Hard to imagine isn’t it? What would we do without Facebook? Hmm, let me think about that for a few milliseconds…
Oh, I know, how about talk to someone! Meet a friend for coffee. Try visiting a neighbor you’ve been meaning to meet. What about an act of kindness like taking some homemade cookies to a local fire station or maybe even plan some quality time with your family. Or even better, put down that phone, refrain from texting, tweeting or even chatting on Facebook and intentionally connect face-to-face with someone.
Impossible you say? Not according to Facebook. Wednesday, August 25 is the National Facebook Fast. Facebook is encouraging everyone to do just that—connect face-to-face.
What does this have to do with B2B communications? It’s a new idea called ‘Personal Touch.’ Okay, so the idea might not be new, but when was the last time you took the time to reach out and connect with your clients in a new and personal way?
Not sure what you can do. Be creative and have fun with it. Still not sure? Then call Canyon, we’ve got plenty of great ideas for you to reach out to your current clients and prospects you’ve been trying to reach.
So don’t forget, no Facebook on August 25, 2010—call a friend or Canyon instead…480-775-8880. We would even love to meet for lunch.
The funny part about this is that you use Facebook to invite people to this. I guess we can’t live without it after all.
Social media has grown rapidly over the past few years and, in terms of public relations, it has changed everything. Working in PR, I’ve seen social media change the way I communicate, connect with other people, receive my news, share stories and, overall, the way I work—it’s exciting to be part of this transformation!
Now, there is a day dedicated to the fabulous field of social media. Today, June 30, has been designated Social Media Day. This day, created by Mashable, was designed to be a global celebration of the revolution of media becoming a social dialogue.
To celebrate Social Media Day, there are more than 460 meetups in 74 countries around the world that will take place tonight. In the Phoenix area, Social Media Arizona is hosting the Tempe Social Media Day Meetup at MADCAP Theater from 5-7 p.m. Guests will have the opportunity to meet other social media enthusiasts in the area and give a verbal, in-person Tweet about why they love social media, their favorite social media tool or their successes with social media. If you can’t attend the meetup, you can stay involved with the activities by following Tweets that include #smday.
Will you be at MADCAP tonight? What are you doing to celebrate Social Media Day?
People in B2B organizations are all too familiar with overused buzzwords (not to be confused with portmanteaus), jargon and marketing speak that prolong conference calls, fill up PPT slides and echo throughout the cubicle walls of businesses throughout the world. And with the rise of social media comes a tidal wave of new buzzwords for everyone to learn.
Using and understanding buzzwords seem to be a right of passage in business. Your buzzword vocabulary grows along with your years of experience. And, if you want to appear truly sophisticated, you can even make up new ones!
It’s disheartening when I see people attempt to prove expertise by buzzword intimidation. Shouldn’t we seek to collaborate, rather than alienate potential colleagues, prospects and customers? The best B2B marketers seek to distill down concepts to be as simple and straight-forward as possible when helping their clients implement programs that engage audiences and convert customers. The steps are simple:
1. Define what you sell
2. Determine how it is different
3. Explain why people should care
4. Understand the best way to communicate that information
To be fair, a lot of hard work surrounds these steps, but it gets even harder when you have to trudge knee-deep through the buzzword jungle.
Do you think it’s time to declare a National Day Without Buzzwords? What marketing buzzwords to you think are overused?
If you’ve read my previous posts on B2B Fishbowl, you know that I’m a big advocate for social media. I think it’s a great addition to marketing and PR campaigns and I always want to learn more about this ever-changing field.
This week, while implementing a new social media plan for a client, I wondered, when it comes to Facebook, is there a way to determine how much a Facebook fan is actually worth? Of course, I have other success metrics in the plan including measuring the velocity of fans within the first 30 days, visits to the fan page and number of comments or “likes” each week, but I was still curious about the value of a fan.
Through research, I found an article titled “How Much Is a Facebook Fan Really Worth?” It outlines a strategy from a firm called Syncapse that puts an actual dollar value on a Facebook fan. According to them, an average Facebook fan is worth $136.38. This was determined by asking fans of top brands on Facebook why they were fans of those particular companies and about their past and future buying habits.
I’m not completely sure that this conclusion is entirely accurate but, it’s interesting to see that companies are trying to put a value on a fan.
Have you ever put a value on your Facebook fans? What methods have you used to do this?
Before I begin blogging away, I would like to mention that I just recently became a Canyonite and I am so excited to be a part of such a wonderful team. Each and every person here at Canyon is super nice and very professional.
Since my first day at Canyon, I have jumped right in on several projects to support public relations efforts for clients. One of the projects that I am working on is putting together a packet of information on why B2B companies should engage in social media and how it has changed them for the better.
I have done research and one of the success stories I’d like to mention is Expert Laser Services. Expert Laser Services launched its B2B social media campaign, “Destroy Your Printer Video Contest” to create brand awareness and generate traffic to the company’s website. The contest was promoted on the company’s blog and other social channels and it was definitely a success. It not only created buzz for the company, it increased traffic to its site, built inbound links and brought new business.
Now we have proof! Engaging in social media is changing B2B companies for the better because it provides better interaction with customers, and more customers means more business for your company.
