published on BMO’s SmartSteps for Business blog
November 23, 2011
Sponsor: BMO
Mesh Marketing lessons for business owners
Digital marketing enthusiasts, including those from big brands and independent businesses, convened in Toronto last week to ask questions, share ideas, and build a better understanding of social media and content marketing at the 2011 Mesh Marketing conference.
If you weren’t able to attend or follow along with us on Twitter, fret not. Here are some of the top takeaways we gleaned about social media and content marketing, and how they can work for your business.
Content is still king, when done right
If you’re still hesitant to jump into social media, consider how it can help sales by allowing you to connect with current and potential customers.
While many might argue they don’t have time to dedicate to social media or content marketing, doing so can be just as important as any other aspect of your business.
“My answer [to the time-management argument] is how do you find the time to pay your staff on Fridays? That’s how you find time for content marketing!” said Marcus Sheridan, founder of sales and marketing blog The Sales Lion.
Sheridan spoke firsthand of the impact an online presence can have for your business. He grew his own swimming pool company through inbound and content marketing, and his company’s website is now the most visited swimming pool site in the world. In the process, his revenue climbed while his advertising spending lowered. In 2006 he spent $250,000 on advertising and earned $4 million in revenue; in 2010 he spent $18,000 on advertising and eared $6 million in revenue.
Creating marketable online content can be as simple as answering customer questions about your product or service through a blog. Sheridan suggests polling your sales or frontline staff about the inquiries they often get from customers, and answering each of those questions through a blog post.
“If somebody is going to spend money on it, they have questions about it,” Sheridan said. “You need to be the guy answering those questions.”
Acknowledge both the positive and negative
Because social media allows for direct communication between your brand and the public, you needn’t worry about receiving negative feedback through such platforms – because you then have the opportunity to respond accordingly.
“You’re going to turn those disgruntled people into a major brand fan or brand supporter after that,” said Greg Hounslow, Emerging Media Advisor at WestJet. “There’s a bigger opportunity than there’s a risk.”
That said, Hounslow also encourages brands to focus on producing service-based online content, taking advantage of the occasional sales message opportunity.
“You can’t have one without the other,” he said. “If you just blast sales messages all the time, people won’t pay attention … you need a balance of both.”
Influence is about more than quantity
Engaging influential individuals online through social media can prove powerful for your business, if said influencers become ambassadors for your brand.
But Joe Fernandez, CEO and founder of Klout, emphasized that finding the proper online influencer is not just about finding someone with many Twitter followers; it’s about finding trusted, engaged personalities, who have followings – regardless of size – that trust them.
“We just don’t trust advertising, we trust our friends and the word of mouth,” Fernandez said. “The new thing is that social media makes it scalable, and instead of being able to tell 10 or 15 people, you can tell hundreds and thousands of people.”
As such, building online relationships with people whose reputations and expertise you trust can be powerful in terms of getting your messages across to new audiences.
“I think brands have moved away from worrying about just how many followers someone has,” he says. “They’re looking for real conversation.”