We’re conducting a poll on LinkedIn, asking users what their company’s acceptable use policy is with respect to “Twitter”. Does your company:

• Encourage you to use Twitter?
• Tolerate it?
• Discourage its use?
• Forbid you to use it?

If respondents aren’t familiar with the phenomenon and/or they don’t care, they can click on “What’s ’Twitter’?” The results in this highly unscientific poll, to date, are:

• 50% – Encourage its use
• 19% – Tolerate it
• 26% – Forbid it

Three percent responded “What’s Twitter?”  Looks like two-thirds of this sample is already there or is close to getting there.   On the other hand, if we assign a value to each response, like so:

• Encourage = +2
• Tolerate = +1
• Twitter? = 0
• Discourage = -1
• Forbid = -2

The result is between zero and one, which gives us the impression that while this group of companies is aware of Twitter, they’re not ready to make a commitment, either.  They’re a little “lukewarm”.

As I said, this isn’t a scientific poll. LinkedIn doesn’t allow us to gather demographics, so we don’t know if the sample is all B2B, if the respondents are top management or rank-and-file, etc. Still, a dirty window is better than no window at all, isn’t it?

So, what about your company? Are you using Twitter? Do you have a company policy on the use of Twitter? Is Twitter better suited to B2C than B2B?  Take our poll and let us know where you stand.

Thank you.

You’re invited to join the Group on LinkedIn. Joining will allow you to find and contact other Bizmanualz Policies Procedures members on LinkedIn. The goals of this group are to help members:

• Reach other members of the Bizmanualz Policies Procedures Group;
• Start or participate in discussions on policies, processes, and procedures (for instance, you could ask members, “What’s your company’s policy on…?”);
• Accelerate careers/business through referrals from Bizmanualz Policies Procedures Group members; and
• Know more than a name – view rich professional profiles from fellow Bizmanualz Policies Procedures Group members.

Here’s the link to join: http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/86367/4EC1947970BF

Hope to see you in the group soon.

— The Bizmanualz Policies Procedures Group Leader

Does your B2B company struggle with how to approach the often overwhelming world of social media (i.e., Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.)? On one hand, you know you should be doing it. (“Everyone is doing it.”) But on the other, you’re not sure your professional clients will get it and/or participate in it.

We’ve been promoting our presence on social media sites quite a bit. We understand that some of our clients or potential clients (i.e., CEOs of small-to-medium-sized companies) may not buy into it yet, and that’s OK. But we’re about looking forward, not back. If we only looked at what has worked in the past, social media wouldn’t make much sense.

Looking forward, it’s not difficult to see the impact social media will make and already is making-especially in the business world. To put it into perspective: what if someone told you 12 years ago that a company website didn’t make sense? Well, this is just the next step.

We’ve become an interactive society. People don’t just want to read about your product. They want to try it, see pictures, make suggestions on how it could be better, forward it to their friends, Tweet about it, and subscribe to your feeds to make sure they like what you’re selling. Saying that your customer isn’t part of what is becoming the societal norm is like saying children don’t like candy. Well, maybe a minority don’t, but if you’re selling candy, which ones are you targeting? (By the way, here’s a ridiculous list of C-level Twitter users.)

It’s not enough to simply dip your toe into the proverbial social media water. If you have taken the plunge, promote it to show you’re in touch with current modes of communication-especially if you’re a B2B company. We feature icons to our social media pages on the bottom of our homepage, along the sidebars inside the website and blog, and on our social media web page.

What networks is your company on? How do you promote it?

BusinessWeek published an article this week on time management and the allure of social networks. Are they time suckers or are they useful marketing and brand-building tools?  (Nov., 2009, update: Apparently the jury is still out on social networking.  Most companies, regardless of their size, are waiting for someone to come up with a social media model that results in a profit.  Is this possibly is the “Holy Grail” of social media?)

The answer everyone seems to be coming back to is that social networking tools like Twitter and Facebook can be both. If you don’t have a plan when entering the fray, they can be a drain on your time and leave you with unproductive hours upon hours of entertainment.

On the other hand, there are great business uses for the networking tools beyond simply getting your name out there. For example, I use Twitter to get ideas for blog posts, ask followers for input, and learn more about a whole variety of topics. (It’s where I found the BusinessWeek article.)

