Plan your inbound marketing efforts

After describing an inbound marketing strategy I was asked how I would implement and manage all of the different properties and postings.  It is a good question, especially if inbound marketing activities are only part of your initiatives as managing the different platforms can be very time consuming and difficult to track.  If you do not  have a plan the postings cans lose some of its effectiveness as the messaging can seem muddled and ad hoc. In my last post I discussed the different ways to use each platform, now you need to implement a plan to make sure you are getting the most from your efforts.

You need to draw out a weekly, monthly and quarterly plan of inbound initiatives and make sure you know when these will all fall and who will be responsible for managing them. The plan should take into account any upcoming case studies, white papers, webinars, banner or other forms of advertisement and event attendance or other items so you can schedule announcements appropriately. You also need to assign people to manage these events on the different platforms. For example, if you have  technical white paper coming out in two weeks, it would make sense for someone on the development team to write a blog post about the paper and possibly promote it on LinkedIn. You will need to make sure that person is aware of their deliverables and know when and where they need post. You need to plan like a marketing agency would plan for more traditional activities to make sure your messaging is cohesive and accomplishes your objectives.

Anyone else have thoughts on how to plan or some best practices?

How many handles should you have on Twitter?

Image by stevegarfield via Flickr

I just came from a meeting where the topic of how many Twitter handles should we have to message out to our customers. This particular unit currently has five different handles and different parts of the business are approaching the social media group to ask for a handle so they too can tweet.

I believe that there is a danger in diluting your overall messaging with too many people tweeting. While the theory is you should tweet more to get your message out, that does not, in my mind, mean that you should have multiple handles tweeting the same or different ideas. To me, that sounds like Twitter spam.

Additionally, the more people you have the greater the risk of someone tweeting something inappropriate.  Everyone has a different ideas of what "Do not post anything stupid" means. A 20-something may think it is ok to tweet anything as that is they the way they have been brought up. An older worker who has not grown up with these technologies may not understand the reach that they have and the impact an off-hand comment could have on your firm and brand.

Your marketing message needs to be clear and concise and the more people voicing that message the greater risk there is in being tuned out.

Good example of a nice initial approach

I recently received the below email and I thought it was a very good way to approach someone who may have a need for your service. No hard sell, just an introduction and a request. Well done. Here it is. I left out the senders name but check out the firm.

Hi Barrett-

I was recently doing some marketing research and came across your blog. You offer some great insights in to the world of marketing, particularly online marketing. Your post about "Death of a Salesman" had some great points. The more the consumer can be directly involved with the process, the more it becomes being what they are looking for, and less about selling to them.

I work for an online marketing start-up, Kutenda (Kutenda.com). We have created a toolset with PPC management, email marketing, website management, SEO and more- all in one place. Our goal is to help small businesses increase their visibility online and grow their business. To this point, online marketing is often seen as overwhelming and complicated, especially for small to mid-size businesses. That's where we come in. Our suite of tools is simple to use, with expert knowledge built in. In addition, we also provide training too, to walk people through the process, start to finish. We are working on getting our name out there and having people experience all we offer. I know how busy life gets- particularly after a holiday!- but if you have a moment, it would be great if you could check us out. Kutenda.com- we offer a great free trial program and a demo to learn more.

If you feel we would be a good resource for your readers, a link would be much appreciated. If you have questions, please don't hesitate to ask. I hope to hear from you soon. Thanks for your time and happy new year!

Sincerely,

Death of Salesman?

Lately I have been wondering if, as social media tools mature, will marketing become the new salesforce or at least a closer extension than it already is?

There are certainly some products where face to face interaction is critical in the selling process. However, with more people doing research beforehand on social media sites and seeking out opinions/reviews on products, will marketing have to monitor those areas to make sure the correct message and information can be found. This role of gatekeeper seems more suited for marketing than sales to me.

Marketing's key role is communicating with the customer until they are ready to buy. Social media sites provide a great venue for this conversation. I do not think it is too far fetched to think that marketing could become a key player in turning prospects in customers without interaction from sales.

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