In my last post I looked at key characteristics that make Slideshare presentations go viral. They included providing in-depth insight, designing eye-catching experience and, most importantly, telling a great story. (Full article here.) And yet someone may ask, “What’s the point? Why bother with Slideshare?”

The answer is simple – lead generation. There are undoubtedly other good reasons, but today I’m exploring ways businesses can use Slideshare to generate marketing qualified leads that turn into new business opportunities. So where do we start?

1. Embed a form within the presentation

This is the easiest of the options. Add a form as the last slide of your presentation (or anywhere after the 10th slide) to be filled out by individuals who may as well be your potential customers.

This option requires having paid for an account, and, the more you pay, the more leads you can capture every month. (See full pricing plan here)

2. Use the deck as part of a data capture landing page

This requires a little bit more effort in terms of building a unique lead-capture landing page, but it is worth it. Your Slideshare presentation can act as a preview of a full version of a downloadable asset. The presentation need not be too long – you can give away just enough to make people trust your content and be intrigued by it. Intrigued so much so they are happy to fill out their details to gain access to the full version of content (which can be a downloadable e Book, whitepaper, report, infographic etc.)

3. Explore LinkedIn opportunities

Slideshare continues to evolve its statistical tools that allow users to track who’s downloaded and favourited their presentations. Many people have linked their LinkedIn account with their Slideshare profile. Check them out! And if the person qualifies as your target audience, why not move the conversation one step further on LinkedIn?

What next?

After you’ve captured your leads you may want to explore further lead nurturing strategies. Interestingly, Slideshare have recently launched SendTracker, an analytical tool that allows Pro users to see how particular e-mail recipients have engaged with their presentation. It shows how much time a particular person has spent on particular slides, enabling you to gain a better understanding of what kind of content people value more.

Images courtesy of  Slideshare,  and TheNextWeb,

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For companies using social media, Facebook is no longer the “in” platform. LinkedIn has stolen Facebook’s crown and run away with it.

According to research from the University of Massachusetts, more than 8 in 10 companies have a presence on LinkedIn (up from 73% in 2011).

The increase in companies using LinkedIn has a direct correlation with Facebook’s drop in company usage, with 67% of businesses using Facebook (compared to 74% in the previous year).

Pinterest has seen a strong growth in the last 12 months, with nearly 1 in 5 companies using the site, whereas Youtube has seen a sharp decrease, with companies abandoning the use of video, despite the fact that it has such an important impact on search engine rankings.

What this research does prove is that, for B2B companies, it’s all about LinkedIn. No other platform has the variety of professionals that LinkedIn boasts, nor do they offer the same potential for lead generation. Facebook is all about consumers, so if you are a customer-facing organisation, you can have some success. But when it comes to business-to-business there’s only one platform: and it’s LinkedIn.

Does your business have a presence on LinkedIn? Has it been more effective for you than Facebook? Let us know…

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After reading an interesting article from The Real Time Report last week I was inspired to share some of the metrics I know most companies won’t be tracking in the B2B space…

The report above, which looked purely at website analytics as a way of determining referral traffic and leads generated, showed that 82% of leads came from Twitter and the platform outperformed Facebook and LinkedIn by 9 to 1.  Whilst in some cases I am sure that Twitter is more effective, the results do make me wonder how sophisticated the lead generation strategies are – particularly as the analysis was focused on small and medium sized businesses.

For our clients, a considered co-ordinated approach using LinkedIn has proved very successful but by no means is it a one channel strategy. Whatever channel you use for your content marketing and lead generation strategy, it is vital that the approach is optimised.  Here is a great metric to use to determine what content is working:

Clicks per referral (CPR) or Click-through rate (CTR)

Click-through rates are standard place when working with paid media. On the assumption that links are being tracked using a URL shortener (such as Bit.ly) the next progressive step is to also track the number of times you are referring to a URL. For example, if you are pushing out this link on Twitter and on your LinkedIn company profile in one day then this would be two referrals.

Tracking clicks alone is a good indicator of popularity but does not factor in the amount of times the link has been distributed which can create an unbalanced view of what content is popular.

Take this real life (and anonymous) example below for one of our clients in the last month.  In the process of promoting multiple whitepapers across multiple channels we track the number of times we refer to the piece of content, against the click-throughs. This is done per social channel so we can understand what channel is working, as well as which piece of content:

As you can see, Whitepaper 2 has really caught the attention of the community on this social channel.  The stats above are actually combined stats for multiple “messages” for each whitepaper. So, a deeper level analysis would actually reveal which of these messages was most successful.

