How to generate leads using search and social media
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The document outlines strategies for generating leads through the integration of search engines and social media, emphasizing the importance of coordinating SEO and social media efforts. It highlights case studies and best practices, revealing that organizations that effectively combine these tactics experience improved lead generation and conversion rates. Key recommendations include optimizing social media content, generating inbound links, and managing online reputation to enhance overall marketing effectiveness.
How to generate leads using search and social media
- 1. How to Generate Leads Using Search and Social Media Search and Social Media Twitter: @brianjcarroll @marketingsherpa Twitter Hashtag: #b2bleadgen Sponsored By:
- 2. Background: How to Generate Leads Using Search Engines and Social Media Sites S hE i d S i l M di Si Based on 2011 Search Marketing Benchmark Report – SEO Edition 2200 Survey participants First time, published two editions: SEO and PPC Follow Conversation on Twitter #b2bleadgen
- 3. How to Generate Leads Using Search Engines and Social Media Sites ‐ A d d S i l M di Si Agenda Why search and social? Effectiveness of SEO and social media on lead generation and other ff f d l d l d d h business objectives Actual benefits of integrating social media into search campaigns Top 5 practices for integrating search and social for lead generation Case study Acoustics by Design Case study – Acoustics by Design Utilizing search innovations for lead generation Real impact of search innovations How to optimize for search innovations Follow Conversation on Twitter #b2bleadgen
- 4. Majority Integrating Search and Social Media D Does your organization integrate social media with search engine marketing? i ti i t t i l di ith h i k ti ? Not currently integrating search and social? You’re in the minority No 36% Marketers in strategic phase Marketers in strategic phase much more likely to integrate What’s the pay‐off? Yes 64% Source / Methodology: MarketingSherpa Search Marketing Benchmark Survey / Fielded April, 2010 N=2,194 Source / Methodology: MarketingSherpa Search Marketing Benchmark Survey / Fielded April 2010 N=2 194 Follow Conversation on Twitter #b2bleadgen
- 5. The Effectiveness of Search In your experience, how effective has SEO been at accomplishing these marketing objectives for your organization? Very effective V ff ti Somewhat effective S h t ff ti N t ff ti Not effective SEO is perceived as an d effective tactic in Increase website traffic 57% 40% 2% achieving a number of Increase brand or 42% 51% 7% product awareness product awareness impactful marketing Increase lead objectives generation 35% 58% 7% Improve brand or 29% 55% 15% product reputation product reputation Improvements in Improve public 27% 51% 22% soft metrics leads to relations improvements in Increase online sales revenue 26% 54% 20% bottom‐line metrics Increase offline sales 17% 55% 28% revenue Source / Methodology: MarketingSherpa Search Marketing Benchmark Survey / Fielded April, 2010 N=2,194 / gy g p g y/ p , , Follow Conversation on Twitter #b2bleadgen
- 6. The Effectiveness of Search and Social In your experience, how effective has SEO and social media been at I i h ff ti h SEO d i l di b t accomplishing these marketing objectives for your organization? Very Effective Social Media Objectives y j Very Effective SEO Objectives y j SEO SEO perceived as more i d Increase brand or 37% effective accomplishing hard product awareness 42% objectives: traffic, leads, sales product reputation p Improve brand or p 29% 37% Improve public 36% Social perceived as more relations 27% Increase website 33% effective accomplishing soft traffic 57% objectives: branding and PR Increase lead generation 18% 35% Increase offline 10% sales revenue , As social matures, 17% Increase online 9% perception will change sales revenue 26% Source / Methodology: MarketingSherpa Search Marketing Benchmark Survey / Fielded April, 2010 N=2,194 Follow Conversation on Twitter #b2bleadgen
- 7. The Importance of Integrating Social Media The Importance of Integrating Social Media Increases the amount of SEO friendly content on the web Generates inbound links Increases the number of listings in the SERP’s Improves the quality of your website’s traffic Improves search conversion rates Follow Conversation on Twitter #b2bleadgen
