September 2016 - Spectruss - A Digital Marketing Company

It’s easy to get inundated with social media and after 4 hours lie to yourself that you have actually been working.

This is why I prefer to spend my time on LinkedIn.

Instead of getting sucked into other “social” networks, Linked-In was built for business.

The best part is that B2B marketers all report significantly higher conversion rates with Linked-In versus other social networks.

Here are the Steps To Get More Leads from Linked-In:

1. Set-Up Your Company Page To Be A Lead Generation Page

ApploeOne is doing a lot of great things with their Linked-In profile.

They have invested in the design and copyrighting so the image and content tells the reader what the company does in a very short time-period. If your employees are connected on LinkedIn you will generate a significant amount of traffic if they are active on the platform.

2. Use Advanced Search

The key here is to get as targeted as you can. Most salespeople have geographic parameters. However, there are other parameters that can help.

For instance, I am active in a Commercial Bankers Group.

I wanted to know who in this group specializes in Commercial Real Estate and is based in the United States.

You can see that there are 5,240 people who are involved in commercial real estate and also in this group. LinkedIn allows you to save three advanced searches before they want you to pay to be a premium member.

3. Start A Linked-In Group

I am a moderator in several Linked-In Groups which also gives me a big advantage when contacting prospects.

From my experience most people set-up Linked-In Groups wrong. For instance, let’s say you sell automation technology for manufacturing companies in the Mid-West. Most salespeople and marketers would set-up a Linked-In Group Titled: Automation Technologies Group.

I would set-up a group called:

MidWest Manufacturing Association Group

Midwest Manufacturing CEO Group

I would be highly selective in who I let in the group. I would also send out a mass email and mass physical letter head announcing the group.

After a couple of months of filling the group with valuable information would I start to selectively prospect to members of the group.

The best part about groups and your actual connections is you can export this list to an excel file and get the names, company data and emails from the members of the people in this group. This is great when you need to do an email blast or do a mass mailing.

You can also do email blast to members of your group from LinkedIn which has some very obvious advantages to you as a marketer and salesperson.

4. Publish Content

You can’t just sign-up for LinkedIn and expect money to fall from the sky. You also have to publish updates and even write articles to increase engagement.

Michaela Alexis is the prototypical LinkedIn Connector. She wrote a detailed story on how she landed her dream job in 2 weeks using Linked-In. This story has been read by over 140K people and been shared over 1,000 times!

She started off like most people with no significant following. However, by publishing interesting content she now has over 27K followers!

This proves you can create a brand here on Linked-In!

5. Connect and Follow Influencers

Like any social network you need to see what is getting shared by the most popular people. This shows what types of content people are interested in.

Below are some influencers to follow if you are interested in there areas of expertise.

If you are interested in Content Production and Social Media Marketing

Michaela Alexis

We mentioned her background in the section above so I want repeat her background. I’m very impressed with how she routinely produces amazing content.

https://ca.linkedin.com/in/michaelaalexis

If you are interested in Entrepreneurship

James Altucher is about as unconventional as LinkedIn Influencer’s come. He’s a successful entrepreneur, chess master, venture capitalist, and author of many books including, The Power of No. Altucher looks for the most painful and embarrassing situations in his life, then writes about them.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesaltucher

If you are interested in Happiness

Gretchen Rubin is the author of several books, but she’s best known for her New York Times bestselling book, The Happiness Project. She’s emerged as one of the most influential speakers and writers on the topics of habits and happiness. In addition, she’s a prolific writer on LinkedIn, publishing several Pulse articles a week. If you’re striving to feel better at work or home, Rubin is a must-follow.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/gretchenrubin

I highly recommend you start engaging on Linked-In to build a following and leads for your company. If you have any questions feel free to call or email us.

You can follow Spectruss on Linked-In here

There are 80 million millennials in the United States with annual buying power of $200 million. Millennials purchasing power will only increase in the next decade and this is why advertisers are obsessed with targeting this group. For perspective, Demographers and researchers typically use the early 1980s as starting birth years and use the mid-1990s to the early 2000s as final birth years for the Millennial Generation.

The only problems with this is the fact that Millennials are repulsed by advertising. This is why they gladly pay for Netflix, Spotify and Tivo so they don’t have to deal with the interruptions.

New Media vs Traditional Media

33% of millennials rely mostly on blogs before they make a purchase, compared to fewer than 3% for TV news, magazines and books.

Social media

62% of millennials say that if a brand engages with them on social networks, they are more likely to become a loyal customer. They expect brands to not only be on social networks, but to engage them. This obviously takes more labor from companies to be able to maintain social networking feeds, but it’s worth it if you want to reach millennials.

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/danschawbel/2015/01/20/10-new-findings-about-the-millennial-consumer/#5658bd5f28a8

With this powerful demographic data you would think small business owners would be focused on selling to this market. However, a study by Manta found only 15% of small business owners are actually marketing to millennials.

Source: http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/millennials-the-next-big-thing-in-small-business-2032182.htm

Interruption Marketing vs Inbound Marketing

Interupting behavior with advertising and product/service listing sites are completely inauthentic and millennials give these sources zero credibility. ,

Millennials want e-books, blog posts, videos, and other how-to information – and that’s inbound marketing. This demographic wants authentic content generated by the company versus generic advertising targeting the mass market. Think Dollar Shave Club versus Bic Razors.

Millennials are 44% more likely to trust experts(who happen to be strangers); they are 247% more likely to be influenced by blogs or social networking sites.

Content Marketing is the Winner Take-All

Content marketing is currently the buzz word for marketers. However, its important to point out that content marketing has been around (and very successful) for several years:

1895: John Deere introduces The Furrow, a free publication with tons of farming tips and techniques to help farmers become more profitable. Today, it’s available in more than 40 countries and in 12 different languages.

1900: Michelin Tires released a 400-page auto maintenance guide with everyday drivers in mind, and also included travel tips. 35,000 copies were distributed free of charge before the company started selling the manual for a profit.

1904: Jell-O circulated free copies of its own cookbook, highlighting creative ways to use the unique product. In 2 years, the company saw sales increase to over $1 million annually.

1966: Nike released a 19-page booklet titled Jogging. It was filled with advice on enjoying running as a recreational activity, including posture and striking tips. This brought running, as a sport, to America, and it never once mentioned a Nike shoe.

Source: HubSpot

Summary

We think marketing to millennials is the next big thing to change shopping habits and we think now is the time to start implementing these ideas.

Want help implementing these ideas?

Book your 30-minute free consultation (and get personalized advice on how to implement the ideas from the guide)

If you have any questions, please call or email me.

423-800-8633

info@spectruss.com