An “intermediate conversion” is simply offering an opportunity for a prospect to request more info, discounts, membership into a community, survey info, opting-in to a list or in some other method to indicate interest.

Offers must provide real value to the customer and have little or no barrier to entry — which includes the amount of information that prospects must provide in order to receive whatever it is they are requesting. 

It’s a simple step that many forget about or choose to ignore in the rush to closing a deal. Marketers can not only generate more leads, but can also learn a great deal about their prospects and what their interests are. It provides the opportunity to open a conversation with their prospects and find out what’s really on their minds. Understanding why a prospect chooses NOT to become a customer can often be more valuable to a marketer than why they do.

Additionally, allowing prospects to self-select into specific segments and areas of interest they are indicating which topics might interest them for follow up contacts. In short, it provides another opportunity for the marketer to get to know their prospects better, begin a relationship and can potentially fill a pipeline with new prospects that might otherwise have been lost.

Interim conversions are a basic, measurable, knowledge gathering, customer-centric marketing practice that’s a win-win for everyone — but it’s a sometimes overlooked solution. 

Let us know what you think.

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We’ve all been to trade shows or similar events with rows and rows of exhibitors each with gimmicks, chachkas, and big bowls of candy and pens  that exhibitors somehow think will attract qualified prospects. Then there is at least one person in each row that tries to draw you over with some cheesy line about how their product is just what you needed. And while you’ll usually find something of interest at these events, they’re usually very over stimulating, don’t provide me a great deal of business benefit, and cause my feet to ache while I carry around bags of literature that I usually end up picking through just before throwing out.

But now I’ve changed my mind! Today I attended Marketing Prof’s Digital Marketing World. An all day event jam packed with all the things I find interesting about these shows, but all from the comfort of my desk. Admission was free, there were far fewer and more relevant booths to navigate through, and all of the literature was downloadable so I didn’t dislocate a shoulder carrying them home.

Kudos to InXpo who provided the virtual event environment. It was one of the most seamless and well executed virtual events I have attended with intuitive areas for presentations, gathering literature, chatting and even business card drops for prize drawings.

As my cursor rolled over a booth in the main interface, a small pop-up quickly told me what the firm did. Wow! One click and I was inside the booth where I could get more info, see a video, or leave without being hassled if I wasn’t interested. A pet peeve at trade shows has always been seeing something that catches my eye, but not knowing what the company does — so it’s really hard to ask an intelligent question.

Just this week I was a show for the packaging industry. Booth after booth was filled with a variety of packaging samples, many for the cosmetics industry. Some exhibitors were printers, some made dyes and did color matching, while others made plastics used in the packages. The problem was that I couldn’t tell from their booths, who did what. Exhibitors can’t expect folks to walk into every booth to find what they’re looking for.

Two of my favorite exhibits at this virtual event were Hubspot, because of their ongoing suburb ability to engage their audience, and Emma because of the clarity and simplicity of their message, despite the volume of information they offered.

My favorite part of the virtual show was the fact that it was actually pretty easy to meet other attendees, something that I usually don’t get to do a lot of. There were chat rooms where you could meet folks with similar interests and get a peek at their profile….. if they filled it in.

Not every exhibitor took full advantage of the interactive or communication advantages available, but overall the experience was far less stressful and more rewarding for me than any “real life” trade show that I have gone to recently.

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One says that to be truly “social” in social media, it’s inappropriate to even attempt to deliver any type of marketing message. Social media is all about being helpful, authentic and human and about people connecting on like-minded topics. It’s not about selling or marketing and corporate messages of any kind should be rejected.

On the other hand, since marketing is the beginning of the sales process and social media offers the perfect opportunity for any business to find, attract and inform new prospects, businesses naturally want to be involved to make sure their brands are part of the conversation. If the chatter about their brand turns negative, they want to be there to address the issue quickly.

Marketers know the social media creed: to be part of the conversation means they have to be honest, authentic and personal and not push any sales message — or risk the consequences. Most brands recognize the value in social media, are willing to forgo any sales push and play by the rules. Actually, most of the companies I have spoken to, embrace the honesty social media offers and feel it fits well with their own corporate philosphy. They benefit from the exposure, interaction, relationships and idea swapping they share with their community.

So why do some social media purists balk when the words “social media” and “marketing” are used in the same sentence, and then cringe at the thought of measuring it’s value? Don’t social media community members benefit from corporate involvement with the addition of trustworthy information, valued entertainment and worthwhile resources? How many social media venues would exist if not for corporate participation?