- 8. Social Impacts Organic Search Performance p g What is your organization’s conversion rate for organic traffic? Search marketers who integrate Social Media Users Non‐Social Media Users social media achieve a 59% better 27% rate of conversion. Also… Increase the amount of SEO friendly content on the web 17% Generate inbound links Increase the number of listings in the SERP’s Improve the quality of your Improve the quality of your website’s traffic Organic search traffic Source / Methodology: MarketingSherpa Search Marketing Benchmark Survey / Fielded April, 2010 N=2,194 Follow Conversation on Twitter #b2bleadgen
- 9. Social Impacts PPC Performance Social Impacts PPC Performance What is your organization’s click through and conversion rates for PPC traffic? Social Media Users Non‐Social Media Users Social Media Users Non‐Social Media Users 6% 10% 8% 3% Paid search traffic Average click through rate Source / Methodology: MarketingSherpa Search Marketing Benchmark Survey / Fielded April, 2010 N=2,194 Source / Methodology: MarketingSherpa Search Marketing Benchmark Survey / Fielded April, 2010 N=2,194 Follow Conversation on Twitter #b2bleadgen
- 10. Search and Social Media Integration Search and Social Media Integration Research of search and social marketing practices Key finding: Search and social have incredible synergy Must have a social media process in place prior to integrating with SEO “First, we identify the social media platforms that our target audience is using. Then, we research what our primary and secondary competitors are doing in terms of SEO and Social d tit d i i t f SEO d S i l Media.“ Follow Conversation on Twitter #b2bleadgen
- 11. Best Practice #1: Coordinate Teams Best Practice #1: Coordinate Teams Target keywords Search Team Social Team Social trends Follow Conversation on Twitter #b2bleadgen
- 12. Best Practice #2: Optimize Social Content Best Practice #2: Optimize Social Content Optimize social media profiles p p Social profiles will be indexed in search results Describe your company using brand Describe your company using brand keywords Use your brand name for your account name whenever possible name whenever possible Consistency = recognition & results Optimize social media communications Optimize tweets, status updates, blog posts, etc. with target keywords Follow Conversation on Twitter #b2bleadgen
- 13. Best Practice #3: Generate Inbound Links from Social Media Sites S i l M di Si All link building begins with quality content t t Useful, relevant, current & engaging Enable sharing Syndicate your content Syndicate your content Include links in social communications Links placed on facebook and twitter are y “nofollow” but there is still value you can realize by including the link Optimized anchor text URL shorteners Target social news and bookmarking sites T t i l db k ki it Digg, reddit, delicious Empower brand advocates Follow Conversation on Twitter #b2bleadgen
- 14. Best Practice #4: Protect your Online Reputation Best Practice #4: Protect your Online Reputation Manage PR through social AND search Follow Conversation on Twitter #b2bleadgen
- 15. Protect your Online Reputation Use a social monitoring tool Free tools: SocialMention, Twitter Search, facebook Insights, Google Alerts and Real Time Search Al t d R l Ti S h Paid tools: Radian6, Omniture Follow Conversation on Twitter #b2bleadgen
- 16. Best Practice #5: Encourage Social Networking on your Website W bi Add a wealth of relevant content by hosting social features and fostering an online community right on your site community right on your site Create company blogs Create company blogs Encourage comments, ratings and reviews Be open to search engines Prevent link spam Prevent link spam Follow Conversation on Twitter #b2bleadgen
- 17. MarketingSherpa Case Study: Integrating Social Media to Reap SEO Gains I i S i l M di R SEO G i Acoustics by Design b Acoustical consulting firm with g limited marketing resources •Healthcare •Education •Industrial How they developed a blog How they developed a blog strategy and corralled multiple authors to write timely posts Follow Conversation on Twitter #b2bleadgen
- 18. Integration Campaign Objectives Integration Campaign Objectives Create keyword rich content k d h to improve SEO performance Establish reputation as an industry though leader Increase lead generation and conversion Follow Conversation on Twitter #b2bleadgen
- 19. Campaign Tactic: Planning Editorial Targets Campaign Tactic: Planning Editorial Targets Identify target audiences Create keyword list for blog content that fills gaps in current web SEO Create editorial calendar Create editorial calendar for a year of blog posts on keyword related topics t i Follow Conversation on Twitter #b2bleadgen
- 20. Campaign Tactic: Recruiting Authors Campaign Tactic: Recruiting Authors “After I pulled all the knives out of my Creating sufficient volume of content a big challenge f bi h ll chest and started talking about doing blogs for which everyone would only need to prepare a post once y p p p Enlisted engineering team every 6‐8 weeks, the conversation went to write blogs and gain thought‐leadership status a lot better. ” – Kenric Van Wyk, President Won acceptance by and Principle Acoustical Engineer, minimizing workload Acoustics by Design y g Follow Conversation on Twitter #b2bleadgen