That said, it’s easy to get lost in “research.” Here are a few tips to keep from drowning in the sea of links and info-tainment.

1. Plan Ahead
   At the beginning of the week, allot yourself a certain amount of time that you will engage in your social networks each day. It’s important to realize that even though you only have a certain amount of time, it should be distributed throughout the day in order to reach the widest audience. So maybe it’s one hour a day, split between four 15-minute sessions.If you have a large number of friends or followers, you may need more time to fully engage, answer messages, etc.
2. Measure Results
   What was your intent when you first signed up for a service? If it was to drive traffic to your website, has it been successful? How did you define “success”?  Measuring your results against a baseline or goal will tell you whether your social networking initiative is a good use of time and resources. If it’s not as successful as you had hoped, maybe it’s time to revise your strategy.
3. Take it Slow
   Once you join one network, it’s tempting to start signing your company up with every social networking site available. But, slow down…do you really have time each morning to check all of your messages on Facebook, Twitter, Plaxo, Ning networks, LinkedIn, etc.? Unless you’re a social media marketer, the answer is probably “no”, so you should start with one or two, and build from there. Once you have the brand and personality set, it becomes easier to distribute networking responsibilities throughout your organization and look into creating a broader presence.

Have any questions? Comments? Agree or disagree with me? Please feel free to comment below.

For all of the so-called social media “experts,” “gurus,” etc., there are really very few who actually know what they’re doing. And it’s for good reason: nobody has all of the answers yet. What works for some people will fail miserably for others. In my blog posts, I aim to offer advice that I’ve found helpful, but beware of anyone who claims extensive knowledge in the field before showing you actual results.

This blog post on Applicant.com goes into more depth about the latest Internet marketing trend of supposed “gurus,” but the point is that social marketing is more about you and your relationship with your customer/potential customer than it is about garnering big numbers that don’t convert into sales.

Look at the Skittles social media experiment for a minute. It was all about exposure. Exposure to your brand is great, but how much time and effort was put into that experiment? And did they sell more Skittles? We don’t know. All we know is the company website received a 1332% traffic increase in one day. The next day? Back to normal. (Graphic via marketingpilgrim.com)

It’s as gimmicky as tucking “Free iPod” into your website text to receive organic traffic. Yes, people come to your website, but are they the right people? Will they buy your product, or did they just want a free iPod? (P.S. – People aren’t stupid. Most see through lame marketing ploys.)

Other admissions: the most successful “social media” tool we’ve used so far is this right here—our blog, coupled with our articles and weekly e-newsletter. It provides information and doesn’t force our products down people’s throats. We truly are interested in the conversation. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc., are all showing promise, but we don’t know just yet. No one really does.

The value is there, and more and more, it’s becoming a necessary skill for Internet marketers. But it doesn’t take a “Social Media Expert” to do it for you. Start with your own marketing staff or take it over yourself. Find what works for you. You may find it breaks all of the “rules” of social media.

If you haven’t heard about the Skittles website relaunch yet, go check it out.

Monday morning, it was all anyone in the social media world was Tweeting or Blogging about. At first glance, it’s confusing. Did I type in the correct url? But on second glance, you think it’s ingenious. On third—you realize the downsides of this approach.

Utilizing social media to create a buzz about your company or brand is becoming increasingly important. But giving up complete control of your brand is dangerous. Let’s dissect the Skittles experiment.

1. Age Limitations

   When you first get to the website, you’re greeted by an obtrusive box asking you for your birthday. Free Skittles as a present? No.

   If you’re under 13 years old, you’re not allowed onto the site. Once you start to peruse the features, it’s easy to see why. You have access to anything ANYONE puts out there and tags with the word “Skittles” on a variety of social media sites: Facebook, Twitter, and more dangerously, Flickr and YouTube. Imagine some of the photos and videos you could come across without trying. It makes sense the brand would want to cover itself on that issue, but when you’re trying to sell candy, does it make sense to cut out kids and ‘tweens?

