marketing

4 Social Media Platforms to Empower Your Employees

 

Who knows your business as well (if not better) than you do? The people who work in your business, of course! And I’m not talking about a sales staff. I’m talking about your nuts-and-bolts employees who know the everyday ins and outs, whether they work with your customers, handle inventory or do the behind-the-scenes work that helps run your company. In today’s socially-connected world, employees are often an untapped resource that (with a little guidance) could exponentially expand your company’s word-of-mouth reach. Empower them so they can power your business.

Your employees can use these four social platforms to help spread the word about your company:

1. LinkedIn

 Especially if your company is B2B, have a company profile on LinkedIn, and encourage all employees to have personal profiles that link them to your company. Each person has talents and skills they contribute to your business that could be highlighted with your company’s keywords in each employee’s summary and experience areas. LinkedIn Recommendations can also increase your company’s visibility in the channel.

Ask employees to join groups where they can share their insights and answer questions.

2. Facebook

 If you have a business page on Facebook, have employees link to it in the “About” section of their profiles. Also, set up a private group where your employees can collaborate. Seek out groups that fit your company niche and encourage employees to join; not to SPAM others with your messaging, but to find ways to contribute, answer questions, share expertise, etc.

3. Twitter

 Twitter is a great place to provide an extra level of customer service that goes beyond your own company brand on Twitter. People-to-people interaction gives your brand a more human touch. Each person can actively “listen” for company mentions, questions and conversation around keywords and jump into the conversation where appropriate—even if it’s just to thank someone for mentioning or Retweeting your brand. Encourage employees to share Tweets around your company’s activities and content. Come up with a company hashtag or a series of hashtags (e.g. #companyname, #companyevent) and pre-craft Tweets to make it easy. They can just cut and paste to share on their Twitter feed.

4. Instagram

 Even if you don’t have a photogenic product, your employees with smartphones can still spread positive messaging about your company with Instagram. From photos of the lunchroom, to customer gatherings to company events, there are many ways your employees can pull in prospects with images.

Hashtags can now be used and tracked on all four of these platforms.

A little encouragement goes a long way!

Set some formal guidelines, keeping in mind that if you clamp down too hard, employees may back away from participating. Offer in-house social training, led by your best in-house and local experts. Provide incentive programs to reward the employees who provide the most relevant ideas and responses.

Remember that your employees are your company’s best resource—make the most of their passion and individuality. They’re already social, so start thinking of how you can empower your employees to have their own voice, and you will discover many can and will become your company’s most active and valuable social advocates.

Originally published October 2, 2013 at salesforce Blog

Social Media Radio with @BeverlyMacy interviews Ted Rubin

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/beverlymacy/2013/10/29/the-worlds-most-followed-cmo–ted-rubin

The World’s Most Followed CMO – Ted Rubin

FEATURED
Tuesday 10/29 3:00 pm 

Ted is the most followed CMO on Twitter according to Social Media Marketing Magazine; one of the most interesting CMOs on Twitter according to Say Media, #13 on Forbes Top 50 Social Media Power Influencers, 2013, and number #2 on the Leadtail August 2013 list of Top 25 People Most Mentioned by digital marketers.

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Why Relationships & Advocacy Are Keys to Social Success (Webinar via @EngageSciences)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNsNdk1yOsE

 

October 23, 2013 by engagesciences

On Tuesday October 22 Richard Jones, the CEO of EngageSciences was joined by Ted Rubin, globally recognised as the most followed CMO on Twitter for a live webinar on “Why Relationships and Advocacy Are The Keys to Social Success”.

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Duane Reade Strategy Creates 1 Million+ Engaged Twitter Followers

 

~via Wired City… New York City drug store giant Duane Reade is connecting with more customers via social media.

 

Its Twitter fan base surpassed 1 million followers, a major milestone for the Walgreen-operated drug store chain among the drug, food and mass-arena segment. Duane Reade has raised its presence on Twitter more than 6,000 percent in the past year.

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Customer Loyalty Management via the Customer Service Silo

All of your employees work in the marketing department, at least to some extent, and they need to understand the role they play. But to create a strong foundation for customer loyalty management, there are a few departments within your company that absolutely need to sync with marketing. Your customer service department is the most important.

