about Irish Dog. After the company gained some distributors and started expanding into other states, Ducey posted updates such as, ‘Irish Dog is now in eight states after our first year in business,’ or, ‘Irish Dog is now in 18 states in a year and a half,’ which also got a lot of response. She also posted updates in her typical groups as well as on several beer sites after the company won its first award in September 2010 when it partnered with Budweiser. These posts received several responses as well as interest from distributors who wanted to sample and carry the product. “My postings also generate some online orders from consumers, and many have turned into raving fans that have reordered many times since there are no distributors in their areas yet,” Ducey said.
After gaining distributors in certain markets, Ducey also joined groups that applied to those markets, such as LinkedAtlanta, and let people know that the award-winning Irish Dog product was now available in their area. “Basically, I just keep people updated with mini press releases each time we have something newsworthy to post,” said Ducey. “Most recently, I posted about our partnership with Brown Dog Foundation and that a portion of each bottle of Irish Dog sold is donated to Brown Dog. I also joined some pet-friendly groups to target those people who would really appreciate our partnership with Brown Dog.”
SUMMARY
Ducey and her husband have found that when they are active on LinkedIn, it generates up to 27 percent of their website traffic. More importantly, the distributors they found via LinkedIn currently represent 25 percent of their business.
Every Employee Can Be a Sales Person
If you wanted to attend a trade show that was several time zones away, you might not send every person from your sales, marketing, and business development organization because of budgetary concerns. And yet, if you could attend a trade show with all of your staff, wouldn’t that increase your chances of success at the event? With LinkedIn, everybody can join and participate for free. It is this same logic that dictates that every employee with a revenue-generating aspect to their position should be on LinkedIn and utilizing it as a cost-effective marketing tool.
The way to get your employees on LinkedIn is to lead by example. If the top person in your company organization is not an advocate of LinkedIn, unable to lead by example, or unwilling to educate others on how to utilize it as a tool, it may be a difficult internal sale. It’s also vital that LinkedIn is open and available for your employees to use during business hours. In order to drive home the importance of this business device, share stories with your employees and educate them about how you have closed business deals or received invaluable introductions utilizing LinkedIn. This allows your sales and marketing employees to envision how LinkedIn can be used as a tool in their respective roles.
It should be in every sales and marketing employee’s best interest to have a LinkedIn membership and be active on the site. However, it is also important to understand the law and how utilizing social media relates to your industry. If your company does not have an internal social media policy, it is best to consult with an employment law firm to understand the potential implications of requesting your employees to utilize LinkedIn as part of their job.
Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.
Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».
Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.
Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.
