A Guide for Business-to-Business Marketers

Managing Social Media

It seems like it happened overnight.

One moment, social media is just a toy

for the the young and politically alienated.

And then suddenly, it has completely

transformed the way business professionals

consume and share information.

(Interesting factoid: According to a recent

Nielson study among B2B exectutives, social

networking is more popular than email.)

If you understand the tactics, if you have

access to the technology, social media can

be one of your most powerful tools. For

building your brand. For managing your

reputation. And for generating sales.

On the following pages, we’ll show you

how.

Where do you begin?

Listen.

Your first, most important step

also happens to be the simplest.

Just listen.

Who’s doing most of the talking?

What’s on their minds? Where are

their conversations happening?

Once you know that, the rest is

easy.

Comment.

Just as in real life, it’s best if you

ease into an online conversation.

So before you launch your own blog

or company forum, start off by

commenting

on others.

Acknowledge praise when it’s given.

Offer assistance when it’s needed.

Amplify incomplete information and

(gently, gently) correct the inaccurate.

Connect.

The goal of social media marketing

is, obviously, not simply to have a nice

chat.

You want to convert potential

contacts

to serious prospects to committed

customers.

And to do that, you have to offer

them something of value. Information.

Insight. Ideas. In a form that’s easy for

them to find, and easy for them to use.

What will you need?

Like a traditional media audit, a Social Media Audit

provides a detailed report on your company's visibility

and reputation in common social channels such as

YouTube, LinkedIn, Flickr, Facebook and the major

business blogs. The report can also serve as a

benchmark to measure future programs.

On a daily or weekly basis, Makovsky tracks what is

being said about a company and its industry in social

media, providing clients with rich, real-time intelligence

on what customers and prospects are concerned about.

During crisis situations, when quick decisions are critical,

this monitoring is done on a minute-by-minute basis.

 

1. Social Media Audit

2. Social Media Monitoring

Though most companies have "online policies," they

often don't address social media. This opens companies

up to risks to their reputation, and robs them of the

opportunity to proactively use social media to build

sales. Makovsky works with companies to create

customized policies that fit their culture, liability risks

and sales priorities.  

With the rise of social media, a leader's image is usually

defined by whatever happens to pop up in a Google

search.  To manage executives’ image and reputation,

Makovsky first plays defense, mitigating potentially

negative information online, and then offense,

magnifying positive attributes through social media

channels.

3. Policy Development

4. Executive Positioning

The proliferation of websites that compile profiles of

people without their permission can lead to the

fracturing of your executives' image and the

undermining of your company's reputation. To help

reduce these risks, we use proprietary "image

unification" techniques that can solidify your image with

key audiences – no matter where they look.

Messagewords, invented by a Makovsky executive and

unveiled at the 2006 Bulldog Media Relations

Conference, is a technique that enables press releases,

speeches, and articles to appear in response to

keywords in searches, blog posts, email content and

online articles. Messagewords is particularly effective

with content intended for sophisticated audiences.  

5. Image Unification

6. Message Magnification

While companies go to great expense to hold events,

the intellectual content developed at them usually

disappears when the last guest leaves.  Makovsky

harnesses this latent reputational asset and spreads the

event’s content through blogs, Twitter feeds, and online

groups.  The result?  Higher attendance, quantifiable

“buzz” during the event, and reams of intelligence on

the attendees that can be used for sales or reputation-

enhancing efforts.

The two techniques that companies most frequently use

to communicate with bloggers – emailing press releases

or using press release wire service "social media

releases” – almost always fail to deliver the desired

coverage. Makovsky's social media R&D team has

developed new blogger resource vehicles that can

deliver your message to the most influential voices,

drive traffic to your website, and create a direct,

measurable link to sales.

7. Event Socialization

8. Blogger Relations

Similar to its work in the blogosphere, we regularly

conduct outreach to the communities that have

assembled online to share their enthusiams and spread

information.  Makovsky is steeped in the etiquette and

cultural nuances of these groups, and applies that

expertise on behalf of companies to aid their reputation,

staff recruitment, and sales goals.

Few actions can benefit a company's sales, reputation

and customer service more than mobilizing its

customers into a new online community. Using popular

tools such as LinkedIn groups, wikis and Ning, Makovsky

organizes new groups, manages their day-to-day needs,

and creates missions that they’re happy to to carry out

for the company.

 

9. Online Group Relations

10. Online Community Creation

The decline of tradional media, coupled with consumers’

increasing demand for detailed information direct from

companies, has made it essential for companies to run

their own media channels. Makovsky works with its

clients to create attractive interfaces, set editorial

direction, write and develop content on a daily basis,

and promote it to readers.

Although most companies want to establish an ongoing

dialogue with their customers, investors and thought

leaders, their websites are usually structured as a one-

way monologue. Makovsky specializes in re-engineering

existing websites, to enable its content to be spread

through social networks, and become a home for

communities of customers and partners.  

11. Channel Creation

12. Website Socialization

Makovsky + Company is

one of the world’s leading

business-to-business public

relations, investor relations

and branding consultancies,

specializing in the financial

srvices, health, technology

and professional services

sectors. Based in New York

City, Makovsky + Company

has partners in more than

20 countries and in 35 U.S.

cities through IPREX, the

world’s third largest public

relations agency partnership.

About Us:

M A K O V S K Y + C O M PA N Yt h e p o w e r o f s p e c i a l i z e d t h i n k i n g

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