Even if a business does their SMM entirely in-house, it takes the investment of time, knowledge, overhead and creativity to do it well, and those things equate to money. So, despite what some may think, social media is not free and therefor from a business perspective, needs to be measured against return, just like traditional marketing.

So why do some social media purists still reject the notion that a business involved in social media, is actually doing social media marketing?

Tell me what you think. I’d like to know.

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In a recent article at SmallBizTrends.com, Lisa Barone asked if it was “appropriate to hire outside people to be social for you”. I thought it was a terrific question, but there were several major issues that weren’t addressed so I thought I would discuss them here.

I personally feel that if you’re a small business owner that either doesn’t have time to engage in social media or who, is not familiar enough with the medium, then the best solution is to bring in a consultant that can get you started, help you form a strategy and organize a program as well as execute and or train others in you organization to manage your social media efforts.

Too many small business owners think that starting a Twitter account and having someone tweet the company web site a few times a day, is social marketing. Guess what? It’s neither Social or Marketing!

Very often full time employees either do not have the time or interest to get involved. For many, even if the interest is there, after a short while the novelty wears off and your social presence becomes abandoned — a fate worse than never have begun the process at all.

Honesty is still paramount in SMM if you want to gain trust, however there is no reason at all that you can’t hire someone to represent you authentically. Remember though, there are a few strings attached….

1) The person should be a pro. A professional inbound marketing consultant knows the ropes, will get the businesses complete background before beginning, will understand your market as well as the medium and can represent your company in the best and most authentic possible way.

2) A reputable social media consultant will be honest in terms of their name and will present themselves as a representative of the firm just like any other employee should, and not some made up alias. In the interest of full disclosure, I am a certified inbound marketing consultant so I admit that I am biased.

3) They should be completely familiar with your business, customers, products and any issues before going online. Anything they do should dovetail with all of your other marketing and branding efforts as well.

The biggest mistake that any small business can make is to hand over their social marketing responsibilities to an employee with little available time and no experience or knowledge in the medium. Worse yet, is to give the responsibility to some intern or low level assistant with too much time, insufficient knowledge of the audience, business or medium, and little long term vested interest in the outcome.

At very least, I suggest to clients that they bring in a consultant at least to get them started, organize the program and make sure that everyone involved within the firm is onboard and marching to the same drummer. They can also work with a few designated employees to train them in the appropriate and most effective SMM techniques.

Those are my thoughts. Now tell me what you think.

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Social Media Marketing is very inexpensive.
Because there is no cost for most of the media that is used in Social Media Marketing, people think of it as free. There are a bunch of costs to keep in mind and keep track of. Most importantly is the time it takes to maintain your online presence. It is far more involved than it looks and the hours add up quickly. The cost is more obvious if you are paying an employee to create content such as articles, images, videos etc., but even if you do it yourself, you still need to consider the time it takes as an expense. There is also the cost of setting up and maintaining your website and/or blog — an important component in Social Media Marketing. While SMM is still the most inexpensive type of marketing media I know, just remember, it’s not really free.

Social Media Marketing is very accessible.
If you have an internet connection, you already have the most important part. Unlike traditional media, Social Media transcends geography, economics and industry. It’s one of the simplest ways to identify a niche and find out who’s talking about your subject.

Let’s say you manufacture a certain material for use in the dental industry. You can spend hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to travel around the world to participate in industry trade shows, so you could listen to and connect with people that by your product. Or, for the cost of your time, you could find where they have interests online and become part of their conversation. Just as you would if you were at a reception at the trade show itself.

Social Media Marketing lets you listen in.
If you have ever overheard a conversation between two customers when they talk about your category or product, then you know how valuable hearing a candid conversation like that can be. Understanding what your audience thinks and what is important to them lets you react effectively and in a timely manner.

Information gathered can include anything from how customers feel about your brand — or a weakness they see in your competitors. You could learn what they feel is lacking in the category or maybe discover a need you didn’t know existed.

Social Media Integrates well with other online and traditional advertising.
Social Media is as much a learning opportunity as it is a marketing vehicle. When integrated with traditional marketing in an comprehensive marketing plan, it can provide a wealth of information and research, immediate feedback, and additional support to drive traffic. On the other side, traditional advertising can help to drive traffic to an online location where you can create an ongoing and authentic interaction that leads to a committed and loyal customer.

So tell me what you think?

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