Being a very cutting-edge software business, it was natural for us to get immersed in social media. However, we quickly found ourselves missing some vital links in our social media routine/adventures. The blog gets LOTS of hits, but from who and how do they find it? Are they potential leads? Gallivanting on our web site without leaving a trace behind? The idea has un-nerved some of us.
So we’ve tried several different programs to convert those visitors to live leads.
Hubspot was first. I liked it, but didn’t completely understand the value. We already track our analytics through Google, retweets and mentions are easy to find. I couldn’t grasp why we should spend $9000 a year on a tool that aggregates what I already do for free. Sure, it will save us time, but not $9k of time.
The real value of Hubspot is in it’s landing page builder. So what if people are looking at your blog, you need them to fill out a form. My Hubspot consultant didn’t concentrate on this feature, and that’s where she lost the sale. I know how amazing landing pages can be. Offer a free white paper and watch the names filter in. Then nurture that lead and hope it converts.
LeadLander was next. It’s a neat tool, but incomplete. LeadLander tracks visitors IP address when they’re on your site and creates a list of those addresses. They’re names of companies, not people. Neat, but then what? It’s a HUGE tease to see a company come back again and again and not convert them. That’s where landing pages come in. You need conversion tools that are tempting and easy to use.
Lead Lander is over $1000 per year. Not bad, but I’d rather get forms filled out than see who’s playing on my site. Plus, Hubspot tracks companies that visit your site anyway.
Is $9000 worth it? What kind of returns can you expect if executed correctly?
Our Duct Tape Marketing friend Dan Kraus cited an amazing web site this morning on his blog and Twitter. I got so excited about the new site that I’m dropping everything to write about it. That’s right, everything.
The site is fiverr.com. Regular people post services they’re willing to do for $5, no more, no less. There is a huge spread of offerings. Some are silly, “I will put a live tarantula in my mouth for $5″ and some are exceptional deals “I will make you a beautiful website or blog for $5″
I’ll take that!
Besides business stuff, there are great gift ideas, “I will draw a picture of your pet for $5″ or “I will make a custom greeting card for $5″
Social media also shines on the site. People are offering to post comments on your blog for $5, get you Twitter followers and even Facebook fans.
I had a fuzzy feeling looking through the site. People connecting and offering services they love to do for a very fair price of $5.
There’s been a lot of talk lately about the Social CRM process. Actually, the phrase was recently dubbed by blogger Jacob Morgan. As social media outlets continue to take off, we need to understand how the wealth of data can be categorized and monetized within CRM. It’s difficult to visualize how these outlets can turn into sales.
How can we successfuly integrate social media into our CRM systems? It seems like a messy undertaking, but Morgan does a great job of clearing it up.
Here is his original idea. It’s simple, maybe too simple.
Morgan's Original SCRM Depiction
Through the beauty of social media, his ideas grew in a few week’s time and he’s added on to it. A Google group, Social CRM Pioneers, led a discussion on Morgan’s initial thoughts. The discussion took on even more interest on the Cloud Ave. blog and ReTweets followed. Social media seems abstract, but with the help of others, Morgan drilled down a little more.
Morgan's Revised SCRM Process Depiction
How do you follow through with social media traffic? Have you created new fields in account records for Twitter activity?
I’ve recently discovered the beauty of bit.ly, a simple URL shortener. URL shorteners are good for many things, but especially for Twitter. When you’re limited to 140 characters, you can’t waste them on a long URL. When you shorten with bit.ly, it keeps track of your moves. Create a free user login and you can track how many hits your shortened URL gets and from which source.
Bit.ly makes you rethink Twitter. Why does one tweet get your URL 25 clicks and another gets ignored completely?
Tips for tweet clicks…
Keep it short
Get sexy! I know you just read that, use some catchy words.
Get creative too! Say things in that appeal to a wide audience.
Don’t get too specific, that’s the beauty of having a bit.ly URL for people to follow, they can get the details there
I’m supplimenting my google analytics obsesion with Bit.ly now. Use your tweets to see what grabs peoples attention. It works!!!
Ross Jones, VP of Sales Engineering at BrainSell, lectured at Harvard University’s Extension School of Management last month. Jones has been feature as a guest lecturer for three years at Harvard.
Jones’ lecture, The Need for CRM, is part of the graduate course, MGMT 6060 Customer Relationship Management. The course, led by Paul Olean, teaches how to develop a successful customer relationship management (CRM) program.
Jones’ two hour presentation addressed why CRM is needed in business, the benefits and implementation tactics. Jones also discussed why social media is now an invaluable facet of CRM.
“Social media can no longer be ignored,” said Jones. “Using social media as a means of inbound marketing is a very cost-effective way of increasing sales. CRM can handle all the extra data that is a product of social media. It’s a win-win.”
Jones has been a VP with BrainSell for eight years and is an expert on CRM implementation and service.
For more information on Harvard University’s graduate management program, visit the extension Website.
BrainSell and Sugar’s CRM Acceleration event went off without a hitch yesterday. 100 people attended at the Hilton Woburn. Thanks to all for braving the rain!
We learned a few things from all of the planning and marketing.
1. Inbound marketing WORKS!
Over 75% of our registrants found out about the event through social media outlets. That would be re tweeting, messages on linkedin and facebook, and a few facebook and linkedin advertisements. People spread the word for us!
The event takes place this Tuesday, March 23rd. This has been one of the most exciting and dynamic events I’ve ever been involved in. We’re very lucky to have great presenters who are focused on delivering “remarkable content”. From Dharmesh Shah, co-author of Inbound Marketing, Umberto Milletti, CEO of Inside View, Mitch Lieberman, VP of Strategic Solutions at SugarCRM, Martin Schneider, Director of Marketing at SugarCRM and Chip Meyers, Sales Operations Manager at Insource Performance Solutions who pulls the whole story together as Inbound Marketeer and user of technology that allows his sales staff to take advantage of qualified prospects that his Inbound Marketing efforts identify.
What’s been so remarkable is that we have 190 sign ups. Which reinforces the power of Inbound Marketing. The bulk of those who’ve signed up for the event have done so by Inbound Marketing efforts through Social media.
In preparation for the event for those who have signed up, pick up Dharmesh’s book, Inbound Marketing. He’ll be signing books post event. What you’re going to find is genuine and authentic information. I fully expect attendees to walk out with information they can use.
The countdown is on – 5 days until our big social media event at the Woburn Hilton. Close to 200 people are signed up already and we’re setting our goals high. 300 sign ups! Almost all of the sign ups have come from social media. Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
We needed to step things up in the final sprint. So one of our fine colleagues from SugarCRM, @mjayliebs, suggested running a Twitter contest. After a little research, I found that short and easy is the best way to get traction with a contest.
@brainsell hyped about http://bit.ly/brainsellevent and giving away $100 in GC today! RT this to be eligible to win 1 of 4 $25 GCs
That’s it! Re-tweet our message about re-tweeting and you can win one of 4 $25 gift cards. To where? Who cares! It only takes one click for a chance at free money, I’m down. Are you? Starbucks anyone?
That’s right, at BrainSell we’re eating our own dog food, and loving it!
This whole social media thing has got us buzzing. After we read Inbound Marketing; it was clear that our marketing methods needed to change. We planned our Accelerator event with SugarCRM around Social Media. That was step 1. We’ve been pumped about the agenda for months!
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