- 21. Campaign Tactic: Streamlining Content Campaign Tactic: Streamlining Content Allowed authors to select from a list of relevant topics f li t f l tt i Provided writing guidelines to streamline process Assigned an editor to review Assigned an editor to review writing and optimize posts Follow Conversation on Twitter #b2bleadgen
- 22. Campaign Tactic: Share Results Campaign Tactic: Share Results Recognize thought‐leadership g g p status of bloggers with bylines Analyze comments, inbound links, Analyze comments inbound links and other SEO gains Include exceptional blog posts in company newsletter for g recognition Follow Conversation on Twitter #b2bleadgen
- 23. Campaign Results Campaign Results Blog generating 53% of natural search visits t l h i it Shared content positioning Acoustics by Design as thought leader on industry social media sites social media sites Lead volume and rate of conversions increased con ersions increased Follow Conversation on Twitter #b2bleadgen
- 24. The Real Impact of Search Innovations on Lead Generation G i Major search engines are responding to the rapidly growing popularity of social media as a marketing tactic by developing and releasing various search engine innovations to improve the experience of end users and advertisers alike “Our greatest challenge is getting high rankings for generic Our greatest challenge is getting high rankings for generic terms within our industry. Personalized search could have a ld large impact as well.” Follow Conversation on Twitter #b2bleadgen
- 25. The Real Impact of Search Innovations How do you think the following search innovations will impact your business In the d hi k h f ll i hi i ill i b i h next 1 – 5 years? Will have a great impact on our business Personalized search has Will somewhat impact our business Will somewhat impact our business created much speculation Will have no impact on our business among the SEO industry Personalized search 33% 57% 11% Real time search and social marketing Real time search 33% 56% 10% Social media users Video search 26% 47% 28% anticipate the greatest impact from all search innovations from all search innovations across the board Mobile search 24% 47% 29% Source / Methodology: MarketingSherpa Search Marketing Benchmark Survey / Fielded April, 2010 N=2,194 Follow Conversation on Twitter #b2bleadgen
- 26. Optimize for Search Innovations – Mobile Search Mobile search refers to the use of web search functionality on mobile devices search functionality on mobile devices 29% with wireless internet connections Mobile search has increased the reach 47% of search engines by adding another point of access for search engine users Mobile search is still in it’s 24% infancy as a marketing tactic infancy as a marketing tactic Will have a great impact on our business 56% of respondents indicated that they Will somewhat impact our business Will have no impact on our business had not yet received any impact from mobile search Source / Methodology: MarketingSherpa Search Marketing Benchmark Survey / Fielded April, Source / Methodology: MarketingSherpa Search Marketing Benchmark Survey / Fielded April, 2010 N=2,194 2010 N=2 194 Follow Conversation on Twitter #b2bleadgen
- 27. Optimize for Search Innovations – Mobile Search Know your apps Research apps on major device manufacturers websites, and the websites for phone operating systems Optimize more types of content Mobile search applications are accepting more than text‐ based queries Shazam SnapTell Signal your location Attract local business Include address in website code using hCard microformatting Optimize your current site Optimize your current site Take advantage of the history with search engines, current traffic and inbound links Original content will out rank duplicate content Keep sites clean and simple Keep sites clean and simple The mobile web is not yet sophisticated enough for complex websites Keep keywords short Keep lead forms short and simple Keep lead forms short and simple Follow Conversation on Twitter #b2bleadgen
