SOCIAL MEDIA FOR B2B Professional Services

How do you sell professional services?

Win them over!

Establish your

expertise

Target the right

people

Why social Media?

Nobody cares what I had for

breakfast!

It’s the same as ‘Real Life’ networking!

You should approach connecting to people online in the same way you would networking with people in real life.

Attend an event Join a group/discussion

Talk to people Engage with others

Demonstrate expertise

Provide value

Give business card Invite to connect

Always invite people to connect with you after meeting them at a networking event. Include your Twitter & Linkedin URL on your business card.

Use Social Media for RESEARCH

Even if you never say anything yourself, you can still use social media to stay up to date on your area of expertise, your clients and your potential clients. • Follow (& Connect to) your clients • Follow your potential clients• Follow your clients competitors• Follow your own competitors • Follow topic/industry experts• Follow related news sources• Join relevant Linkedin groups• Use Google Alerts to stay up to date

Target the right

people

Use Social Media to build a REPUTATIONEstablish yourself and your company as experts in your field by contributing to online discussions, writing relevant content that people will value and creating a strong online foot print.

• Share your own research & insight• Share research & insight from respected

sources• Give comment & opinion on industry issues• Respond to the comment & opinion of

industry experts• Respond to enquiries from lay people• Write blogs on current industry topics & issues• Reference your experience

Establish your

expertise

Use Social Media to build

RELATIONSHIPSTo win work with someone, you need to build a good relationship with them and develop a good rapport.

• Use social media for quick, brief direct communications to clients and prospects

• Respond to their comments & queries directly on social media

• Comment on their news & information• Retweet/share the positive news they

share• Share with them content they

specifically will find valuable• Engage them!

Win them over!

Remember… There is a lot of content is out there, and we are all pressed for

time, so make your content valuable to clients and prospects.

This means being clear, easy to understand and to the point.

It means thinking about your audience before you write – who are they, how much will they understand, and what are the key things they want to know ?

Look at the structure and presentation of the articles, blogs and events that you like. What makes them good?

• Events• Research• Articles• Blogs• Videos• Infograph

ics

Make a plan for Social MediaTo get the most out of social media you need to plan how you intend to use it, and not leave it to chance.

Schedule your activity and try to make it a habit like checking your email.

Plan ahead for topics and issues you could cover Set yourself tasks - eg. Tweet at least once a week,

comment in a Linkedin group once a week, etc. Give yourself some goals - eg. I will have 100 followers in

3 months, I will arrange a meeting with someone through Linkedin.

Remember, success on social media won’t happen by itself – you need to commit to using it regularly if you want to see results.

TIP – Download the apps for your phone so you can check social media on the go.

SUMMARY

Create good

that is,

valuable to your target

audience

3 ‘R’s

Research

Reputation

Relationships

Set yourself some goals!

OF USING SOCIAL MEDIA