Get (Even) More Social with Conversational Marketing

We’ve been having conversations and telling stories long before the written word, social media is just making it easier to have conversations across states and oceans. Add Conversational Marketing to the mix to make those conversations personal.

Conversational marketing isn’t a fad. It’s the ability to connect and have a one-on-one, personal dialogue in real-time.

Here are the top three benefits of conversational marketing:

  1. Can happen anytime. Your business may be open from 9AM-5PM, but customers want the ability to ask questions whenever they please. Customers can now initiate a conversation and resume it at their leisure.

  2. Can happen anywhere. 1-800-what? Don’t worry, customers are still using phone, email and even text messages to communicate, but some are taking a different route to getting their questions answered. Websites offer live chats. Social Media has private messages or DMs (direct messages). The latest mediums of communication have expanded the menu of viable options for conversational marketing.

  3. Data. Isn’t it great when you talk to a friend or spouse (COUGH COUGH) and they actually listen to you? The next time you see them, you don’t have to rehash the story all over again. Conversational marketing is the same, but for your business. It provides the ability to gather and retain data. For example, Customer X, let’s call him Harry, messages you on Facebook about a defect on product A, the following day Harry asks for a return via email. When you receive the email, you already know he wants to return Product A because it has a defect, no need to rehash this information again. The power of data!

Taking Conversational Marketing to the Next Level

For many small businesses, having a team of customer service agents available 24/7 is nearly impossible, but chatbots are available to help bridge the gap. Chatbots are an essential element of support, providing answers to your company’s most frequently asked questions. Chatbots can be optimized on social media and can even be added to your website through a third-party provider like SnapEngage.

Still not sold? Over 2 BILLION messages are sent to businesses each month through Facebook Messenger alone and with customer response time expectations at roughly 24 hours your business should be apart of these conversations!

Turn to LinkedIn for B2B Leads

If you have a professional problem, turn to LinkedIn! LinkedIn is more than just a social media channel to utilize when you’re on the hunt for a new gig or as a business owner, a place to find your next top talent.

Did you know LinkedIn is responsible for roughly 80% of all B2B leads? With 9 billion impressions across LinkedIn’s feeds weekly, it’s easy to see why!

94% of B2B marketers use LinkedIn to distribute their content. LinkedIn can lead decision makers to your content and website, increasing the number of leads generated. For B2B websites, nearly half of all social media traffic is coming from LinkedIn.

If your advertising budget allows, don’t forget targeting advertising. It can not only increase traffic, but is also a more efficient way to pinpoint key decision makers by industry, job title and more.

More Stats on Why You Need LinkedIn in Your B2B Marketing Plan:

  • 43% of marketers say they have received a customer through LinkedIn

  • 92% of B2B Marketers leverage LinkedIn over other channels

  • 79% of B2B Marketers view LinkedIn as an effective source for generating B2B Leads

If you are ready to utilize LinkedIn as a part of your social media strategy, give me a call to get started!

Is Link Building Dead?

Think link building is dead? Think again. The general consensus among the SEO community is that links still play a big role in Google’s algorithm. According to Moz, domain-level link features and page-level link features are two factors with the most weight when it comes to ranking (estimating roughly 20% each).

Building backlinks (or inbound links) isn’t a relatively easy task, but don’t let that stop you from adding it to your marketing strategy. Backlinks are created when one website links back to another. Earning a backlink is essential to any off-site SEO strategy.

Backlinks are important because they serve as a stamp of approval. The more “stamps” you receive, the more search engines believe you are worthy of the coveted top search result.

Does your website backlink to other websites? How many backlinks does your page receive?

Planning next year’s marketing strategy? Let’s chat today and get started on analyzing your links!

LinkedIn Events - Planning a Professional Event Made Easy

Getting the word out on your upcoming event just got easier thanks to LinkedIn’s new feature LinkedIn Events. We are just a few days into the launch in English speaking countries, but are already loving some of the features.

LinkedIn Events gives users the ability to create, manage and join professional gatherings. Users can invite connections, have conversations with other attendees and stay connected after the event wraps up. LinkedIn Events can be private, can include event update notifications, and offer my favorite feature: the ability to search and filter connections in order to invite the right attendees.

In the pilot program, members noted a boost in attendance and awareness of the event, in addition to 2nd tier connections joining the event.

As a member of LinkedIn, you’ll also be able to search for events you wish to attend.

According to LinkedIn’s data, the chances of people accepting connection requests on LinkedIn increase 2X if they have attended a face-to-face meeting. LinkedIn Events are a great way to nurture relationships in the real world!

Instagram 'Restrict' is Here

Trolls be gone! Instagram, one of the leading social media networking sites, just released their latest featured called "Restrict”. The Restrict option will now allow users to limit comments from chosen individuals on their posts.

As Instagram explained…

"You can restrict someone by swiping left on a comment, through the Privacy tab in Settings, or directly on the profile of the account you intend to restrict. Once Restrict is enabled, comments on your posts from a person you have restricted will only be visible to that person. You can choose to view their comment by tapping “See Comment;” approve the comment so everyone can see it; delete it; or ignore it. You won’t receive any notifications for comments from a restricted account."

See it in action below!