B2B Viral Marketing - What Works
Nurture Blog November 8 2009 04:44:03 PM
I think I first started thinking regularly about “viral marketing” when I learned about its impact in a “Staying Ahead of the Pack” presentation given by Mac McIntosh in 2006. My life in marketing has taken me in different directions, though I have always had to appear to be in the “know” when it came to the most modern online marketing ideas. So I finally started to pay more attention and decided to Blog this month on what I learned. I figured that since everyone and their mother, including Costco Connection magazine ( I READ everything) is writing about it , so will I.
I think upfront it is fair to say that this topic is OVERWHELMING, that is why it has taken me a long time to get my arms around it. So, I think one “take away” from this post is – do what you can and what you are comfortable doing-it’s impossible to read and do everything..
So for some, it is simple SEO (Search Engine Optimization) – DIY flavor or invest in a pro. The costs to optimize your website professionally have dropped substantially over the last 4 years and prove “worth it”.
Learn to BLOG. Blogs do generate traffic to your website and in turn, leads. Find sites that will publish your Blogs and spend time once per month writing. So, if writing is not your thing, you can hire a writer (by the hour) and help them develop an annual editorial calendar that includes topics relevant to your offer. Then ask them to do what they do best…write it! You will be surprised to find writers that will also be knowledgeable of places to publish Blogs on the Web too.
So what about Social Networking sites? Facebook for business? Well I think the best use of this tactic is including it as part of your campaign. By just starting a group or having a FB page you won't get much business. Especially if you are in the BtoB space. However, I have seen excellent examples of using FB as part of a Campaign – driving interest to your FB page. Once there you can have a survey, questions, etc... In essence, it can replace a campaign-specific “landing page” and help build your database of suspects/prospects. But before committing to including Social Networking in your next campaign, make sure you are going to use it actively…setting up a page and then leaving it is a waste of resources. Make sure you refresh content and drive visitors to your page by including it as part of a larger campaign.
Lastly, if you are not doing video…get with the program. Demos and product/service information should all be done in simple video. No more than 90 seconds for something informational/promotional and no more than 3-4 minutes for a demo. Once you have the video it can be optimized and searchable – and of course you can upload it to various sites, like YouTube.
So those are some tips that support “viral marketing”, they may be simplistic ones, but they are manageable onesJ You’re always guaranteed to get the practical advice from my Blog postsJ
Resources:
Go to these resources. They are chock full of statistics and reasons for WHY you should be doing viral marketing.
A site…http://www.emarketer.com/ another site…http://womma.org/main
A book… When Search, Meet Usability another book…I’m on LinkedIn – Now What???.
A report on effectiveness of video…(http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/media_entertainment/media-is-on-demand-but-content-is-still-king/ )
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The Nurture Institute has a Writer’s Guild and team of designers trained in the Nurture Methodology that can create dynamic video and Blog posts (I wrote this one myself). Additionally, we recommend SEO vendors, as well as provide advice on using Social Networking sites to optimize your Marketing Campaigns. Feel free to contact me via email me at jgarcia@nurtureinstitute.com or phone732-636-1001, x27.
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