2. Spammer Abuse

   On the very first day of the website launch, Twitterville had already run amok by trying to see what they could get away with. Every time someone Tweets the word “Skittles,” the post shows up on the Skittles “Chatter” page (which also serves as the sometimes homepage). You could Tweet something completely unrelated, push your own product, or speak negatively about the brand and still end up on the Skittles homepage. A dangerous prospect from a company’s point of view.

3. Usability
   

   In brief, there is none. A hovering navigation box covers webpage content, and you can only minimize it to an unacceptable degree. You can’t move the box. Plus, the navigation is vague at best. “Chatter” directs you to the Twitter feed, “Friends” to the Facebook fan page, “Pics” to Flickr, “Videos” to YouTube, and all product links to “Wikipedia”(!?!?)

   It’s really a clever proposition, and speaking as someone involved in social media, I’m impressed by (and kind of envious of) the company’s boldness. However, there are still a large number of people who don’t understand some of these sites and are not familiar with the various interfaces. Some people simply don’t know how to use them. And while it’s great to have groups and networks through these popular sites, I believe centering your own website on them really limits your audience.

While it has certainly created buzz, we’ve yet to see whether the experiment will be successful. Many are waiting to see whether the public really is ready yet. I think if so, you’ll see many more sites begin to do something similar. We’ll wait and see—and continue to see you on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and our website.

Directing traffic to your website using all the social media networks available is great. It’s part of what Internet marketing is all about. But what happens when the people get there? Driving traffic can only do so much if your website is ineffective.

So what are you looking for? I talked a bit about looking at your website from a usability standpoint in a previous post. It needs to be easily navigable to ensure that visitors can quickly find what they are looking for. Users must easily be able to figure out how to contact you or submit a question. If the first thing your user sees when landing on your website is mass confusion, they’ll quickly bounce (pun intended).

Also remember that the entry point to your website is often not your homepage. Think about it: if you’re linking out specific blog posts, product pages, staff bios, etc., the user experience starts there and not at Point A. Take a look at some of those pages. Can you figure out how to get to the homepage? Are there clearly defined pathways to get where the user wants to be?

Another key to usability is checking your content on a variety of different browsers. Your pages may render perfectly in Firefox but make no sense in Internet Explorer 7 or 6 (something we at Bizmanualz run into often). But don’t just stop at the big browsers. Utilize your Google Analytics data to find out which browsers the majority of your visitors are using. It could be Safari for all you know. Start with the most popular and work down the list, making changes where practical. (Browsershots and other websites make this easy by comparing your page across most platforms.)

Finally, ask people their opinions. That’s what makes many of these social networks so beneficial. Post a question on Twitter asking your friends to test out your website and suggest changes. You’ll be surprised how many people in your network are willing to help you out.

I love to preach the virtues of Twitter, but beware: it sucks you in. Unless you have the ability to devote quite a bit of time or you have a very multi-task-able staff member, Twitter may not be for you.

If you’re new to the whole idea of microblogging, watch this quick video explanation, called Twitter in Plain English.

Now that you get the premise, how do you start?

The first step is to start building your network. You can begin by adding people you know and testing out a few tweets, but the more quickly you have followers, the more exponentially the connection will spread. Search for users who are talking about things related to your industry and start following them. Many will follow you back instantly. Even if they don’t, you’re still visible on their followers list.

Market yourself.

Using Twitter for commercial purposes is still a somewhat nebulous proposal. But everyone on the site is promoting something, whether it’s their blogs, their company, or themselves (yes, people find jobs via Twitter), so the idea isn’t new.

The trick is to be a humble narcissist.

Your product is amazing. It will cure the ills of society without breaking the bank. Yadda, yadda, yadda. Not many in Twitterville will care if you try to sell them a marketing message. Give them something useful—a reason they would want to follow what you Tweet.

If you have a blog, it’s a great start. Every time a post is published, link to it in your Twitter feed. But don’t think that’s all the site is good for. Simply linking to your blog doesn’t mean people will follow it.

TALK to people.

• Direct message people who follow you thanking them and asking how you can help them.
• Link to other articles you think your network will find interesting, not just your own.
• “Retweet” others messages that you find interesting. To Retweet: copy their message, and at the beginning, type in their handle. For example, you find Bizmanualz’s message on this post. You type: “RT @bizmanualz Check out my blog post on Tweeting for your company!”
• “@ reply” to respond to a comment or question posted by a friend. For example, a friend asks for recommendations on a good dinner spot in St. Louis for the night. You type: “@sandi: Katie’s Pizza on Clayton is always good and is having a special tonight.”