Here are four ways you can leverage your customer service team to effectively manage customer loyalty, build relationships, and turn customers into fans. Think Return on Relationship… because there is no better time than when your customers reach out to you.

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What Every Marketer Can Learn By Going Lean

I never thought I would be penning a piece using the word “lean” in the title. Being six-foot three and weighing 250 pounds the word “lean” and I are not always in the same neighborhood, or country for that matter. But when I heard about a different kind of lean, one that brands and marketers and business owner of all sizes can benefit greatly from – my naturally investigative mind took over and I knew I had to learn more.

What I found was Lean, with a capital L. Some refer to it as “Lean manufacturing”, “Lean enterprise”, or “Lean production” where others just refer to it as “Lean.” Whatever name you prefer it all essentially means the same thing: maximizing customer value while minimizing waste.

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A “Must Attend” for heads of Marketing: @TheCMOClub #CMOsummit

 

 

The evening of October 08, 2013 – October 10, 2013 – Los Angeles, CA

I have personally attended 7 Summits and have ALWAYS left wishing there was another I could attend the very next month. Looking forward to Keynoting and discussing Influencer Marketing with Tami Cannizzaro and Bryan Kramer

Stay Connected, networked and work with your peers, behind closed doors… No vendor selling permitted

120+ Heads of Marketing to Attend with 40 Leading Sessions

What Marketing Executives get from the Summit

1. Solve your biggest challenges as a marketing executive

2. Build you rnetwork and start lifelong relationships with CMO’s

3. Learn high impact ideas for leading your marketing team and buildling credibility with your CEO & Board

4. Recharge your battery and get inspired for success in 2013 and 2014!

“By far the most valuable CMO event I attended so far in 2013. The most engaged group of CMOs I know” – Paula Puelo, CMO, Michaels

“Every CMO Club Summit I attend I end up with 2-3 year impacting ideas for my company. Nothing is better than getting great ideas from your peers without vendor selling” – Evan Greene, CMO, The Recording Academy

“Engaged marketing heads, focused on helping each other, behind closed doors. Great inspiration as well” – Fred Neil, VP Marketing, The Home Depot

“I have never been in the same room with so many bright marketers and leaders, all focused on helping each other. Unlike anything else I have ever attended. The post summit engagement with other CMOs is amazing as well.” – Nancy Smith, CMO, iRobot

“Nothing challenges me more to improve as a leader to my team, then seeing what others are doing to motivate and lead their organizations – Thanks to The CMO Club for creating a real community of CMOs.” – Ashley Sheetz, CMO, Gamestop.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjZmToqn4F0

Foster Relationships With Content ~via @Brand_Innovator #bisummit

 

 

I’m keynoting the Brand Innovators Content Marketing Summit today and thinking about the connections between what we call content and how customers connect to it. I must admit that what I see confuses me somewhat. Every day brands and marketers spend millions trying to convince consumers to use, keep using, and share their content. But why aren’t they doing everything they can, and using some of those millions to make experiences with their brand remarkable. It would probably be way less that they are spending on those marketing campaigns.  When this happens user-generated, story-telling content flows freely, and is naturally shared.

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Don’t Underestimate the Power & Value of Twitter

Don’t forget that although Twitter’s only used by small % of the population, it’s a seeding medium with content that very often finds its way to other mediums via every day users and influencers, a place for real-time news, sentiment analysis, and feedback… and an incredibly viable search engine. #RonR

via Business Insider…

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Why I Asked Ted Rubin To Co-Host Realtime Marketing Lab On October 14 ~via @tonia_ries

Realtime Relationships: Why I Asked Ted Rubin To Co-Host Realtime Marketing Lab On October 14

Originally posted at The Realtime Report September 11, 3013

Realtime Marketing is about many things: the right analytics tools to surface and prioritize conversations. A content strategy that lets you curate and manage dynamic streams of content. Connecting with communities that are distributed across many different platforms. Platforms and strategies to engage fans and turn them into brand advocates. An organizational structure that makes it possible for employees (and customers) to collaborate across functional areas to serve customer needs.

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