook — can help.
LinkedIn
Are you Linked In? In case you’re not familiar with it, LinkedIn is the world’s most popular online business networking site with more than 14 million members and approximately 1.5 million business owners and founders using it. As a marketing professional, you can use it to build your team, find strategic partners, conduct market research, showcase your expertise, build your brand and, of course, sell your product or service. There are dozens of smart ways to use LinkedIn to help you achieve your business goals. And, oh yeah, it’s free to join.
LinkedIn is a great resource for reconnecting and casually keeping in touch with a broader network of people and professional contacts at arm’s length. When creating an account, you enter all your previous workplaces and any other companies with which you might have some good leverage; the software uses this information to match you with a database of decision makers in more than 10 thousand public companies and 30 thousand private companies. It will find anyone who is connected to you and all the potential connections (people that work or used to work together), essentially professionals that are just a friendly introduction away.
The tool allows users to set their profiles to accept certain types of communication from other users – including business inquiries and deals – and provides ample room for users to describe their company and its products or services. Depending on how expertly a user’s description is crafted will influence whether other users who will find them in searches.
LinkedIn works exceedingly well for intelligence gathering and knowledge management, which explains why so many consultant organizations are on the social network. If you’re trying to market yourself as an expert, for example, or are developing credibility in your field, it looks good to have a strong presence in a network such as LinkedIn (i.e. lots of connections). If you answer questions with the knowledge of an expert in the Answers section, even better.
Facebook
To date, Facebook has been predominantly a personal social network, but that hasn’t stopped businesses and their proactive marketing and sales teams from adapting its existing features to suit their networking and promotional needs. Since Facebook launched open registration in early 2007, it has started the transformation from a college-focused social network into a marketing channel for connecting with online adults.
Facebook in particular is useful for maintaining and building on business relationships. Let’s say you meet a potential client at a conference and add her as a contact in LinkedIn – that’s about the end of it. Add her as a friend in Facebook and now you see what she’s up to in your news feed, and you discover common interests or otherwise find some basis to stay in contact with her.
Furthermore, Facebook is evolving. The students who started using Facebook four years ago have graduated and will most likely keep using Facebook to stay in touch. This means there will be thousands of young professionals who think of Facebook as an extension of their social life. In this context, Facebook could become a necessary tool to reach out to potential customers, especially in the younger crowd.
For example, let’s say you “friend” a client on Facebook who had a great experience working with your company. Because you are in his network, that client can become a fan. This is useful, not just to let you know he appreciated your top-notch service, but also because his friends can see this affiliation on his profile or in their News Feeds and then go to your page to learn more about it.
Another business use for Facebook is to treat is as a soapbox from which to demonstrate thought leadership, promote your company, and drive additional traffic to your company Web site.
Facebook is also a place for professionals to build their personal brand. With APIs, you can develop – or hire your software development firm to build – an app that creates some form of involvement with your service or the brand.
The tool’s main business value also lies in its reach and the niche focus of its Groups. Companies should establish Groups in Facebook for several reasons. First, it’s free. And if you can create a presence in a cyberspace community that has 31 million members, and is growing at more than a million members a week, why would you not take advantage of the opportunity? Second, even if you don’t plan to use your Group, it’s wise to create one anyone to prevent cyber-squatting. Don’t let a mischievous prankster (or a competitor) create a new group in Facebook with your company’s name.
If Facebook’s user base of business professionals continues to grow, it could become a legitimate option for B2B marketers eager to connect with savvy professionals who largely depend on word of mouth to influence their business purchasing decisions.
In summary, think of social networking like your cell phone or your briefcase – it’s a business tool, not a specific, revenue-goals-attached money generator. LinkedIn and Facebook can be business-builders if you approach them that way. Be diligent, be patient, be smart and you’ll get results.
