Like just about everyone else who’s forked over a fair sized chunk of their
year’s marketing budget to achieve a killer online presence, you’re looking
forward to a rush of new sales, right?

Bad news: it isn’t going to happen. And that doesn’t mean your website isn’t
good – it’s more likely because your website’s been left to go it alone.

The simple truth is that for most businesses, a website is a sales tool, not
a sales vehicle. So if you want to dramatically boost sales and see your website
as an ideal place to find new prospects, you need to incorporate the same
techniques used in face-to-face selling to make them convert. That, of course,
begins with prospect follow up.

About 80% of the sales initiated through website contact are made
after several contacts have been made. Why ? Because people
rarely visit a website and immediately buy (unless it’s an e-commerce site), so
if you don’t maintain ongoing contact you’ll miss out on a significant amount of
potential new business. Don’t let that happen – make the most of every selling
opportunity by offering your site visitors information of value so they will
tell you who they are in order to get it. Case studies, white papers, check
lists, guides and e-publications encourage visitors to come back regularly
looking for fresh content – ask them to identify themselves and you can actually
notify them when that new content becomes available, along with whatever else
you’d care to promote. Once you’ve established the contact, follow up with more
of the information they’re looking for and your chances of getting them to buy
will be far greater. Here’s how to begin:

• Credibility = Trust
  The more useful and relevant
  information you provide to prospects, the more belief they will have that your
  business can be trusted. By offering credible information that delivers value,
  you demonstrate that you know what you’re talking about. As a result, site
  visitors will be willing to provide you with their email addresses so you can
  give them even more – they may even fill out short surveys to tell you what they
  really want. Before you know it, Presto! A brand new prospect list is
  born.
• Playing With Emotions
  With every message you send to
  your new list, you should emphasize the “want” your product will satisfy. Saving
  money? Saving Time? Adding convenience? Remember that people buy first because
  they want and second because they need, so your messages need
  to address both the emotional and the tangible.
• Building Value
  Each time you contact your prospect the
  value of your “offer” should grow. It might be a limited time bonus, special
  discount or something else you know your prospect will appreciate. By limiting
  the time available to act, you work to push your prospect toward making a buying
  decision.
• Making it Real
  Once you’ve hit the emotional element of
  decision-making, be sure to focus just as pointedly on the practical. Give
  prospects sound, logical reasons to buy, based on facts. Pinpoint the results
  they will see, the savings they will realize or the efficiencies they’ll gain.
  Be specific and use examples – pie in the sky just isn’t credible.
• Positive Reinforcement
  Testimonials in the form of case
  studies work well to attract prospects with similar “pain” to your customers.
  Because, if you can eliminate your customers’ pain, it stands to reason you can
  do wonders for your prospects’, too.

Now – take a good hard look at your website. Does it offer value? Does it
give prospects an opportunity to ask you for more? Does it give you an
opportunity to learn about them? If it doesn’t, shouldn’t you be doing something
about it?

By now most of us know that creating buzz through online social media like YouTube, FaceBook and MySpace have been known to make everything from new consumer products to 2009 US presidential candidates cool. A clear opportunity for Business-to-Consumer marketing, but what about B2B?  Does it have a place on online marketing’s new frontier? Absolutely.

Through any media, people make decisions to buy based on what they like, need, want, see and hear. Business buyers are no different: they look for information, groups, experts and peers that can help make their jobs easier, make their companies grow, help their careers advance, etc. In short, they look for things that can help them get or achieve the things they want. And social media marketing is one way you can show them what your business has to offer.

Where to start? Social Media Marketing 101: understanding major types of social media and the differences between them:

1. Online Communities
   These are made up of people who share common interests – essentially Internet-based social networks. Members share their knowledge and experience for the interest and entertainment of the community.  Online Communities such as MySpace and Facebook provide two key components: the audience as well as the process through which users can create content and share it.
2. Communities of Purpose
   These are communities of people involved in a common process or who share a common objective. For example, investing (e.g. fool.com), making a major purchase (computer equipment, appliances, cars, etc.). Members of the community share their experiences, resources they’ve identified or used, strategies, relevant information etc. These communities are better suited to B2C than B2B marketing.
3. Communities of Practice
   These are communities of social learning and collaboration for people with shared professional interests (think LinkedIn.com). There are similarities between Online Communities and Communities of Practice because users create content and choose when to share it. However, Communities of Practice tend to offer and share professional, business oriented content (ideas, solutions, innovations). They are also typically more structured, stable groups with regular interactions.So which of these social media offer the best B2B marketing potential? Not surprisingly, Communities of Practice. Their professional nature attracts a sophisticated audience with potential interest in a wide range of subject matter. E-marketing content, white papers, text ads etc. can all be used in communities of practice because their topics can provide useful, relevant information members of the community will appreciate.  The trick is to do it in such a way that the community will embrace what you have to offer. That means providing useful, relevant information that the community will be interested in using and sharing.

   So, is social media marketing the “it” tactic for B2B marketing today? No – but as one element of a well developed online marketing strategy it can be an excellent lead generation technique. It also offers an exceptional opportunity to learn more about customers and prospects through interaction and feedback.