- 28. Optimize for Search Innovations – Real Time Search p Real time search refers to a search 10% engine s ability to index newly published engine’s ability to index newly published web content as it is being published with virtually no delay, or in real time 56% Real time search can have a great impact on organizations by allowing search engine users to access newly created and engine users to access newly created and published content. 33% Promotions & time sensitive content can g g now be distributed through organic Will have a great impact on our business search Will somewhat impact our business Will have no impact on our business Social media content Source / Methodology: MarketingSherpa Search Marketing Benchmark Survey / Fielded April, Source / Methodology: MarketingSherpa Search Marketing Benchmark Survey / Fielded April, 2010 N=2,194 2010 N=2 194 Follow Conversation on Twitter #b2bleadgen
- 29. Optimize Social Communications for Real Time Search p Develop keyword optimized content for social media Join the conversation Research hot topics and latest trends that are relevant to your business y Post frequently Utilize social tools to schedule tweets or status updates ahead of time Recruit brand advocates Follow Conversation on Twitter #b2bleadgen
- 30. Optimize for Search Innovations – Personalized Search Personalized search refers to a search 11% engine s capability to personalize search engine’s capability to personalize search results based on the last 180 days of a search engine users’ search habits 57% Previously visited sites Interpreting search queries Personalized search is expected to 33% have a negative impact on SEO by limiting the number of impressions their organic the number of impressions their organic Will have a great impact on our business Will somewhat impact our business listings receive Will have no impact on our business Source / Methodology: MarketingSherpa Search Marketing Benchmark Survey / Fielded April, Source / Methodology: MarketingSherpa Search Marketing Benchmark Survey / Fielded April, 2010 N=2,194 Follow Conversation on Twitter #b2bleadgen
- 31. Optimize for Search Innovations – Personalized Search Drive more traffic to your site – now! Email blasts Encourage bookmarking PPC Etc. Etc Engage web visitors Relevant, useful, engaging content Frequently add a new variety of content Rank checking is even less Rank checking is even less reliable Follow Conversation on Twitter #b2bleadgen
- 32. Optimize for Search Innovations – Video Search Search engines have responded to the growing popularity of video being utilized for marketing and business 28% purposes by developing video search, or the capability to crawl and index video content. 47% Video content is now being indexed and ranked on the first page of the search results when relevant Video search is in it’s infancy as a 26% marketing tactic 5 % o o ga at o s d cated t at t ey ad 52% of organizations indicated that they had Will have a great impact on our business not yet received any impact from video Will somewhat impact our business search Will have no impact on our business Source / Methodology: MarketingSherpa Search Marketing Benchmark Survey / Fielded April, Source / Methodology: MarketingSherpa Search Marketing Benchmark Survey / Fielded April, 2010 N=2,194 Follow Conversation on Twitter #b2bleadgen
- 33. Optimize for Search Innovations – Video Search p Create great content Relevance and usefulness Keep it short Optimize video content with target keywords k d Video sharing sites On‐page content & surrounding HTML Links Attract viewers & maximize views Video thumbnails Enable sharing Enable sharing Encourage comments and ratings Follow Conversation on Twitter #b2bleadgen
- 34. How to Generate Leads Using Search Engines and Social Media Sites d S i l M di Si Why search and social? •Utilizing Search Innovations for Lead SEO and Social rated as effective tactics in Generation achieving hard & soft business objectives achieving hard & soft business objectives •Real time search •Real time search Social impacts search campaigns by •Mobile search improving rankings, increasing listing quantity, and improving click through and •Personalized search conversion rates •Video search Top 5 practices for integrating search and social for lead generation Coordinate search and social teams Optimize social content Generate inbound links from social media sites Protect your online reputation Encourage social networking on your site Follow Conversation on Twitter #b2bleadgen
- 36. Thank You & Questions Thank You & Questions Jen Doyle Todd Lebo MarketingSherpa MarketingSherpa Todd.lebo@marketingsherpa.com Jen.doyle@marketingsherpa.com http://www.marketingsherpa.com http://www.marketingsherpa.com @TodLebo @JenLDoyle
Editor's Notes
- #3: Jen
- #4: Jen: start poll
- #5: Jen LeadTodd (optional): 64% responded with yes, but I’ll be interested as we move forward to find out the level of integration. As a marketer, I understand that it is an evolving process and the goal is to make sure that we keep advancing as we move forward. We want to find new ways to ‘up our game’ and increase the value of these 2 powerful marketing tactics.