Now, if you combine this data with the number of whitepaper downloads (per landing page, per channel) and a conversion from “lead” to “sales qualified lead” you are really starting to talk about insight that can effectively help you to optimise your approach to B2B lead generation…

Food for thought?

Graph taken from blog post produced by Marissa McNaughton for Real Time Report .com

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LinkedIn have reached a milestone 200 million users this week. An impressive stat for any social media site. Perhaps not quite in the same league as Facebook who have 1 billion active monthly users, but definitely catching up with Twitter who have around 500 million registered users (although only around 200 million are active). Linkedin has grown quickly considering in 2011 it had 100 million users – in fact the platform now has 2 new users signing up every second! And LinkedIn shows no sign of slowing down as it joins other social media platforms, such as Pinterest, in huge growth over the last year, broadening the social market and taking on Facebook and Twitter’s dominance in the field.

Over 200 million people now use LinkedIn Tweet

Facebook has over 1 billion users Tweet

Twitter has 200 million active members Tweet

LinkedIn may contribute some of this success to the authority they hold as a professional network. The services that the platform provides aren’t just for looking through your friend’s holiday photos or seeing what X is having for lunch via Twitter but for meaningful connections, fantastic networking potential, career prospects and insightful discussions.

LinkedIn underwent several big changes in 2012 including a new layout, endorsements, top influencers and better mobile and iPad apps.  More than ever, LinkedIn is being used by jobseekers and head-hunters alike. Last year saw everyone tightening up their Facebook privacy to stop potential employees stumbling upon our unflattering Christmas party photos and force them to look at LinkedIn profiles where our CV, endorsements and ‘best angle’ would win over the new boss. LinkedIn therefore became the network with a difference; it has purpose and could potentially help carve out your career path.

For more stats take a look at our previous blog post looking at who is on LinkedIn and how they are using it.

Sources:

http://blog.linkedin.com/2013/01/09/linkedin-200-million/

http://therealtimereport.com/2012/12/21/social-networking-stats-twitter-tops-200-million-monthly-active-users-rltm-scoreboard/

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2012 has been a thrilling year in the world of social media, and we’ve been busy keeping up with the rapidity of changes as and when they happen. As the year draws to a close we’ve chosen the top 5 blog posts of 2012.

1. Afraid of your competitor’s social media activity?
A whopping 85% of brands believe increased social media marketing by competitors will have a significant impact on their social media plans. What’s your response to the social media activity of your rivals?
You may also like:  Five useful content planning tools

2. Social customer service done right – 5 success stories from ASOS to Zappos
Consumers are increasingly turning to social networks as a way to reach out to brands and convey their frustrations and worries. The post outlines recent best practice examples of social customer service.
You may also like:  The hard-hitting reality of social customer service

3. Your socially engaged consumers spend more 
Is there any link between social engagement and consumer spending? This article answers with a resounding “Yes”, showing that the social ROI is tangible and concrete.  
You may also like:  Capturing cross-functional content

4. LinkedIn UK membership stats
LinkedIn has become the central B2B marketing platform of 2012. 4 in 5 UK professionals are now on LinkedIn, and the platform has seen a steady growth of 2 million users per year. The article reveals insightful statistics.
You may also like:  How to provoke good LinkedIn discussions

5. Top UK B2B Twitter profiles
If you are contemplating launching a Twitter stream to stay connected to your customers, then these examples might prove useful. Additionally, the article shows a variety of techniques being used to engage with the customer base.  
You may also  The 4 golden rules of Twitter customer service

…and a bonus – Christmas Special:

6. What People Really Want for Christmas
Social media provides unprecedented access to public opinion instantly. We’ve done some listening and pulled together the ultimate social media Christmas wish list. What do people really want for Christmas?
You may also like: The social snowman driving an 11.4% increase in sales…

We can’t wait to face the opportunities, changes and challenges of 2013. And we are looking forward to sharing the latest developments with you here on the blog. Here’s to an even more thrilling 2013!

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Great content requires originality. With 190 million tweets being generated per day, people are looking for genuine insight and overlook bland and overused expressions.

Quite helpfully, LinkedIn have published their analysis of Top 10 Overused Professional Buzzwords in 2012. They include such well-known examples as:

• Creative
• Effective
• Motivated
• Analytical
• Responsible

Compared to their last year’s list, country-specific popularity of buzzwords has changed. Brazil has gone from being “multinational” to “experimental”, Spain – from “managerial” to “specialized” and UK – from “creative” to “motivated”. India has remained “effective”.

