B2B Word on the Street: Social Media Marketing

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This Week's B2B Word on the Street is: SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

Twitter. The name sounds funny, but it's a serious subject at my B2B marketing agency these days. Add LinkedIn and Facebook to the mix, among others, and join in a conversation that should now be a hot topic within your marketing and sales departments as well --if it isn't already.

Optimizing your company's website for search, providing a good user experience and growing the online component of your ad budget are all important, but now, each member of your sales staff, marketing staff and internal industry experts can contribute to successfully influencing your brand reputation and your customer relationships.

I will be the first to admit that I've got a lot to learn myself, but we can all take comfort in knowing that the social media landscape is still evolving, and there is abundant and accessible information out there to accelerate your learning curve. All you have to do is dive in.

If you opened a LinkedIn account and, like many of your professional peers, let it go dormant, it's time to return to it with a new set of eyes. And start a Twitter account too. Follow your favorite trade pubs and locate industry experts you respect. And never forget that your competition is probably doing the same thing, so don't lose because you snoozed.

Do more than listen to your marketplace -- contribute to the conversation. No matter how basic it is to begin with, start building a social media strategy and add it to your mix of conventional marketing media. Now, more than ever, there is explosive growth in social media because it doesn't take too much time or expense, and the results are timely, tangible and, last but not least, trackable.

Billy Mitchell is the president and creative director of Atlanta-based B2B marketing firm MLT Creative. Located on the east side of Atlanta, GA, with a Northeast office in Rhode Island, Mitchell co-founded MLT Creative in 1984 along with partners Craig Lindberg and Glenn Taylor.

Known as the Idea Launch Pad^TM for B-to-B marketers, MLT Creative's services include strategic planning, positioning, brand development, advertising and sales promotions for business-to-business clients.