LinkedIn

Successful Business Uses for Facebook and LinkedIn (IMU)

June 24, 2009

Welcome back!

Inbound Marketing UniversityProfessor: Elyse Tager, Silicon Valley American Marketing Association (SVAMA)

Although the information presented in this session was valuable, I would have rather visited the LinkedIn Learning Center and/or the Facebook “About” page to learn more about these topics. Having someone try and walk me through basics and setup steps via PowerPoint is just painful for me. If it’s helpful to you, then maybe you’ll enjoy this one.

Some of the general themes that came out of Elyse’s presentation:

  • Know your objectives before engaging on any of these platforms – be a rifle, not a shotgun.
  • Each platform has it’s own culture and way of interacting; pay attention and participate appropriately.
  • Always be thinking about SEO/branding; be consistent in your profiles, use keywords effectively, create great content.

Things I didn’t know before:

  • LinkedIn: You can take a look at your “profile views” statistics to see who’s been looking at your personal (or company) profile. Although this information isn’t detailed, it does provide you with an idea of who’s interested in you and if your ideas are reaching their targets.
  • LinkedIn: Ask and answer questions to showcase your knowledge, expertise, and interests. People can rate your answer and elevate you to “Expert” status. Overuse of this ask/answer feature can look spammy, though.
  • LinkedIn: You can look for, recommend, or become a “Service Provider”.
  • LinkedIn and Facebook: Both have inexpensive options for advertising available on a CPM/CPC basis. (I’m guessing their inexpensive because they don’t work too well, but maybe that will change over time.) When you’re targeting your  Facebook ad you will get to see the size of your audience/potential reach of that ad.

Here’s Elyse’s presentation:

#4 IMU: Successful Business Uses for Facebook and LinkedIn (GF202)
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Social Media and Building Community (IMU)

June 23, 2009

Inbound Marketing UniversityProfessor: Chris Brogan, New Marketing Labs

I didn’t make an actual count of Chris’ mentions/celebrations of other people’s ideas, products, and successes, but based on my rough notes I think he was getting pretty close to his oft stated Twitter goal of 15:1 (their stuff:your stuff) and he also managed to spread these examples across industries and businesses, large and small.

Chris’ knowledge, expertise, and passion around using social tools to build communities and his ability to translate this into clear, human examples have made him a leader in the field and I would strongly encourage you to take a look at his presentation (below) to see these ideas presented in his words (and then, of course, subscribe to his newsletter and blog for ongoing social media community goodness!) In the meantime, here are a few of the highlights from his IMU presentation:

  • It’s not about you, so always be humble.
  • Create content that your community wants (and/or needs). Hint: This is probably not what you think it is and it’s almost definitely not a sales-y pitch about your new product.
  • Be where your community members are – the platform (Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo! Groups) doesn’t matter, go where the people are, go where the participation is happening.
  • Always acknowledge your community members, celebrate their successes, and equip them to handle their challenges.
  • Although return on investment (ROI) is important and should be measured, also consider the “return on influence” (ROI) as well.

And some nitty-gritty details from the Q&A:

Should you separate personal and professional identities when interacting with communities? It depends. Generally, it’s easier and more authentic to blend the two (while being mindful of what you’re posting where.)

How many connections are too many? It depends. Chris uses CRM tools to manage his numerous connections, but that may or may not work for your. (YMMV)

What listening tools should I use? There are lots, paid and free. Free tools are great starting points. Paid tools can help with automation, workflow management, and detailed analyses. It’s how you use the tools, not the tools themselves

Should I use my business name or my personal name on Twitter? It depends. For companies with multiple users,  the best option may be to do a combination of the two (@janeATcompany instead of @janedoe or @company.) This lets you know you’re talking to a real person, but also allows people to find you if they search on your company name.

I hope this summary was helpful! Don’t forget, I’m also adding all of the links and examples I run across in these presentations to my delicious.com page for IMU. Enjoy!

#3 IMU: Social Media and Building Community (GF201)
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