The BIG Conference is only 3 weeks away and yesterday's SocialMediaFTW conference was a good step one for the social media learning curve. It was an information-packed afternoon. It was a good "how-to" get started on the fundamentals of popular social media tools; i.e. Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, blogs, etc. I was part of the all-star blogging panel with Sarah Wallace and Carl Natale. Even though I've been working in the trenches of social media for going on 3 years now, I still learn something every time I attend one of these events – either as a guest or speaker.
One of my takeaways from yesterday is actually a reinforcement – social media is just ONE facet (albeit an important one) of marketing. Yesterday was all about social media. A challenge businesses have is seeing it as a part of their broader business / marketing strategy and not as another silo effort / department. It's important to not think about your "social media" strategy in isolation but as a component of the broader strategy – one of the tactics you're using to accomplish a specific objective.
My esteemed partners on the blogging panel as well as one of the hosts of the event, Rich Brooks from flyte, spoke of the importance of the blog – "The blog is the center of your on-line marketing effort." says Rich.
As any good consultant would say, in my opinion, "That depends." Yes, I think most businesses would be well served to have a blog – if done right. This post isn't on "how to do it right" so I'll leave it at that.
What I will say is for many businesses a blog may be the on-line center of your marketing effort – for others it is the website. However, I believe that for most businesses the website is the center of the marketing effort, not the blog. The blog is important but not the hub – it's your website. It's where you have the call to action, the benefit proposition for the transaction.
Which brings me to the "Now What?" question. So you have worked really hard through your blogging and social media efforts. Your clients & prospects read your blog. Ok. So now what? What is it you want them to do? Most likely you want to drive them to your website – one of the big SEO benefits of having a blog. So, your prospects come to your website. Ok. So now what? What page do they land on? What does it "say to them"?
Mike Volpe of Hubspot is one of the all-star speakers coming to Portland, ME on October 13 for The Big Conference. Mike will
discuss why the landing page and your "offer" are important parts of any lead
generation marketing campaign, including social media. This is where the conversion takes place to fill
the top of the sales funnel. Without attractive offers and optimized landing
pages, all your social media efforts go to waste.
There is a lot that goes into
a successful landing page from the offer to the call-to-action, to the landing
page layout. Mike Volpe's session will cover all the basics of how to convert
more of your traffic into leads and sales and actually make something worthwhile
out of all your social media / inbound marketing efforts.
Come to The BIG Conference – October 13 in Portland Maine. More information or to register for The Big Conference; Social Media and the strategy beyond the tools.