When it comes to avoiding buzzwords, here are two useful tips:

1. Find out the buzzwords specific to your industry. Create a list. Check against it any content you create. (Lists like this from D.M.Scott may give you a good start. And if you work in social media, have a read of our blog post on clichés in social media)

2. If no adequate word describes you or your product, why not invent a new one?

Great content requires effort. The explosive potential of social media provides great rewards to effort and originality. Engaging content gets shared, talked about and responded to, raising awareness and helping you achieve your aims.

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The use of social media in business brings financially tangible and statistically measurable benefits. LinkedIn is a great social media platform that enables companies to generate high quality leads in a cost-effective and highly targeted way. Here’s some thoughts on the benefits of using LinkedIn:

1. Variety – Access to Niche Industries

Having 187 million members in over 200 countries, LinkedIn allows businesses to access a highly diverse selection of experts in one place. You name an industry, and it has several active discussion groups on LinkedIn.

2. Depth – Statistically Optimised Targeting

LinkedIn also provides powerful statistical insights that enable filtering groups according to particular business needs. Are you targeting senior-level Dublin-based sales people working in Arts and Design? You’ll find appropriate group to join.

3. Results – Quality leads
The platform also enables filtering the leads as it provides comprehensive insights into individual and company profiles. One or two clicks away you’ll find out the occupation, experience, education and network of a potential lead, as well as their company size, industry and location.

Have you found new business partners and clients on LinkedIn? Why not share your experience in comments below? 

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Given that 66% of UK professionals are now on LinkedIn, the platform offers considerable B2B marketing opportunities to companies. There are numerous ways firms can benefit from LinkedIn, one of which is participation in group discussions. Good questions provoke lively exchange of views and promote the public profile of the initiator of the discussion. But what sorts of questions provoke good discussions?

Let’s have a look…

1. Yes or No Questions

Sometimes simplicity is the right approach. A yes/no question on a topic that people are likely to disagree on may provide a fruitful debate.

2. Two options

Similarly to a yes/no question, giving people a clear selection of options may be the right way to go. Especially if people are likely to think there should be a third option.

3. Personal benefit

As shown in the example below, people are likely to get involved in discussions that may provide personal benefit in the form of publicity and networking opportunities.

4. Controversy

Depending on the industry and context, slight controversy may kick-start an engaging online conversation.

5.  Invitation to contribute

The example below is a humorous and original request for contribution on which most people are likely to have an opinion.

6. Celebrity

Social media destroys the barriers between the public and celebrities. Providing virtual access to well-known figures, even industry leaders, can bring great response.

What sorts of questions are you likely to engage with?

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Love these to bits, always great encouragement for B2B marketers. Especially when they are about 6 foot long!

B2B social media is handled by the PR department in the main, most do it to create awareness and the shock that more use Facebook (80%) than Twitter (78%) Have a little look below…

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It’s been over a year since Google released their challenger to Facebook’s rule on top of the social media pyramid, in the form of Google Plus.

Launched in June 2011, the search giant hoped that Google Plus could strike a huge blow to Facebook’s dominance of the social media world. While that hasn’t quite materialised, the numbers for Google Plus speak for themselves: 400 million members and 100 million active users are impressive for its first year.

Whilst Google Plus may not possess the stature of Facebook, the controversy and outspokeness of Twitter, the business acumen of Linkedin, or the attractiveness of a Pinterest, there is one way Google Plus distinguishes itself from the rest: Hangouts.

Google’s answer to Skype, here’s some top ways how B2B marketers can use Hangouts to interact and network with both clients and staff in your organisation.

Meeting clients without the hassle of travel:

If you are unable to travel for a meeting with a client, then Hangouts can be a great substitute. Hangouts give you the ability to schedule video conference calls and create that in-person feeling without the need to travel. And even if a member is unable to access Google Plus, they can simply join in the video-conference with a free voice call.

Training made easier:

It’s hard to train someone over the phone, so that’s where Hangouts come in. You have the ability to do some internal training with staff or external training with clients, with Hangouts allowing you to see what’s going on and giving you visual and personal feedback to the session.

Networking on a new level:

Networking is important. But what about the people that are unable to attend the shows? Hangouts on Air allow you to invite the people who cannot make it so they see your brand and reap your industry knowledge.

Customer Service is essential:

Social Media gives businesses a platform to speak to their consumers and Hangouts can be an extension of that service. Hangouts give marketers the opportunity to hold either Q&A sessions or a virtual help desk to interact with customers on a more personal level.

It’s all about videos:

Customer testimonials are important to every business. Hangouts is a great cost-free way to record a testimonial, edit it and then upload Youtube for the world to see.

Have you used Google Hangouts? What do you think are the best features that marketers can adopt?

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