- #6: Jen lead
- #7: Jen leadTodd: We are going to be focusing on how search and social can work together to impact lead generation. At MarketingSherpa we continue to see the positive impact of search/social as we use our content to increase leads. A webinar is a great example. A solid keyword strategy that is used for search and also applied to social as you: write a blog post, tweet the event (using your keywords), set-up hashtag, announce on LinkedIn, update on Facebook, etc. is a powerful strategy.
- #8: Jen:Todd: Don’t get blinded by the social marketing platform. First develop the strategy, before you focus on the platform.
- #12: Todd: When I think of what it means to integrate search and social, it reminds me of the evolution of a fitness program. For a long time, people looked at two critical parts of fitness: cardio and power (muscle). So you jog, ride bike, etc. for the cardio and lift weights for power. And you alternate days for each discipline. Now professionals are integrating cardio and power into one workout to maximize overall fitness. The two combined are more powerful than one. It is not an all or nothing proposition – but there is great value in combining the two. Same with Search and Social.In this diagram, if you are a small company, you may be the search and social team. That can make it easier, but you still need a strategy. And you still need to think holistically on using the data from each side to feed the other. For a larger company, the coordination is even more important and having a process to feed information back and forth is critical. Start with a consistent process to pass target keywords to social team. Have social team bake those words into social tactics. Pass back to search team social trends: followers, social voice (strength), sentiment, passion, top users, content downloads, social reach, etc. Define what is important to you.
- #13: Todd: Content is KING. This was before social and it is even more important now. If you aren’t relevant and interesting, people won’t follow. If we aren’t providing relevant and helpful content on this webinar that helps you to generate more leads – it doesn’t matter how well we integrate search and social. But when you are relevant and interesting – make sure to optimize your programs.-- don’t forget those social profiles and descriptions: these are important and need to use your targeted keywords. Go back and check your Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and other accounts. -- Consistency is key: with keywords, with brand name.-- At MarketingSherpa we provide marketers practical how-tos and proven research in all area of marketing. That message needs to be consistent.-- Optimize communication: example for this webinar we emphasized Search and Social Integration. Think about the expanded reach that you could achieve on your next webinar if you started by outlining an overall strategy.
- #14: -- All sharing links to blogs and other content.-- Get to know the key influencers in your space. We call this group the Social Authority, and if you can engage with this group, you will dramatically increase your reach and influence. Example in marketing is Chris Broggan. As of today, he has 143,448 followers on Twitter. If you can get him to tweet about your webinar, that is 143,448 marketers that are now learning about your webinar. It takes hard work and an investment of time, but it is possible.-- Syndicate content: everyone is looking for quality content, so syndicating your content may expand your reach. Maybe just part of your content, with a link back to your site.-- social links: common question: Should you use URL shorteners? I say yes for a few reasons: -- it still counts to your search -- you can use keywords in your tweet -- I want to always encourage retweets, so I keep tweets short enough to account for RT. In MarketingSherpa’s case, I keep tweets at 119 characters, so followers can retweet without changing tweet (make it simple)
- #15: Brand reputation is an important part of social media. What is the outside world saying about your company, product and service.
- #16: There are some great tools that you can use to track online reputation. This example is from SocialMention. In this example, we are comparing 3 baseball teams. Here are the 4 metrics that we are tracking:Strength: likelihood that your brand is being discussed in social mediaSentiment: ratio of positive comments to negative commentsPassion is the likelihood that people that talk about your brand will do so repeatedlyReach is the range of influenceYou can also follow keywords, etc.
- #17: -- blog can generate great results. As marketer, your primary role may be to get individuals in your company to contribute. Provide guidance, deadlines, etc. Also, show the contributors the results of their work. Share the states, comments, etc.-- Encourage comments but make sure to prevent link spam on comments section. This can be done by talking with your IT person.-- Not all platforms are designed to be easily indexed by search engines. Make sure yourcontent is clearly visible to the spiders by asking vendors and consulting your searchexperts.
- #24: Todd: we use Blog Grader and Twitter Grader, these and other tools can be a great help.
- #25: Todd: interesting blog on getting yourself in first position on Google search.
- #33: MarketingSherpa uses video for testimonials. Also good for breaking news in industry. High-quality is not necessary and sometimes low-tech can appear more timely and urgent. Maybe a new release of a google tool is perfect for a reporter to discuss the impact on marketers. And then tie it to a systematic social campaign.