In all of these cases, you provide value to your network. They appreciate you not just as a company shouting its message, but as a connection offering something interesting to say. When you do post the occasional: “Check out my website,” “We’re having a sale,” your network contacts, who now feel like they know you, will be more likely to visit.

Any questions? Feel free to comment and I’ll come back to check in and offer any more tips I find.

Lead generation is what gets your prospects hooked. It leads them to your front door without spending an extraordinary amount of time, effort, and sales dollars on prospecting. With the explosion of the Internet and social media sites, lead generation has become easier, but it also has become more confusing and segmented.

Here is a list of the top five lead generation techniques you should be employing right now. Don’t launch all five at once. Start slow and you’ll see how far your reach can go.

1. Blog.
At this point, starting a company blog is a no-brainer. Not only do frequent blog posts keep fresh content on your website and drive organic traffic, but they provide a real service to the customer. In your blog, you can explain how your products or services relate to Customer A. You can write simply about what’s going on in the industry to provide readers with a unique viewpoint. Your blog gives your company a voice that a product list—or even a staff biography—cannot.

2.  Microblog.
 Twitter is all the rage for a variety of reasons. From an Internet marketing point of view, it allows a type of interaction with the customer—or potential customers—that did not exist before. Start by searching for and adding others in your industry, post your blog entries, and respond to others’ inquiries (even if they have nothing to do with your company).  In a later post, I’ll discuss how to take your “Tweets” to the next level.

3.  Republish Content.
Use reputable sites to take your blog posts or articles, republish, and get valuable link backs. I republish a lot of content on Work.com and Google Knol.  Knol is similar to Wikipedia, but with more control. There you can publish your own original content about most any topic. Others can edit your content, but you have some regulatory control over what they can add to your content.

4.  Join the Masses.
And by masses, I mean the big social networks. Create a Facebook Fan page or group where you can get out even more information about your company, products and services. You can also link up with others who are simply there for networking purposes and are more than happy to help you get the word out. Other massive networks of worth are LinkedIn and Plaxo. Join where you can and make connections. Word-of-mouth has turned into word-of-wall-post.

5.    Assess Your Website.
All of the previous steps will drive traffic to your website, often in a big way. Is your website ready? Imagine the way a new user would look at the site. Is it easy to navigate? Can you quickly find a way to contact the company? Is the design eye-friendly? Most companies don’t have the time or budget to completely redesign, but minor tweaks can make a big difference.

In the next five blog posts, I’ll expand on these techniques and show you how they’ve worked for other companies and what you can do to make them work for you.

In a previous post, I stressed the importance of your website’s or web product’s usability-that is, the ease with which your online user can access information relevant to them and whether your users are satisfied with the site’s general aesthetics.

Focusing time on creating a fabulous user experience is great, but more important is actually getting those users TO your site. That’s where search engine optimization comes in.

There are two sides to SEO, one of which has only recently become a skill of necessity for marketing managers. The first is typical website optimization through keyword focusing, metadata, and site architecture. But the second is increasingly in demand: Web 2.0 brand management.

SEOs know how important link backs are to the relevancy and popularity of your site. Social networking (my favorite topic), blogging, joining Ning.com groups, etc., create those link backs while interacting with your customer at the same time. It’s where marketing meets customer service. (Note: Twitter includes a nofollow command, so you don’t actually get the link value. However, I think traffic to your site is always a good thing.)

A Web 2.0 brand manager also monitors sites like Twitter and Facebook for mentions of his company, intervening if a customer has a question or complaint, as expounded upon in this blog post on ReadWriteWeb.com. It’s faster than calling a 1-800 number and treading through a sea of automation or trying to find the answer online. And it’s meeting your customers where they are-not where you think they should be.

Investing time in Web 2.0 is becoming more and more essential, just as creating a website for your product became almost mandatory 10 years ago.

You can continue to ignore Web 2.0, but an increasingly Web-literate customer base means they might start to ignore you.